How to Build a Social Media Presence for Your Dental Practice 

In the second installment of our three-part Treatment Conversion Webinar Series (watch part 1 here), Complete Specialty Solution’s Santosh Patel and Sarah Ruberg, Founder and CEO of Our Thrive Tribe, discussed how you can use social media as a tool to attract and retain the right patients.

With over 10 years of experience working in both the dental and marketing industry, Sarah spoke to the important role social media plays in driving patient trust. While some see social media as a way to connect with patients on a more personal level, others view it as an invasion of privacy. We’ve rounded up some of the highlights of Sarah and Santosh’s conversation for you in this article.  

Using Social Media to Connect with Patients 

According to Sarah, social media is incredibly important. In fact, seven out of every 10 Americans use social media – meaning practices have numerous ways to connect with potential patients. And if you’re in the 30% that doesn’t utilize this opportunity, ready-to-act patients will find the other 70%.

Social media has become an essential tool for dental practices to connect with their patient base and community. When asked about what platforms dentists should use to make those connections, Sarah suggests Instagram and Facebook as the two most impactful platforms.  

Understanding the fundamentals of social media marketing is essential to reaching out to potential customers and engaging with current patients. But Sarah also recognized that posting on social media can be intimidating for many dental practices.  

While TikTok is a popular platform, Sarah recommends practices using whatever platform feels most natural for them. She adds that it is not necessary to force yourself into awkward situations such as dancing on video.  

Instead, dentists should strive to be authentic and let their patients feel the vibe of what they enjoy doing as a practice.  Ultimately it is important for dental practices to utilize social media to connect with their communities and make those meaningful connections by giving them a true feel for who you are as a provider.

Santosh: “Is there a formula that should be used when practices are thinking about how they’re going to engage [on social media]?”
Sarah: “Post what makes you feel comfortable … so long as it’s consistent. Consistency over quantity is most important. ”  

Getting Started With Social Media for Your Practice 

Sarah also offered advice on how to get comfortable creating posts on social media. She suggested that instead of posting too frequently, start by making a few quality posts and gradually build up from there. By taking the time to analyze data and create engaging content, dental practices can successfully increase their reach through social media marketing. 

She then explained that it is important to be clear, rather than clever, when optimizing your profiles for searchability. Be direct about what services you provide and once you get comfortable, you can begin working in more puns or cheeky captions to your profile. This clarity will help potential patients find you faster.  

Take your time when starting out. Go one platform at a time, set up your profile, and start posting! And remember, consistency is key. Whether you’re posting once a day, or every Monday and Thursday – both your followers and search engines will start to register that cadence and look to you as a reputable source. This, in turn, will lead to increased engagement and growth for the practice. 

Watch the Webinar 

Overall, Sarah emphasized how crucial it is for practices to understand and make use of social media in order to build trust with their patients by showcasing the practice’s team and values. In this way, people feel like they know the practice before they even set foot in the door.  

If you are interested in learning how to successfully leverage social media platforms for your dental practice, or you simply want to maximize your profits, watch the rest of Sarah and Santosh’s conversation now by clicking the video below.

Ready to turn more clients into repeat business? Talk to a Socius representative and we’ll help you out.