Finding new patients with social media for dentists

Research has shown that in 2021, 20.5 million Australians have been active on social media and that almost 80% of the adult population have at least one social media account. These figures show that social media for dentists can be a powerful marketing tool if used correctly. 

To begin with, whichever platform you choose, you will need to set up a business account instead of a personal account. This is because a professional or business profile will grant you access to specialised features, allowing you to promote your posts and see detailed analytics about your profile. You can find out who accesses your profile, the demographics of your audience, which posts attract the most attention and which posts have been of least interest. These analytics will help you to improve your profile, attract more followers and widen your audience further.

Social media advertisements

Social media platforms themselves are eager to help you set up an account with them. For adverts on social media, you can set up your own budget so that you are not charged more than you can afford or want to pay. Once you have selected a budget, the platform, such as Facebook, will automatically show your advertisements to a targeted audience.

Facebook provides a selection tool to help you choose three types of audiences for your content and advertisements: core audience, custom audience and lookalike audience. By advertising to all three, you will ensure that your message is seen and heard by as many people as possible. This includes prospective patients that you have chosen by location and personal information such as age, gender and interests.

The custom audience is made up of patients whose contact details you may already have from engagements with your dental practice, whether online or in person. Finally, the lookalike audience consists of potential patients who have similar interests to your custom audience. The more people that are exposed to your advertisements, the greater the chance is of them contacting you either to book an appointment or find out more information.

Maintaining your profile

Rather than focusing on advertisements alone, you should also maintain your social media account whenever possible by adding in new posts. Whether they are short or long, written articles or video clips, it is important that you continue to engage with your viewers and followers and keep them informed of what is happening at your dental practice and why they should choose to address their dental needs with you. 

It is important that your page stands out from amongst your competitors and that it is memorable so that viewers return to find out more. It should also be easily found. By using hashtags, a memorable name, keywords and content marketing you can receive more exposure. It is also important that you continue to emphasise your promises of good quality dental care and customer service to encourage prospective patients to follow your profile and direct them on to the next steps to get in touch and visit you in person.