Tell Me You're The Best Dentist For Me Without Telling Me

From a business standpoint, some social media posts make sense at first glance and some may not. Let’s break down what makes a post “good” or not.

If you want to attract more dental implant patients or clear aligner patients, you would probably say any post about these topics is valuable. These types of posts are telling patients, “Hey, if you want implants or straight teeth then we could be a good choice for you.”

Thinking Outside The Box

Now what about that post about National Fruits and Veggies Month? The caption might include a shout out to your local farmers market which ties the post to fruits and veg. Maybe it also mentions something like healthy mouth, healthy body. When we can tie topics and captions to dentistry, the relevance or value of the post might become clearer.

If we dig a bit deeper, there’s also value in the shout out to the local farmers market. It might be the same market your patients enjoy. It’s showing that you have something in common with the patients and it also shows you care about the community by promoting/supporting the market.

Adding Value To Your Posts

There’s value in showing that you care about patients’ health beyond their mouth. And there’s value in showing you care about other businesses and organizations in the community. The media doesn’t even matter as much; you might use a photo, Reel, or TikTok, whatever feels best for you—like attracts like, after all.

What about those posts that might not seem to make any sense at first glance – like the post about National Rescue Day? You share a cute video of your rescued dog. It’s gonna get a lot of likes, but how is that valuable?

Here’s the value:

Connects you to any patients who love dogs
Connects you even more to people who also rescue
Shows FB and Insta that people like the content you’re sharing (in turn, those platforms will share your content more)
Shows your human side
Makes your dog happy – always a win!

Not Every Post Has To ‘Sell’

Even trickier, what about that post wishing people a happy National Smile Day? Do we need to add a call to action to the caption and say, “Call us today” for the post to have value?

This is where the “tell me you love me without telling me” comes into play. Is the post wishing patients a happy day rendered valueless if there’s no call to action? No. Here’s why:

If you make someone smile or peak interest in their feed, you’re already winning. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ever include calls to action. There’s a time and place for calls to action, but when it’s done solely to tie every post to a sale, you’re actually losing value.

Think about Generation Z. New trends begin with younger populations and over time those preferences saturate other generations. Gen Z craves authenticity. They are turned off by selling. They like a more casual approach, with friendly voices in captions instead of formal. They don’t see why ripped jeans can’t be professional and the same applies to funky colored hair or nails.

They are quickly turned off by too many sales tactics. They know how to find your website in your bio, and they expect to find online scheduling so they can book anytime— so don’t ask them to schedule today, and please don’t ask them to call.😜

Show All Sides Of Your Business

A good social media strategy will make it easy for patients to see that you offer what they’re looking for… Not only the type of dentistry you offer, but more importantly, the heart and soul of your practice.

While every practice has its own personality, values, and goals, their strategy might include the following categories for posts/topics, for example: