Building a dental practice and keeping your patients happy can be a huge job. We all know that digital marketing tools can make life easier.
By using digital content like blog posts, or focusing on customer reviews, you can build your brand. Local patients will boost your word-of-mouth business and you can focus on practising dentistry.
Unfortunately, it’s not always that simple. The blessing and the curse of digital marketing is that it happens so fast.
Yesterday’s tools are today’s junk.
You need to be focusing on dental Social Media Marketing ideas for your digital campaigns to remain effective.
If not, you may fail to reach the patients you want. We can help.
Here’s why you need Social Media as part of your strategy:
Many dentists know that the way to boost business and establish the foundation for a successful practice is by increasing your word of mouth referrals.
Social Media takes that same concept and allows you to accelerate the process with digital content and targeted advertising.
Since more than 90 percent of all people say referrals (or earned media) are their preferred form of advertising, you can cater to their needs.
Social Media is where you enable endorsements, community presence, and add a boost to your digital content strategies. You’ll increase revenue and have a marketing strategy that is measurable every step of the way.
We know the trends aren’t always easy to follow. After all, you have a dental practice to run.
And when you and your staff finally pin down a digital marketing technique, something new comes along and changes the rules.
But if you master this list you’ll be on top of the trends this year. Here’s how to make the most of dental Social Media marketing ideas:
Too many dental practices still have it backwards when it comes to mobile. They plan their marketing strategy for desktop users and then reverse engineer the content for mobile platforms.
This is true for every aspect of digital marketing. But especially when it comes to Social Media marketing ideas, it’s time to shift the paradigm.
It’s simple: Your current and potential patients depend on mobile for all of their content.
If you start on the desktop you are working against yourself. Mobile is your patient’s first priority.
Facebook reports that 80 percent of their new ad revenue is from mobile campaigns. This is true because business owners understand that the majority of users get their information from mobile platforms now.
Whether they are using smartphones or iPads, your current and potential patients want access on mobile platforms. You won’t just be designing your dental Social Media marketing ideas around their preferences, though.
What better place to leverage Social Media than on mobile devices? The connection between communication and the personal touch is strongest when it’s made on Social Media.
Mobile technology is hardly a trend. But designing for mobile first and desktop second is.
It’s not enough to limit your practice to the Social Media side of digital content. Investing in social messaging is one of the most effective trends to follow this year.
Many dental practices aren’t aware of the incredible reach of social messaging. Did you know that WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Viber and WeChat together have more users than the big networks?
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram are second place to the Social Messaging apps.
Social Messaging can be a great component of your digital marketing strategy. Don’t be a latecomer to the party with this mode of connection.
Dental Social Media marketing ideas work hand in hand with social messaging. You can connect users, leverage reviews, and deploy targeted ads as well.
Mobile video traffic is projected to grow by 50 percent annually between now and 2022. If your digital marketing content creation strategy doesn’t include video yet it’s time to start.
Your patients don’t just want mobile content. They want video, too.
Plus, video is a great way to connect socially. You can post reviews, procedures, case studies, community events, and more.
There is no limit to the ways video content can help you build your brand and connect with new patients. In terms of dental Social Media marketing ideas, video content works because it also encourages engagement with your content.
Engaged patients are likely to be moved to action. Plus, if they like your Social Media content they are more apt to share it.
You can watch your referrals soar. But the content isn’t the only reason to get moving with video.
You’ll have access to other networks.
Many dentists don’t think of YouTube as a Social Media community. But it’s designed is for users to share personal content, respond, and connect. It’s actually the original platform for video users in a Social Media setting. Plus, YouTube is the second most visited site in the world.
We see too many dental practices fall short with their dental Social Media marketing ideas. They use one or two but fail to see the impact.
For instance, they focus on SEO away from a Social Media strategy. But YouTube isn’t just a popular site.
It’s also the second largest search engine in the world. YouTube processes over 3 million searches a month.
By using video content as a key dental Social Media marketing idea you will have the benefit of boosting SEO and engagement while reaching more web users with popular content.
Don’t just focus on video content this year. Focus on Live Video content if you want the best in dental Social Media marketing ideas.
Live content is taking off in popularity. Facebook has made huge investments in the technology which can help you reach new and existing patients.
Their approach allows for targeted ads inside Live Video content.
But Facebook is not alone. Snap, Twitter, and Instagram have all expanded their offerings and are investing in Live Video technology. Much like video content and mobile access, Live Video is what users want. With increasing distrust of mass media, Live Video allows users to connect in real time.
You can use this video in the same way. Promote a new special or connect with your followers in social and friendly ways.
Just like your other content strategies, Live Video stands ready to build your brand.
When it comes to dental Social Media marketing ideas, you’ll need to consider your platform as well as your brand. You will find you use Facebook very differently than you use Instagram.
But LinkedIn is a Social Media platform many practices ignore. They don’t remember that the branding of LinkedIn makes it a unique forum to promote expertise and professionalism.
Your dental Social Media marketing ideas can benefit from LinkedIn because you can integrate this platform with your overall strategy.
How is a platform we’ve all heard of a trend for 2017? Simply put, Microsoft’s purchase of the Social Media platform has changed things for the better.
Make sure you are being professional in a way that relates to your patients by using LinkedIn this year.
Targeted ads are nothing new for Social Media. But the ability to link to return on investment is becoming more and more effective.
If you think of advertising on Social Media something like placing an ad in a local magazine, it’s time to reassess your strategy.
Targeted ads need to be utilized alongside the dental Social Media marketing ideas you deploy across different platforms.
As mentioned above, this can include Live Video and Social Messaging. But you should also pay attention to return on investment (ROI) and SEO.
If you are investing the right way for your practice you should tie each campaign back to results. New dental Social Media marketing ideas include getting incredibly precise in both your targeting as well as your returns.
Social Media marketing allows for this investment to be measurable and direct.
Reviews are just becoming a larger trend because of their ability to boost other aspects of your dental Social Media marketing ideas. Reviews aren’t new. But using them as an SEO strategy and a way to promote content and sharing on Social Media is.
Done correctly, you can increase reviews and referrals by leveraging your Social Media strategy.
All of this should be done in an integrated approach.
Each of these trends is useful when taken separately. But when combined, the effects are exponential.
Integrating your Social Media strategy with Live Video, reviews, video content, and reviews will propel your website upwards in the search results. Unfortunately, when it comes to Social Media trends, it’s hard to stay on top of things. Plus, unless you combine these ideas you are missing out on the results.
You may even watch your competitors do less work for more returns.
Don’t lose your competitive edge when it comes to the latest dental Social Media marketing ideas.
We can help. Dominate Dental creates and deploys successful digital marketing campaigns that include an integrated Social Media strategy.
Don’t wait. Keep focused on your core business.
We can do the rest. Contact Dominate Dental now to start your integrated Social Media marketing campaign.