Dentistry and Social Media.

Social media has had a massive effect on the world and has recently become an obvious way forward for the promotion of Dentistry. Applications such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are being used every single day and Facebook in particular has over 400 million users.

With that many people logging on to these sites every day, the likelihood of a fraction of these people wanting either general or cosmetic dentistry is considerably high, so why not promote your Dental Practice through a social networking site?

 

More and more Dental Practices are creating accounts on Facebook and sending out friend requests to their patients. The benefit of this is not only keeping current patients updated with the latest news and offers but also attracting new patients who see your Dental Practice on their friend/brother/sister’s friend-list, or see an offer that has been posted on that same persons wall and think, “You know what? I think I might check them out”. So by reaching out to your existing patients, you are also advertising yourself to potentially thousands of new patients. Using Facebook is also a great way of advertising new offers, promotions and open-evenings. Facebook has a great feature which allows the user to advertise events and allow friends to confirm whether they are or are not attending. For those who aren’t yet sure, there is also a “maybe” selection. So if your practice is holding an open evening then advertising it on Facebook could get many places filled!

It is even possible to post photo albums of “before and after” photos and Smile Makeovers. That is an exciting prospect and is bound to attract curiosity from potential new patients or existing patients who just need that little push to get them to book that Veneer Prep. Videos can also be uploaded so posting real video testimonials is a great marketing tool. It is important to remember that patient consent must be received to use any photographs or videos.

It is also great to post photographs of the team enjoying team outings and events such as a team-building night out or photographs of the team beaming whilst accepting an award etc. It is a great opportunity to show your patients that you are in fact human as well as Dental Care Professionals and you enjoy what you do. This allows the patients to connect to you and think, “Actually, they are really nice, fun people!” This may well put a potential patient at ease and give them the confidence to come and see you.

Having a Practice Blog via Twitter is also a great way of advertising yourself and also keeping patients and non-patients informed of the latest news. Having a blog is also another great way of reaching out to your patients. Blog about recent team outings and events, blog about successful training sessions, blog about anything that allows the patients to relate to you! You can attract followers who are non-patients but simply want to know what is happening at your practice. Chances are they will join you at some point, when they are ready. In the meantime however it is a good idea to keep them impressed with your practice and possibly giving you a mention to their friends and family. Many Dentists are having their own personal blog now in order to give professional advice and “tips of the day” for their patients and potential patients.

Aside from applications, it is absolutely vital in this day of age that your Dental Practice has a decent website. With most people browsing the net for Dental Practices rather than looking through the phone book, it is crucial that you stand out. A professional, yet different and interesting website is much more appealing for a potential patient than your average generic website. Some of the best websites I have seen have the following features:

• Press and Media Articles/Video Clippings

So, love it or hate it, Social Media has officially taken over and we need to take full advantage of it in order to stay successful in the ever-progressing world of Dentistry!