Let me tell you a story about two dentists in Anytown, USA. For the sake of simplicity, we’ll refer to them as Dentist Y and Dentist X. Both operate typical, mid-sized practices in their town, and both have fairly reliable patient bases. However, while Dentist X is content with his practice as is and is not quite willing to make any investments in marketing, Dentist Y is not as content.
So, what does Dentist Y do? First, he researches his options. A billboard? Maybe a radio spot? How about a television commercial? These all seem a bit outmoded though. Who notices billboards anymore when their eyes are on their smartphone? Who listens to the radio when they can stream Spotify? Even the television slot—isn’t everybody watching Netflix and Hulu these days?
But then Dentist Y realizes there’s an option he hasn’t explored yet—social media. He likes what he hears and is interested in what he sees. So he takes the leap. In no time, his patients are sharing their bright new smiles on Facebook, proudly tagging Dentist Y’s practice as their location. He also notices his name being tagged in newsfeed posts, mainly in response to queries from people soliciting their friends’ suggestions for a new dentist. And guess what? The friends of those patients are “liking” Dentists Y’s practice page. His office’s reach is expanding right before his eyes, and his relationships with current patients are growing even stronger.
Meanwhile, Dentist X is sitting in his office, taking care of the regulars. On a whim, he purchases a small newspaper ad. He knows the net result will be little if any. After all, who reads the local paper anymore? But he’s more interested in the tax write-off anyway.
In short order, Dentist Y’s new Facebook fans are becoming more connected and scheduling appointments. You see, Dentist Y decided to experiment. He posted some educational information on his page. He asked some questions and solicited opinions from his followers. He started sharing photos of unique treatments, patient stories of restorations he’d placed, and photos of his staff having fun in the office.
His followers truly liked this engagement, both existing and potential patients alike. Unbeknownst to him, he started forging genuine, strong, authentic relationships with them, and they really appreciated that. There was a personal, engaging quality to his practice, unlike the others in town.
With business booming, Dentist Y wanted to see if he could push things even further. So he started advertising through social media, using its unique ability to target a very specific demographic, and it worked. His market reach now extends even beyond his current patient base, attracting people from neighboring towns drawn to a practice with such a robust and interesting social media presence.
Dentist Y now runs one of the most bustling practices in his area of the state. Every day his exciting, educational, interactive Facebook dental marketing campaign gains new followers. He’s able to maintain interaction with his patients frequently, not just the standard two times a year, thereby always staying fresh in their minds.
Dentist X, on the other hand, is wondering if maybe he should follow suit. After all, he’s already seen a few of his former patients show up on Dentist Y’s Facebook page. He’s starting to wonder if he should no longer be content with his traditional marketing methods. He’s really starting to see the value of being digitally connected, as revealed in the strength of the relationships Dentist Y is a building. Relationships are something to which no numerical value can be assigned.
Here are a few tips to help get your Facebook dental marketing and social media campaigns started:
- Stay active and try to post at least three to four times a week
- Remember to listen and engage with your audience
- Facebook users love to give their opinions. Post questions to elicit a responses
- Use Facebook insights to better understand your audience and their engagement
- Interact with other community pages to become more visible
- Run fun contests to increase brand awareness
- Be fun and social
