A Guide For Training Your Team How To Manage Your Dental Social Media

How strong is your dental practice’s social media game? Would you give yourself an A+ or are you just scraping by with a passing grade?

Whatever your answer is, there’s always room for improvement. Even if you’re on the ball as a business owner, you might still be missing opportunities to make the most of your social media profiles.

It’s not enough to simply set up a profile and post an occasional photo to your Instagram feed. Your patients’ perception of you is directly impacted by what you do on social media.

So, that does mean you need to be engaging with your audience regularly and providing them with the useful and engaging content they crave when they log onto social media!

Yes, you are a dental practice, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create an enthusiastic following online! Let’s talk about that a little bit more.

Why Social Media Matters for Dentists

It feels like not so long ago that “dental marketing” was really just focused on printed brochures and word of mouth referrals. 

The truth is, social media marketing has really become the “new” word of mouth referral and we have WAY more control over it. 

Sites like Facebook and Instagram are the modern day yellow pages. They’re the resources people turn to when they want to find a new healthcare provider – and that includes dentists.

I recently read that 57% of consumers follow brands, including service providers, on social media. Does this surprise you? It just goes to show that it’s not just about super trendy influencers and celebrities!

People are following brands in their community to learn more about them and see what their vibe is all about. And here’s some more good news: 89% of those followers will go on to spend money with the brands they follow. Huge opportunity, right?

Social media marketing is one of the best ways to stay connected with current patients AND attract new ones – and you don’t even need to be a marketing expert to make the most of it!

Benefits of Social Media Marketing for Dentists

• Social media marketing builds brand awareness. The more often people in your area see your practice on social media, the more likely they are to make an appointment with you.
• Social media marketing generates referrals. People might not normally think of their dentist between visits, but a good marketing campaign on Facebook or Instagram can inspire people to recommend you to their friends and family members.
• Social media marketing is one of the best ways to generate traffic to your website and encourage people to learn more about your practice.
• With social media, you can learn more about your patients and find out which services are most important to them, which will allow you to grow your practice in the RIGHT ways.

5 Benefits of Passing Social Media Onto Your Dental Practice Team Member

Ok so now that you know WHY you need to be on social media, you’re probably thinking, “Okay, but I definitely don’t have time to be making and posting a bunch of content. I’m busy working in the mouth all day long!”

Totally get it. I was a dentist myself and I distinctly remember how busy and hectic the days can get. That is why I am a HUGE proponent of passing your social media onto a team member. Here are just some of the biggest benefits of doing that:

Benefit #1: Instantly receive more time back in your day.

By passing off your social media to someone else, you are freeing up your time to do what you are best at! Social media needs to be done but if you are the one doing it, then there is less time left over for your other business priorities.

Benefit #2: Your social media becomes more consistent.

Consistency is key in social media marketing. For your audience to recognize your brand, you must be consistently posting and engaging with people. This helps you grow your own audience engagement and reach. If you’re busy, you can’t be consistent and therefore, you will be less successful. However, a team member can dedicate 30 minutes a day to social media, easily!

Benefit #3: You empower a team member and get them more invested in the practice.

You want your team members to be a part of your team and care about the success of the practice! By trusting them with the responsibility to run your social media, you are allowing them to be an integral part of growing your practice. This will end in them being more invested and in turn, more committed to your brand.

Benefit #4: You get to keep your social media in-house. 

Keeping your content creation and social media marketing in-house (rather than hiring an agency) is good for keeping costs as low as possible. It also allows you total control over your branding and voice. The truth is, no one knows your brand like you and your team do, so letting your team members handle your social media is the best way to make sure the right content is being put out there.

Benefit #5: Your team members know your real goals.

When you hire someone outside your practice to run your social media, they will want to show you all kinds of “vanity” metrics to make it seem like they’re doing a great job. However, converting followers to patients is a long game that goes deeper than just the number of views on a single Instagram Reel. Your team understands your goals whereas an agency just wants to show you impressive stats that might not really matter to you or your practice in the end.

I hope this inspired you to consider training one (or more) of your team members to take ownership of your practice’s social media! These days, it’s so important that you show up consistently on these platforms and speak to your dream patients. 

Trust me: your team WANTS to help and they have GREAT ideas! Empower them and stop leaving money on the table!

If you are considering handing your social media marketing over to a team member, you will definitely want to download my free webinar on how I passed my social media onto my team member when I was practicing dentistry! There are lots of good tips in there and I promise, you will feel so inspired after watching it. 

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Download my free webinar on how I passed social media onto my team for my dental practice.