The Importance of Implementing a Strong Social Media Program for your Dental Practice

A few years ago social media may have been considered a pastime, a creative way to connect with family and friends.  But that is quickly changing. Today, social media marketing is imperative for business growth. It provides a distinct competitive advantage. As social media influence grows, smart business owners will come to recognize it not as a pastime or an occasional project, but as a way of doing business.

Your social media strategy

All too often the way businesses approach social media is similar to how people approach dieting: the initial heightened excitement slowly turns into discouragement, and eventually, total disillusionment. So that’s why it is so important to have a strategy in place. A successful social media campaign begins with a strategy.  You can increase the odds of achieving your goals by thinking ahead and customizing an approach that works for your specific objectives.

If you are a business owner that is looking to engage your customers online, it can be rather confusing to know which social media  platform to spend the majority of your time.

The key to choosing the right social marketing platform for your business is to know on which sites most of your customers and prospects frequent.  If you wish to pursue the right social media marketing strategy, you may need to focus on more than just one platform.

Before choosing the right social media platforms you need to take into account the characteristics of your organization; who is your audience?  What is the nature of your message?

Facebook: This is indeed one of the most popular social media platforms for dental practices. Facebook can certainly offer your brand with the maximum online exposure and will help drive traffic to your website.

Content is king

On the Internet content is king and always will be. Keep your content fresh and engaging. The Internet is the information superhighway and most people are searching for information all the time. 

The information on a website is its content. Generally the more useful and interesting content a website has the more successful it will be. This is because more people will want to visit it again and again; this is especially true if a website is constantly adding more and more content on a regular basis.  It doesn’t have to be just written content; it can be video and visually inviting graphics as well.

Social media is a river that runs 24/7, and once you establish a presence it’s vital to keep your feet in the water. Companies that don’t plan a well thought-out content development strategy ahead of time can easily find themselves watching the conversation flow by.

It’s all about setting goals

In order to be effective, your social media marketing efforts have to be ongoing. There is no finish line. As you reach goals, be sure to create new ones. Otherwise, you’re efforts will stagnate. By understanding the importance of having an ongoing social media strategy, you will be ahead of the game from the start.

Success takes time

Unfortunately, there is no magic button for social marketing success; it takes a lot of long-term tender love and care. This means monitoring your Facebook & Twitter page to ensure that everyone is happy with you, keeping watch of new trends, creating fun contests, keeping an editorial calendar, posting excellent content, writing, editing, posting, engaging with your fans (in as close to real time as possible), as well as photography, graphic design, video production; these are all important components to your social media marketing program.

Have Fun!

Social media is here to stay, but it doesn’t need to be overwhelming.  Create a plan, define your goals and invest in training for those on your team who handle the social media for your practice. Once these steps are taken, you are on your way to creating a buzz about your business and let the world know you are the best at what you do. There is no better medium to achieve these goals more than social media.

Solutions by Design  is excited to announce a new social media program in conjunction with its SEO  program.  This is the ultimate social media marketing package for orthodontic practices.  This will be a limited exclusive program offering exclusive territories.  This is an exciting opportunity for those who want to grab hold of their target market with social media programs.