3 Ways to Increase Facebook Engagement

Solutions By Design

Social media has become an important tool for orthodontists to connect with patients, bring valuable updates to their patients, give tips and showcase their incredible work. Facebook for orthodontic practices is becoming small community hubs, sharing not only orthodontic related content but content outside the office walls, from community outreaches, fundraisers and community updates.

Social media is a necessity in today's digital age, especially for businesses. More than 40% of digital consumers use social networks to research new brands or products. Allowing your business to be discoverable on social media by crafting a social media strategy is important for business growth.

Facebook is a great tool for orthodontic practices to reach potential patients and new audiences. Here are 3 ways to increase Facebook engagement for orthodontists.

1. Go Live

Facebook Live is a great way to get your audience engaged and keep their attention. Facebook changed their algorithm in 2018 to focus on meaningful interactions. “the public content you see more will be held to the same standard -- it should encourage meaningful interactions between people,” said Mark Zuckerberg. According to Facebook “Page posts that generate conversation between people will show higher in News Feed. For example, live videos often lead to discussion among viewers on Facebook – in fact, live videos on average get six times as many interactions as regular videos.”  

The Facebook Live video view count climbed to 2 billion viewers last year and it is continuing to grow. 

2. Contests

One way to grow your social media following and engage organically is through contest through social media. Contests a great way to create engagement on social media, especially if your social media is stagnant or has fallen behind. Contests are a great opportunity to build a following in your community, especially if you are just starting out. Social media contest allows your patients and community (past or future patients) to get involved and participate. 

Depending on the prize, how someone will enter and determine eligibility will be up to each practice, the actions should be simple and clear. You want to make the process of entering your contest as clear and simple as possible.

For example, TLS Orthodontics designed a giveaway with the goal of increasing their Page Likes on Facebook. The instructions were clear, like the post, share the post and tag 2 people on the contest. Tagging people in the post encourages additional entries from those who were tagged and expose your practice to someone new. Read our blog on “4 Social Media Contest Ideas for Orthodontists,” for some inspiration. 

3. Video 

 

Video is a big way to get your audience engaged on Facebook. Upload your videos onto Facebook: Videos uploaded onto Facebook have, on average, 110 percent higher engagement rate and 478 percent higher share rate than YouTube links. 

Video is a perfect way to engage your followers through announcing events, contest winners, creating a demonstration or simply showcasing some smiles. Jernigan Orthodontics uses Facebook video to show a behind the scenes of their office, showcasing their fun team. 

Bunn Orthodontic Group has used video in the past to announce contest winners, which has been effective in getting comments, shares and reactions, all leading to Facebook to rank them higher, among news feeds. 

Social media is integrated into our daily lives and rapidly evolving. 69% of U.S. adults use at least one social media site. The chances that your target audience and ideal customer is on at least one social media platform is highly likely. Download selfie signs and a social media calendar of fun holidays for free here. This will help you stand above your competitors and help create new content for your social media platforms.