Let Your Dental Patients Build Trust For You

Scott Cook, the Co-Founder of Intuit, once said, “A brand is no longer what we tell the customer it is. It’s what customers tell each other it is.” Your practice grows when your patients participate.

One of the best ways to create advocates for your practice is to make it easy and fun for patients to be involved in what you share on your social media pages. Engaging with your patients on social media creates powerful word-of-mouth recommendations by allowing your patient’s friends and family members to see what a great experience and relationship they have with you.

A study found that 71% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase based on social media referrals. What you say on social media matters, but what your patients are saying on social media matters more!

But how do dental practice get patients involved? We have found that to get patients to participate in your dental practice’s social media, it has to be easy and fun.

Make It Easy

It’s no secret that sticking to the schedule is critical when working in a dental practice. Make sure that your in-practice social media activities take two minutes or less. Both you and your patients have busy schedules and most of the time, patients want to get back to their day as soon as they can.

Some patients may not use social media often or aren’t familiar with how to use apps. To these patients, sharing something on Facebook or writing a Google review can seem like a daunting task.

Train your dental team on how to explain the simplest way to share on social media. (My Social Practice has an app to help!) Your patients will be willing to advocate for you if you make it easy and quick.

Another important point to keep in mind is “What is the patient getting for participating?” Small incentives go a long way. Whether your patient is liking your page to get the doctor to perform a fun challenge, snapping a photo to support a good cause, or writing a review for a chance to win a prize, keep it fun by making sure there’s something in it for them.

Getting your patients involved with your social media efforts will undoubtedly benefit your online reputation. Regardless of how someone first hears about your practice, learning more about your practice becomes digital and social. If someone recommends your practice over lunch or receives your direct mail postcard, the first thing they will do is take out their smartphone to look you up. When a potential patient sees the friendly faces of your office and patient photos on your pages, they will begin to like and trust you before they step into your office.

You’ll build trust and find new patients when you use social media as a platform for communicating your own unique practice story. Through people, and through relationships, your practice will shine online and be a reminder to your community that dentistry isn’t a commodity. The way you practice dentistry each day makes a difference which in turn strengthens relationships, increases reach and, builds a strong reputation.

Effective dental social media marketing belongs to dentists who care about people, who are conscious of the opportunity dental social media marketing provides, and who believe that genuine relationships matter.

The world looks a little different now. Social media is stronger and more important for businesses than it was pre-pandemic. Embrace what this shift in social media marketing can do for your dental practice.

My Social Practice has spent over 10 years building tools to make sharing your practice’s story online easy and intuitive. Find out how your practice can see success in 2020, chat with us!

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