A social media presence has never been more essential to dental marketing strategy than it is today. Social media is seen as a key cog in helping your dental practice grow online. It can help solidify branding, develop conversions and leads and make your practice become more recognizable to a wider audience. Because social media has been a recent phenomenon, you can be forgiven for still understanding how to use it efficiently. There are many challenges when considering a social media strategy however with strategic planning and a touch of creativity you will be engaging your audience and building your community into advocates in no time.
To start with, all it takes is some understanding of the keys to unlock an effective marketing strategy. Let’s take a look at what these keys are to unlock those challenges.
The Four Keys for Dental Social Media Marketing
Who Are Your Audience
It is not as simple as “dental patients” being your audience. Dentistry in general covers a breadth of topics and therefore, the needs of the dental audience may be different every time. Your strategy needs to be specific and dependent on the area of dentistry service you’re offering. If you’re pushing “teeth whitening” treatment, you’ll want to cater your online content to those who are seeking white teeth. Be specific and create individual social media campaigns for each service.
What Are Your Goals
Before setting your strategy, what are you aiming to achieve? Answering this question helps to lay the foundation for your strategy. Your goals should be sustainable so that you’re getting an appropriate return on investment (ROI) from conversions and sales. Using the SMART process is a great way to break down the foundation for a successful strategy:
- Specific – Pinpoint what the objectives are for success
- Measurable – How can your objectives be measured? Set an expected result.
- Attainable – Are your objectives achievable? Don’t overreach or be greedy.
- Relevant – Are your objectives relevant to strengthen branding, traffic and conversions?
- Timely – Set timeframes on meeting those objectives so you can keep yourself accountable to meet your objectives.
Respond To Feedback
Be actively interested in the opinions of your dental patients as they are an anchor to strategy success. Keep your engagement high online by answering their questions, responding to comments and including backlinks so your visitors act. This will increase the average time they spend on your website.
Where Is Your Audience
Once you’ve identified who your audience is, you need to identify which of the social media channels are the most popular. You’re not only reaching out to adults; you’re reaching out to children as well. Snapchat and Instagram are two popular platforms for children. Facebook is great for adults. You must also keep track of your competitors. Study their presence and determine where the higher engagement sits.
Summary:
It is very worthwhile to employ a dental marketing agency in Australia. One of the points of failure is if you’re running your own practice by keeping in-chair patients satisfied and looking after your strategy at the same time. Your level of service, quality, and care will begin to slip and that’s bad news for the success of your practice. As a frontline dentist, your priority must always be your patients. Hiring a dental marketing strategist will help boost your visibility, attract new patients, and grow your practice.
