Quite a few dental practices have set up Facebook pages in an attempt to promote their business locally. But, the majority of such pages have limited activity and an absence of social engagement. Enhancing the visibility of your practice’s Facebook business page and drawing the attention of the local client base can be a tough task. This is because your efforts will be limited to the locality which you serve.
The following are some ways in which you can boost your reach in your focus area through Facebook.
Be Original
Ensure that your post and shared content is distinctive and original. This can be immensely helpful in helping your dental practice show up in news feeds. The algorithm used by Facebook is now able to identify content that is unique and value-adding for users.
Supplement your content by using hard facts, useful data, and good links. Be sure to mix in some e-books, infographics, blog posts, and white papers whenever possible.
Expand to Other Social Platforms
While it is true that Facebook has the widest reach across demographics, it is fast getting saturated. Competition is sky high and quite often really good content that you post is likely to be lost in the pile of Facebook user news feeds. Try linking your Facebook account with other social networks like Twitter to widen your reach.
Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Instagram are some networks you can use to popularize your content besides Facebook. This will better your chances of getting noticed in Facebook news feeds.
Make Good Use of Personal Facebook Accounts
The algorithm that Facebook uses is created such that it affords higher visibility to unique posts made from personal accounts rather than those from business pages. So, you can request your friends as well as staff members to like and share the dental content you post. This is one efficient yet simple means of enhancing visibility and turning it to your advantage.
Make Use of Captivating Visuals
Since videos and photos are highly popular with social users, the Facebook algorithm prefers posts that carry these. The ‘before’ and ‘after’ photographs from your different dental procedures carry great weight on Facebook. You can also come up with brief videos to widen your range in the news feed.
Ensure that the videos you post are those which the target audience identifies with. These should also satisfy their informational requirements. Try including a fun video when there is a local event. You can also post or share on Facebook video testimonials obtained from satisfied patients. It can be beneficial if you can get former patients to share their experiences in the video.
Turn the Spotlight on Happy Patients
You can make your content unique and achieve greater visibility in Facebook news feeds by sharing visuals of contented patients. When posting group pictures from any event, you can prompt people to tag themselves in these.
Try to highlight profiles of your staunch Facebook supporters who display their loyalty regularly and connect with you. You can garner greater visibility and attention on Facebook with this type of individualized attempts.
Encourage Online Reviews
Prompt current and former patients to post reviews of your dental procedures or practice on their individual Facebook pages. Then you can share these reviews on your business page. The chances of reviews topping the news feeds are greater.
Do not forget that Facebook as well as similar social platforms are intended for two-way communication and interaction. So, make an effort to acknowledge reviews in a suitable manner. If there are negative reviews, try to respond to them in a constructive manner and address the issues.
Reward Facebook Followers Suitably
There are options for ‘Offers’ and ‘Events’ provided at the top of every Facebook business page. With this, you can offer your loyal fans rebates or coupons or a special discount for a limited time. Visitors to your Facebook page will be able to claim the offer at the URL you provide for the purpose.
With Facebook, you also get to choose between pursuing targeted promotion via paid ads or by promoting offers free of cost. The option ‘Boost Your Offer’ permits you to extend your reach.
Build Up a Database of Contacts
Besides boosting the organic visibility of your business page on Facebook, a healthy database of contacts can enable you to draw in more people. You can do this by importing thousands of names from your mobile phone contact list or your email list.
Then, simply send them invites to join your Facebook business page. This way, your dental content will feature on the news feeds of all your contacts leading to publicity in each of their social networks too.
Pay Attention to Facebook Analytics
Facebook gives you comprehensive analytics regarding the operations and activity of your dental business page. This can help you pinpoint the type of posts and content with the most reach and response while encouraging involvement.
This will help you focus your efforts in specific areas that bring you the greatest exposure. It will ensure that your social media campaign stays on track to bring you high visibility constantly.
Reuse Prevailing Content
You may be pressed for time to come up with unique content every time to gain visibility on the Facebook news feed. When this happens, try to champion user generated content that is of good quality and is in line with your dental practice philosophy.
Some types of content that can be recycled include articles from reputed sources, blog posts, news stories, e-books, and LinkedIn content.
Keep Updating the Look of Your Facebook Page
In the dynamic field of social media networking, change is perpetual. Along with posting fresh content regularly, you need to keep changing the look of your Facebook page frequently.
Turn to unique or innovative visuals, catchy headlines, and a succinct description to give your page a makeover every now and then. You are sure to see a surge in your page’s Facebook visibility and activity every time such changes are implemented.
Putting these easy tips into practice the right way can turn the Facebook spotlight on your dental practice consistently. The long-term benefits are bound to be seen in the form of increased traffic to your dental practice.
About the Author
Naren Arulrajah is President and CEO of Ekwa Marketing, a complete internet marketing company that focuses on SEO, social media, marketing education, and the online reputations of dentists. With a team of 180+ full time marketers, www.ekwa.com helps dentists who know where they want to go, get there by dominating their market and growing their business significantly year after year. If you have questions about marketing your practice online, call 855-598-3320 to speak one-on-one with Naren.
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