5 Things Social Media Managers Want Dentists to Know

Everyone has a different level of familiarity with social media and how to use it. You may have a personal Facebook page and post to Instagram occasionally, but that only covers the surface of what these platforms can offer. There is quite a bit more that goes into social media management for business. Whether you manage your own social media for your practice or you work with an outside company… here are some things you need to know:

1. More does not equal better

I’m not sure where this idea came from. Many people believe that you need to post every single day or multiple times a day for your social media platforms to be successful. This is absolutely not true, and in some cases, can actually hurt your performance. We love our dentists, dental consultants, and other healthcare providers, but we don’t necessarily need to see them on our newsfeed every single day. However, it is important to stay active to help with SEO performance. Post when you’ve got good content to share, share articles and information that really speak to you, interact and engage with your followers, but don’t post just for the sake of posting.

2. You attract what you project

This may sound more like a life mantra than a social media tip, but it works for both! If you’re an oral surgeon who truly loves educating patients and sharing important research with other dentists, it wouldn’t make sense for you to regularly post cartoons and memes. If you’re sharing a comic just because it’s dental-related, but you don’t really find it funny or relate to it, you are putting a false message out to potential patients or customers. Your personality and practice atmosphere should come across to those who visit your social media. If you are that oral surgeon who values education, share articles that interest you, show photos of the continuing education events you attend, and let patients know you are always striving to stay on top of the latest trends to better serve them. If you are an orthodontist who loves to have fun at work, go ahead and share those comics and memes or take funny photos with your patients, because that shows who you are.

If your social media doesn’t give an insight into who you are, patients may visit with false expectations and have a greater chance of being unhappy. But if you show them who you are from the get-go, you are likely to attract patients who share the same values.

3. Results don’t happen overnight

Okay. You finally posted to social media so now your page should be flooded with likes and comments, right? Wrong. Building your social media takes time and it is different for each and every practice. It takes consistency, good content, and time to reach milestones. Don’t worry that things aren’t happening at the snap of a finger; that is completely normal.

4. Social media is a pay-to-play game

This goes hand in hand with results. There are thousands of posts fighting for the opportunity to be in your newsfeed every day, and quite often, in order for your content to be seen by many, you’ll have to pay. This may sound overwhelming and scary, but that is why there are social media managers out there. We help you by coaching, or sometimes completely taking over the process of placing ads. This also ensures that the right people are seeing your content. Anyone can place an ad, but targeting is essential. If you’re a dentist in Wisconsin, you don’t want your ads to be shown to people in Texas or Europe… that won’t help you gain patients. You can go ahead and post to social media without placing ads, but your page will not reach its full potential unless you’re will-ing to place ads.

5. Real always beats generic

The last piece of advice I’m going to share is probably THE most important. Be yourself. Be authentic. Be real. Your audience will appreciate it and be more likely to engage with your content. I have seen this firsthand. We’ve got a client who sends us real photos of patients and people from their team for nearly every single post we propose for them. Their audience loves it and you can see a tremendous difference in the amount of interaction on their page versus those who consistently use stock photos. I’m not saying you should never use stock photos, but I am saying you should use real photos of your team at every opportunity you can. If you feel comfortable, you can even go beyond this and share photos of what you’ve done over the weekend. You can share videos of fun activities that the team has done. You can even share a short video explaining one of your services to patients and potential patients. The possibilities really are endless as long as you are being authentic.

If you remember these things, whether you’re posting to social media yourself, or having someone post for you… your experience will be much better. What do you want patients to say about your practice? Take some time to think about that. Going forward, make your social media reflect your answer. That, coupled with targeted ads, will help you attract the kind of patients you’re hoping to see. YOU and your team are awesome! Remember that!

Lindsey Hurtgen is a Social Media Strategist at Rita Zamora Connections. A graduate of UW-Platteville with a Bachelors Degree in  Marketing, Advertising and Sales, she helps clients across the country establish a powerful online presence.