2022 Social Media Checklist for Dentists

It’s not too late to reach your goals! 🎯

Have you checked your social media lately? I mean really checked it.  Because Facebook and Instagram have been around for many years now, it’s important to revisit the essentials. You may be thinking it’s too late to make improvements to take advantage of social media opportunities for 2022, but one of the benefits of social media is that you can make changes quickly, and in some cases, easily. It’s not too late to implement enhancements to help reach your practice goals this year.

Think about the last time you read your “About” section on Facebook or your bio on Instagram… You might be surprised by what you find when you revisit it. For those of you just getting started, you’ll find these tips helpful as well.

☝️ Essentials

Platform changes are happening all the time and what may have looked good last year may now be lacking. Are your bios and summaries current and up to date? Are they missing any critical information or marketing nuances? For example, if you want to grow clear aligners or dental implants in your practice, it would benefit you to mention those procedures in your summary. With Instagram you may want to add a few emojis in your bio as that will help to draw attention on the emoji-friendly platform. Most importantly, make sure you are taking advantage of all the character space available in these valuable sections.

🆕 Updates & Trends

Have you been posting away about birthdays and holidays, but forgetting to post about the important stuff? A lot has changed in the past couple of years. If you have updated or redecorated your office, make a post with some new photos. Had a change in your team? Feature some fun facts or unique tidbits about your new employees.

Short form video is extremely popular right now. You can thank TikTok! In trying to keep up with the TikTok trends, Instagram offers Reels—and Reels are being introduced to Facebook as well. 15, 30, or 60 second videos are the most popular type of social media content right now. Take advantage of the opportunity by making a Reel: Tour of your office, meet the team, etc. You can even use photos to create your Reel, but it’s easy peasy to hit record and film from your phone — all you need is 15 seconds!

💻 Mind Your Google

Did you know that in addition to posting content to Facebook and Instagram, you can also post content to your Google My Business profile? That’s right! Many dentists aren’t aware you can post content there. You will gain additional Google real estate for free by doing this. Posting content also helps engage patients and makes it easier for them to say yes to becoming a patient.

A different type of video is a Google My Business 360 Tour. This one-time, affordable investment will continue to pay off for you. The tour can live on your GMB profile and you can also share it on social media. Google will love that you are using the options it’s made available to you and prospective patients will love that they can check out the inside of your practice. While you are at it, make sure you are doing everything you can to use the tools that Google makes available to you. My friends at Great Dental Websites have a free download resource with more GMB tips available for you, here.

👍 Attract More of What You Like

What are the top two procedures or patient types you want to attract more of in 2022? Maybe you want to promote your membership plan or attract more young families with small children. Take a few minutes to think about your goals for 2022. It’s not too late to set goals if you haven’t. Check your content to make sure you are posting about these procedures or topics consistently. Some dentists are surprised to see they haven’t been posting about the things they want to be known for.

If you want social media to benefit you, it’s helpful to have a monthly plan. For a plan, I recommend a content calendar and scheduling tool, which will help you to save time and get better results. Check out our Connect90 social media program to help! Think about it: there is no way to be strategic if you don’t have a plan. Posting spontaneously—what many practices do when they are short on time—can become a vicious and stressful cycle with disappointing results.

⬆️ More Tips to Boost Your Results

One of the most common questions I hear is how can we grow our followers. Below is a list of ideas to help. Your social media should result in the following benefits … If it’s not, it’s time to do something different.

• Expand visibility
• Keep in touch with patients
• Grow relationships / trust
• Become an authority in your neighborhood
• Attract ideal patients

📈 Grow Your Followers

• Invite local friends and family to follow you
• Have a QR Code in your reception area leading patients to your social media accounts
• Make sure links to your social media from your website are working
• Hold quarterly patient appreciation giveaways and drive traffic to your social channels (don’t forget to promote this via email)
• Consider incentives to get patients to check in or tag you while in your office
• Use local location hashtags and geotags on Instagram
• Follow local businesses and show them some social media love, likes, and shares, too

Most importantly, give followers a reason to follow you by posting personalized, quality content. Ideally this is a mix of social and practice-building content. You may know that you offer smile makeovers, clear aligners, dental implants, and other treatments, but if you don’t post about it, how will patients know?

Share your team’s smiles and joys, both inside and outside of the office. This will help attract and retain not only patients, but team members too.

If you want to take advantage of these opportunities but you are short on time, stuck, or just need a bit of advice, reach out to me for help. I would love to hear from you. You can schedule a meeting with me here.