Over 70% of small businesses invest in social media marketing. Unfortunately, many businesses are still making costly mistakes when marketing their brands online. Without a plan in place, you could struggle to appeal to your patients, too.
Here are seven social media campaign mistakes to avoid for dental practices. Learning to dodge these mistakes can help you connect with your patients online.
You could have an easier time reaching new clients and expanding your dental practice, too.
Learn how to develop a stronger social media marketing strategy with these tips today.
1. Not Planning
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when marketing dental practices on social media is neglecting to strategize. Don't post content unless the post has a purpose. Otherwise, you could struggle to appeal to your patients' needs and interests.
Before you start posting on different social media platforms, determine which platforms your patients use most.
For example, if you're trying to appeal to busy professionals, you might focus more time and attention on LinkedIn and Facebook.
If you want to appeal to moms to attract new pediatric dentistry patients, consider Instagram.
To appeal to college students who need to start taking care of their own oral health, consider TikTok and Snapchat.
Develop a strategy with each buyer persona and platform in mind.
SMART Goals
As you begin marketing businesses online using social media, make sure to outline your goals. Choose goals that are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Sensitive.
Outlining your goals ahead of time can help you determine which tactics align with those goals.
For example, you might want to:
Generate brand awareness and recognition
Attract more people to your website
Establish your credibility as a thought leader
Gain more followers
Book more appointments
Once you outline your goals, you can determine which social media campaign elements fit your specific needs.
Audience Research
Remember, you'll want to appeal to distinct buyer personas through your social media posts. Determine who your target audience is based on:
Gender
Age
Income
Education
Career
Location
Hobbies
Pain points
Interests
Buying behaviors
Online behaviors
If your patients fall into more than one group, create multiple buyer personas.
Next, gather keyword research for each group. Determine what content they search for that's relevant to dentistry.
For example, a mom might look up "how to spot a cavity" or "when to take a child for their first dentist's appointment."
You can use these search queries to start creating relevant content for your target audience.
About 73% of consumers expect brands to understand their needs and expectations. About 50% would pay more for products/services if brands provided relevant content, too. Personalizing your social media posts can help you connect with your patients online.
Hashtags
Once you define your target audience, gather hashtag research. Determine which hashtags your patients are using to find content like yours on social media.
Don't make the mistake of stuffing a post with 30 hashtags. Instead, choose five or six that are relevant to the content. Avoid using generic hashtags, too.
Otherwise, your content could get lost among a sea of other posts.
2. Never Diversifying
When marketing dental practices using social media, it's important to diversify your posts. For example, you can create:
Still image posts
Carousels
Videos
Live videos
Reels
VR/AR content
Stores
Polls
Quizzes
Interactive content like polls and quizzes can help you generate more engagement. Engaging your audience online could make your brand more memorable.
Try going live a few times each month, too. You can leverage the fear of missing out to encourage people to watch before the live feed ends.
3. Neglecting Branding
As you begin using these tips, don't forget your dental practice's brand. Your brand includes visual components like your logo, color palette, and font style.
It also includes your voice, tone, and personality.
Maintaining brand consistency on social media can help awareness and recognition grow. Make sure your brand is unique, though. Otherwise, your dental practice could fade into the background.
Patients might confuse your brand for another, too.
4. Ignoring Comments
Once you start using these social media marketing tips, keep up with the responses you generate from your posts. Don't make the mistake of ignoring comments—good or bad.
After all, social media is a chance for you to engage your patients in real-time. Engaging your audience can show them you care about their needs and concerns.
For example, people might ask questions about oral hygiene or dental services. Take the time to respond to comments and questions as soon as possible.
Don't ignore or delete negative comments. Instead, communicate with the patient outside of the platform to help find a suitable solution all the while taking HIPAA guidelines into consideration. Offering helpful advice and solutions can show patients you care about their needs.
5. Posting Too Often
As you develop your social media marketing strategy, make sure to create a calendar for your social media posts as well. A calendar will keep you organized.
It can also help you determine if you're posting too often or too little.
Posting too often could encourage people to unfollow you. If you're not posting often enough, however, people might forget your brand.
6. Self-Promoting
Try to avoid selling your followers on specific dental services. Instead, use social media to offer help and advice. Showcase your experience and expertise in the dental industry, too.
For example, you can create a post that covers the benefits of cosmetic dentistry services. Though the post mentions a service, it focuses on benefits over heavy sales language.
Too much sales language could encourage people to unfollow your account.
7. Not Hiring a Pro
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is trying to juggle social media marketing on top of everything else. You might drop the ball or neglect your followers. Instead, consider hiring a digital marketing agency that offers social media marketing services.
Getting help from a professional team can save you time and money while ensuring your campaigns align with your goals.
You can learn more about the benefits of hiring a marketing agency for your dental office here.
Stronger Social: Dodge These Social Media Campaign Mistakes Today
Don't let these social media campaign mistakes cost you potential patients or followers. Instead, consider working with a digital marketing agency this year. With help, you can attract new patients to your dentistry practice with ease.
Looking for new ways to enhance your digital marketing strategy? We're to help.
Contact us to learn more about our marketing services today!