By: Mira Rawady
Connecting with your patients online requires a bit of strategy and follow through, and this post aims to help you figure out how to build a trusted brand and attract new patients on Facebook. Your social networking pages are not your website - they're for connecting with patients socially as part of your dental marketing strategy! Your dental practice's Facebook page is a very powerful tool, and these 4 guidelines will help you use it to its full potential.
1. Make Sure Your Facebook Page Is Found
Before worrying about anything else, you need to make sure existing and prospective patients know that you're on Facebook. A key component of your Facebook dental marketing strategy is continuously promoting your page and letting people know you're active on social media! Clients rarely think to look you up on Facebook themselves unless prompted to do so, which means that you need to include a strong call-to-action wherever patients will see it.
Some of the best ways to promote your dental practice's Facebook page:
- Place a linked icon to your Facebook page on your dental practice's website header. This will remind people to follow and like you on Facebook as they browse through your website.
- Customize Your Vanity URL and add your practice's name so your Facebook business page doesn't look something like this: Facebook.com/68058675043/. Optimizing your Facebook URL helps you get higher search engine rankings and makes it easier for patients to find you.
- Invite friends and family to like your page. Although they aren't strictly patients, if they share and promote your Facebook page, you’re bound to catch an eye or two. Don't overlook this source of potential referrals!
- Put up a visible poster about your Facebook presence in your dental office's waiting room. Analog calls-to-action still exist! Make sure your staff tells patients to follow your page and keep up with what's happening online.
2. Post Engaging Content
Your dental practice's Facebook page is meant to provide information about services, your facilities, staff and events. It's often forgotten that posts should also tell your practice's story. Represent your practice on Facebook with unique team and office photos! This provides patients with the opportunity to get familiar with your practice and meet your team.
Posting about teeth whitening, oral hygiene, and professional dental experience is all well and good, but people won't choose to make you their dentist because you can fix teeth - that's a given.
People choose dentists based on the people who work at your practice and the experience they expect from a visit.
Here are some ideas and examples of posts that can represent your dental team and practice in a positive, approachable light:
- Staff members with patients (Kid’s first visit to the dentist, long-term patients that have been loyal to your practice for several years, smile makeover patients...)
- Employees having fun and taking part in your dental practice’s activities
- Employees' value and loyalty towards your dental practice
- Office celebrations (birthdays, anniversaries…)
- Contests and promotions
- Community involvement
Here's an example from our client, Dentistry on Dundas' Facebook page and the kind of engaging content is posted on their page.
Related Article: The Importance of Content-Based Marketing
3. Optimize Page and Posts
Having all of your practice's important information clearly displayed on your Facebook page will allow you to effectively attract prospective clients and increase appointment requests. Make it convenient for patients to request appointments, ask a question, or contact your practice by including appropriate CTA buttons in your header. (
Facebook lets you choose your CTAs according to your type of business and goals).
Optimizing your Facebook page also includes adding the following to your 'About' and 'Our Story' sections:
- Complete practice contact information (aside from the CTA)
- Hours of operation
- Accurate statements concerning your dental practice and some differentiating information.
- A link to your website
- A Google Map to visually show physical location
- Add the dentistry categories you consider your practice part of in the 'edit your details' section.
The list goes on further, but the essential point is:
If there's an applicable field, fill it and use it to promote your practice.
As for posts, keyword optimization is imperative because
Google indexes your post text the same way it does your website content. Use words connected to your services and practice that clients would think of in their searches!
For example, if your practice is located in Whitby, Ontario, your posts could incorporate geographically optimized keywords like "The best smiles in Whitby." If you're a pediatric dentist, post articles about infant dental health and mention your pediatric dentistry services in the caption. It all depends on what your practice can do for people, so make sure to think about what your clients are looking for!
Related Article: Search Engine Optimization: What You Should Know As A Dental Practitioner
4. Respond to Reviews
Managing your online reputation is an essential part of building a loyal, trusting relationship with patients – both prospective and existing. When patients provide their feedback in your Facebook page's "Reviews" section, take the opportunity to respond and engage with them. It's great to let positive reviewers know that their support is appreciated and confirms your care for their opinion and experience.
Negative reviews are even more important to address, because if there's anything worse than a bad review on your page, it's an unanswered one. Patients communicating their concerns and having them ignored tells a lot about how much your practice cares for patient satisfaction.
Related Article: 5 Ways to Publicly Respond to a Bad Online Review
Additionally, other people who see unanswered negative reviews may think that you don’t take feedback into consideration. Your dental practice's Facebook page provides an opportunity to connect with patients and show them how much you care. When you see a negative review, you should respond respectfully and handle the issue in a productive way. So grasp at every chance you can to let people know that concerns, inquiries, and frustrations are taken seriously by your dental team.
Related Article: Tackling Your Online Reviews
There you have it! Four things to keep in mind if you want to make the most out of your dental practice's Facebook page. Here at
UpOnline, we are always eager to provide clients with valuable social media strategies and digital marketing services, so
contact us if you want to know more about how we can increase your dental practice's online exposure!
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