At first glance, the dentistry industry may not appear as the industry where social networking is necessary. However, we have found that patients love to share their dental experience on social networking sites.

Dental practitioners who depend on older marketing techniques, such as outbound marketing, or print ads, may be hesitant to adapt to these type of new marketing techniques. But the more social media and the internet grows, the more you have to realize the importance of social media to your dental practice. If you’re looking to increase your patient base, you have to make your practice present on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and potentially Instagram.

Who handles the social networking accounts at the dental practice?

The main concern is that managing social networking sites takes time out of the busy day of a dental practinioner. Dental specialists are busy with patients, so how do you find time to keep track on your social media posts, updates, and messages? If this is the case for your practice, consider finding a marketing agency that can do this work for you. However, keeping these types of marketing activities in-house can be essential for the success of your business. It’s important that you have a team of professionals handling your social media accounts that makes sure they get back to clients who inquire about your practice online.

Nowadays, patients will look for a button or a contact form to book an appointment online to avoid calling. No matter how many times you tell them to call the practice, chances are they will book online if they have the opportunity to do so. So take advantage of social network sites to help people book appointments. You should also make sure that all your team members are aware of the social media accounts to keep consistency in your marketing material.

Be #1 in your neighborhood

Positioning yourself as the local dentist for routine or emergency treatments is a top need for all dental practitioners. When patients are happy and satisfied with their local dentist, they will most likely remain loyal to the practice unless they move. Because of this, it’s extremely necessary to make sure that you appear on all search engines ranking with strong keywords. Social networking is one of the main factors that are important to Google, so a strong social networking presence combined with excellent SEO will help you be at the top of Google’s rankings. Social proof is also critical when reaching new clients. People will probably call a practice if they see that other people have left reviews on search engines or if they notice that the practice had interacted with their patients on social media.

Expand your advertising

A solid online networking presence can also help you advertise for free. If you are running a promotion, or are offering a new service, what best way to advertise it than on your social media? And all for little to no cost at all. You social media also acts as a way to gain feedback from your patients, both positive and negative. If you notice that a patient has complained about something, this is an excellent way to fix your mistakes in your dental practice.

Be receptive to request

Keeping appointment schedule full is a must for all dental specialists, and social networking offers an exceptionally responsive way to help fill in the gap. It’s a great way to remind patients who have been thinking about calling to make appointments, but they’re too busy or constantly forgetting. Social media helps as a reminder that they either need to make an appointment, or that they have an appointment to attend to later in the week. It can also help push promotions, and gain helpful feedback from your patients.