Don’t Know What to Post on Social Media? Follow These 5 Simple Guidelines

by Jackson Hadley, My Social Practice

What’s the No. 1 roadblock preventing dental teams from building an active, vibrant social media presence? They simply don’t know what to post! Learn the basics of how to create social media content that builds relationships and grows your dental practice.

Here’s a typical scenario: A dentist decides it’s time to get their practice on social media and creates Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. The team posts every day for about a week introducing themselves and connecting with patients. However, the initial enthusiasm soon wears off, and as generating new post ideas becomes more difficult, the team posts less and less. Eventually, their social media pages appear all but abandoned, and hundreds of opportunities to create connections and attract new patients are lost.

What’s the solution? Building your practice’s social media presence is all about providing meaningful, relevant, personal content on a consistent basis. In doing so, you not only introduce yourselves to more potential patients, you give existing patients the chance to share your content and become advocates for your practice.

Share these five principles of effective social media content with your team, and brainstorm some ideas together. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can come up with a list of interesting, shareable posts that will help you grow your online presence — and in turn, your practice.

1. Provide Value
First and foremost, the best way to build a strong social media following is by simply providing content that is worth people’s time. While brainstorming post ideas, ask yourself “What can I share that would improve patients’ lives?” Then, think about the best way to present it. It could be educational, or just something to make your fans smile!

2. Make it Personal
One of the greatest strengths of social media is its ability to build a sense of community. Focus on the needs, interests, and personalities of your patients and team members. By doing so, you create connections not as a business and its customers, but as friends.

3. Invite Interaction
Fan participation — such as comments, Likes and shares — amplifies the reach and effectiveness of your posts. But getting people to interact isn’t as simple as tacking “please Like this” to the end of all your posts. In addition to encouraging spontaneous interaction by providing high-quality content, occasionally design elements in your posts that give fans a good reason to leave a Like or comment (like a contest or giveaway).

4. Use Interesting Visuals
Incorporating images, infographics, photos, and videos is essential to creating effective content. A 2015 study reported that social media content with relevant visuals receives 94 percent more views than content without. Not only do images and videos make your posts more attractive, they are highly shareable and favored by social media algorithms — meaning they will appear on more news feeds.

5. Have Fun Together
If you’re having fun creating and sharing content, you can bet your fans are also having fun following and interacting with you on social media! The growth difference between practices enthusiastically participating in social media together and those who aren’t is like night and day. Involve your whole team, especially those who think they’re “too old for this.” Get creative. Don’t be afraid to show your lighthearted side.

Find out more about these principles and how to apply them in My Social Practice’s free ebook, How to Create Social Media Content That Grows Your Dental Practice. It’s the ultimate resource to help you never struggle with posting again!

You know your patients. Share content that meets their needs and encourages them to get to know your team better. As you build relationships in-office and online, they will be more willing to introduce your practice to family and friends, helping you find new patients and grow your business.


About the Author
jackson-hadleyJackson Hadley is a marketing strategist with My Social Practice, which provides a complete social media marketing solution for dental, orthodontic and optometric practices. A public relations specialist, Jackson combines the advertising and trust-building aspects of social media to help businesses connect authentically with their communities.

 

Interested in contributing to Oral Health Group’s dental blog? Email krysten@newcom.ca for more information!

RESOURCES