Many dental social media pages are made up of stock photos, promo posts, and reminder posts that aren’t as personal or compelling as they could be. Patients typically choose a dentist based on trust and comfort, but without visiting your office in person, it’s hard for them to feel that from you. That is why your marketing and social presence matter so much when attracting new patients. The ProSites Team will show you real ways to make your dental practice’s social media feel more personal and build trust.
How You Can Make Your Dental Practice More Personal
Put Faces to the Practice
Seeing the people behind the practice name is the first and easiest way to build trust with potential patients. You’ll want to use content ideas that will introduce and involve staff members like the front desk staff, dentists, dental assistants, and orthodontists that work at your practice. Fun facts and keeping things light can support a friendly interaction and help people get to know the personality behind your staff. Also, you can mix stock photos with real team photos to add more personality and better showcase your unique practice.
Show Behind the Scenes Content
Showing patients behind the scenes can give dental practices a unique perspective, since many people don’t typically get to see those moments. When we think about BTS content, it can be anything from office tours and waiting room tours to day-in-the-life content. You can also show how you prepare for certain services or even fun staff events and team-building activities you do. Keep things casual for this type of content and save the polished look for other types.
Speak to Your Audience and Patients Like a Person
You’re not a robot, and you’re technically not a business either; you’re a person. Stick to warm, friendly, personable type captions with a conversational voice and less clinical wording. Social media should be the place to be less professional and showcase a friendlier, neighbor-type side.
Be Transparent
Being transparent on social media and sharing real-life examples of what patients can expect can help ease dental anxiety and build trust. Show what to expect during a first visit, a cleaning, or even a filling, as this can be both interesting and beneficial to add to your content lineup. Sharing Q&A videos can also ease anxiety and reassure patients with questions or concerns.
Share Patient Wins
Sharing patient wins, especially before-and-after teeth whitening or cosmetic procedures, is a great way to celebrate your patients and help them feel good about their new smile. It showcases your skill while putting the patient in the spotlight and giving viewers a look into your process.
Common Mistakes That Make a Practice Feel Impersonal
Knowing the common mistakes dental practices make that can feel impersonal can help you avoid them. Here’s a look at these common mistakes that we’ve seen from dental practices that can make them seem impersonal:
- Using only stock photos or generic graphics anyone has access to
- Ignoring comments, messages, reviews, and replies
- Posting only promos and discounts to get sales
- Posting inconsistently and skipping out on engagement
- Not utilizing social to get you in the community
Although these aren’t all the mistakes we’ve seen in dental offices’ online presence, they are a few common challenges you’ll want to avoid. Keep reading to find our checklist of 10 ways to make your practice feel more personal this month and avoid these mistakes.
Keeping Your Social Media Consistent and Compliant
Keep your social media account updated consistently so you stay top of mind and keep coming up in front of new faces. Building a strategic content plan and schedule can help you stay on top of your presence. As a dental practice, remember that you have certain compliance standards to uphold. For example, you should always get written consent for patient photos. Also, follow all HIPAA standards and avoid anything that could identify the patient.
10 Ways to Make Your Practice More Personal
Making your practice feel more personal to your audience and potential patients isn’t difficult, and it can take only a few steps to make a big difference. Here are ten simple steps that you can implement this month to make your dental practice more personal while staying active on social media
- Replace any stock images on your profile and use company images, photos of your team, and real office photos.
- Write a short bio and fun fact for every team member, so you have them on file for social content.
- Post a “Meet the Team” series with the bio and facts you gathered.
- Film a 30-second “what to expect” video about a service.
- Share one community moment from this month.
- Reply to every single comment, message, and reply promptly.
- Rewrite your bio to match your tone and what you want to attract
- Set up a consent form for patients to sign so you can take photos and videos of your work for social media.
- Add one interactive story post per week, whether it be a poll, question, or another option.
- Block out one hour to batch film next month’s content.
Building a Personable Dental Practice
As a dental practice, it’s important to be personable and attract people through the community you’ve built, since trust is a huge factor in a patient choosing your practice over another. Letting patients see the people who are behind the practice name can help them feel more comfortable trusting you with their smile. Whether people are just looking for a new dentist, trying to ease dental anxiety, or scoping out their options on social media, it’s important to keep up with a consistent social presence. If you’re looking for guidance on staying present on social media, contact us, and we’ll help you build a full social media strategy!