Is Instagram Right for My Dental Practice? A perspective for everyday people

Are you wondering if Instagram is right for you and your practice?

Maybe you’ve heard that Instagram is a visual platform loved by Millennials and influencers and you’re wondering, “Okay, if I’m not young, hot, or crazy rich, should I even bother?” First of all, know you are not alone in questioning this.

To add to that, I’ve even heard a couple of consultants recommend, “You should just hire a college student if you want to do well on Insta”… So, if you aren’t Kim Kardashian or Justin Bieber, and you aren’t considering hiring a new team member, is it even worthwhile to be on Instagram?

It can be intimidating to scroll through perfect influencer profiles and wonder if it’s just for beautiful people or those with extravagant lifestyles. What can an everyday dentist have to contribute? What do I need to post to draw people in?

Let me start with a fun fact to lighten things up. Did you know the most liked photo on Instagram is of an egg? Yep, a simple, solitary egg, lol. As of January 2021, it had beat out the world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million) compared to the egg at 50 million likes.

Next, let’s address the oxymoron in the room. Are you aware that Facebook includes personal attributes in their Community Standards guidelines? Facebook’s advertising policy explains that ads on their platform must not “assert or imply personal attributes.” Personal attributes include:

Race
Ethnic origin
Age
Religion
Beliefs
Gender identity
Disability
Physical and mental health
Financial status
and more

See the entire list as well as examples here: https://www.facebook.com/policies/ads/prohibited_content/personal_attributes

Paradoxically, the platform known for its frequent focus on attributes (Instagram) is owned by the very same company that forbids the use of attributes in ads (Facebook).

There are many cosmetic dentists rockin’ it on Instagram with a focus on appearance. They may post about makeovers, beautiful restorations, and gorgeous before and afters. This is terrific—we are in the smile business after all!

However, there are others out there who may not focus entirely on cosmetic dentistry.

What if you want to grow more family dentistry, dental implants, sleep dentistry, or perhaps you’re just not comfortable putting yourself out there all the time?

Rest assured there are different strategies to attract followers and patients. The most important component of social media is not being young and perfectly fit—it’s authenticity. Yes, there is an attractiveness element to Instagram, but that doesn’t have to relate to personal attributes. This is more so a design element… we will touch more on that later.

For now, just know that there are many different ages, races, and personalities out there—each with their own special sauce to contribute. Yes, even dentists!

So what do I mean by authenticity? It means you need to be a real person and put a face or faces on your practice. Literally. If you scroll through your Instagram or Facebook and all you see are stock photos or graphics that you pulled off Google, this leaves your practice soulless.

The way to put a soul in your social media is by sharing photos and tidbits about you and your team.

This doesn’t mean you have to share anything that feels private to you. It’s more about being personable than sharing personal information.

This also does not mean that you have to be in every photo that’s posted. I hope you are already experiencing a sigh of relief. I have had more than a few dentists (of all ages) who have shared their questions and concerns about this, which is what motivated me to write this blog.

Remember the design element I mentioned? You want to make sure your photos look good … again, this has nothing to do with physical attributes. Sure, if you have dozens of gorgeous after photos of veneers, smiles, clear aligner cases, or what have you, I give you a high five! That is awesome—post away!

If you don’t have many before and after photos or are simply not focused primarily on cosmetic dentistry, here are several tools and options for making your Instagram look attractive by the platform’s standards:

Filters
Lighting
Color themes
Grid layout
Overall branding

Notice that this list has nothing to do with personal attributes? In fact there are countless successful Instagram accounts that have nothing to do with age, beauty, or wealth.

If you know me, you know how much I love dogs… so let’s use dogs as an example.

There are a multitude of designer dogs on Instagram—popular pedigrees sporting cashmere sweaters or traveling the globe in style with their owners. However, one incredibly popular Instagram account features senior dogs of various shelter-dog mixes, and 100% lovable pooches.

Some of the dogs are nearly blind, balding in places, or enduring a variety of health issues, but it’s the endearing authenticity of the father/adopter of these canines, and the thought behind the captions and photos that make this account so incredibly special. Check it out: @wolfgang2242.

There are even successful Instagram accounts that are mainly just graphics with words. Here’s one example: @findyourshinetherapy. In this case, it’s about how this account makes people feel. It’s the words that evoke thought and emotion and that is what makes it so special—even with very few faces in the grid.

I hope you are beginning to see that there are more ways to show your authenticity and soul—and bonus, also your brand—than through physical attributes.

What are some other takeaways for dentists?

Share photos of you and your team (email Rita@RitaZamora.com and request our free download full of tips on how to get more personalized, effective, photos of you and your team).

Think about what you want to attract more of in your practice.

Do you want to attract more children? Show some happy kids.

Do you want to attract more adult clear aligner patients? Show some before and afters of that age range and treatment.

Do you want your patients to know that you are a referral-driven practice? Share some photos of the doctor or team with your smiling patients or feature some of your favorite testimonials/reviews.

Do you want to share how community-driven your practice is? Share a shoutout for a local business.

Stay tuned for visual examples in another blog post.

I hope you found some good tips, motivation, or perhaps just a change of perspective here. Instagram is for all people (and even dogs and eggs it seems, lol). And of course it’s for dentists and specialists, too. I’d love to hear your feedback or any questions. Reach out to chat and learn more about our Connect90 program. Our hybrid “do social media with us” program and ask about a complimentary trial: https://hello.connect90.com/c90