A Guide For Growing Your Dental Practice Through Local Social Media
Social media has become an increasingly important way of staying connected to your patients and clients. Patients are increasingly turning to social media to get answers to their questions, check out local activities, and keep up with their friends and family. Moreover, dental practices that actively participate in social media networks can grow their local social media following. This can help you build more visibility and trust in your community. And that’s good for your practice as well as for your other social media accounts. Here are 8 ways you can increase the number of followers for your dental practice while improving your local visibility on social media.
Why Are Local Followers Important For Your Dental Practice
Local followers are important for boosting your social media presence in a few ways. For one thing, a large local following lets you know your patients are nearby. This can help you build more trust and familiarity with your community, which can translate into greater patient retention. It could also give you an advantage in attracting new patients who are searching for care in your area. Moreover, a strong local dental presence on social media can help you expand your brand to your community. You can use your accounts to highlight the services and products your dental practice provides and to advertise your news and upcoming events. This can help you build relationships with your local patients and differentiate your practice from other dentists in the area.
01. Engage With Local Hashtags
First, you should know what hashtags your community is using on social media. You can do this by looking at your competitors’ posts and seeing which hashtags are being used in the comments. You can also find hashtags by typing them into the search bar on Instagram and Facebook. Next, you need to engage with these hashtags by reposting and/or commenting on other people’s posts. More importantly, though, you should be posting your own related hashtags. These will help you learn about the community, find followers, and build a relationship with people in your area.
02. Create Local Hashtags
Using your chosen hashtags, you can create new hashtags for your community. For example, if your practice is in the city of Santa Monica, you might create the hashtag #sbdoctors. This will help you find related hashtags, which will make it easier for your followers to find your posts. And, if you’re also using a location-based app like Foursquare, you can use these hashtags to help your patients find each other. Creating local hashtags for your community is a great way to grow your dental practice through social media while naturally networking with others.
03. Host A Local Social Media Contest
Contests are a very popular way to engage with your local social media following for any dental practice. They’re fun, they get people talking, and they give you another opportunity to find out more about your community. To host a local contest, start by picking a local topic related to your practice. If your practice is located in Santa Monica, you might choose to host a contest related to beach days. If you’re looking for an activity to tie into your local contest, consider exploring local happenings in your community. For example, if your practice is in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley, you might tie the contest to a local event, like the Rose Parade or a Dodger game. Contest rules should be very specific. For example, if you’re hosting a contest related to a beach day, specify when the beach should be at the end of the contest.
04. Engage With Your Local Followers
When choosing which social media posts to publish, always choose those that will invite your local followers to engage with you. This will also help potential patients recognize your location even faster. Be sure to take time to engage with local followers for your dental practice’s social media account by researching location tags and location-based hashtags.
05. Engage With Local Businesses
Businesses are often interested in building relationships with local customers, as well as with dental practices. This is especially true if your customers are small businesses. Some businesses will set up near your office to provide services that your patients could potentially use, like car washes or manicure stations. If a business is opening in your area, make sure to reach out and let them know you’re in the area, as well as let them know about your practice.
06. Develop Relationships With Patients
One of the best ways to build relationships with your patients is to be on their doorsteps. This might seem obvious, but it’s often overlooked. When you’re visiting patients’ homes and businesses, always bring a treat. Even if you don’t have anything to give, it’s important to let patients know that you don’t think of them as just a number. Make sure to give each patient a card with your contact information. And, don’t be afraid to ask for their contact information as well. It’s easy to assume that each patient knows who you are, but it’s important to let them know that you are looking forward to meeting them.
07. Add Location Tags To Your Posts
When you’re publishing posts to your social media accounts, make sure to include location tags. This will help your local followers find your posts, as well as help your posts be more relevant in your community. For example, if you’re in Santa Monica, you might publish a post that describes an upcoming event near the beach. In this post, you can include a location tag for the beach. This will help your followers find this post when they view their social media feeds. And, if your followers are also in the same location, they’ll be able to view the post from the comfort of their homes.
08. Work With Local Influencers
Finally, you can also work with local influencers to increase the number of social media followers for your dental practice. This is because these influencers are typically well-respected members of your community, who have a large number of followers. Once you’ve found these influencers, set up a meeting with them as soon as possible. During this meeting, you’ll want to share your social media plans, as well as your dental practice and the services you offer. You’ll also want to share the social media posts you’ve already published, as well as the posts you’re planning to publish in the near future. This will help you get the most out of your social media marketing strategy and your local followers.
Conclusion
If you want your dental practice to increase its local social media following, you need to do more than simply post updates. The more effort you put into engaging with your local community, creating quality content, and developing strong relationships with your patients and influencers, the more followers you’ll gain for your dental practice on social media. A local social media following is so important for dental practice since they are a service-based industry.
To learn more about local hashtags and developing your social media strategy, explore Get Social School! With Get Social School, you learn just what social media can do for your dental practice and how to put your services in front of your dream patients. The best part? Get Social School is specifically made for dentists by a dentist! So it’s built to speak your language. Click here to explore if Get Social School is a natural next step for you. And if you are looking to discover more tips and tricks like these on social media, dive into our social media blog right here!
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