Social media is a big place. How big? According to one study, 1.8 billion people use Facebook every day, and 97% of adults online use at least one social media account. Aside from the amount of people using social media daily, the tools and marketplace are changing. One study found that internet users have an average of 7 social media accounts, which is up from 3 in 2012. With a growing number of online users, and an increasing diversity of tools, how can your dental practice effectively use social media? Below we outline some ideas that will help your dental practice come up with a social media game plan.
Establish a Brand Voice
One of the hardest hurdles to leap can be developing a brand identity and a brand voice. A brand identity refers to how your dental practice is represented in all of your advertising and marketing collateral. A brand voice is how your brand communicates with people, and is a direct representation of the personality of your dental practice. Each is critical to having a successful social media plan, but we’ll focus on developing a brand voice.
When establishing a brand voice, it’s important to consider the public-facing personality that you want to represent your dental practice. Try to identify the personality traits that comprise the way your dental practice communicates. Begin by prioritizing your brand values, and what your dental practice wants to represent. This can be difficult, but remember that no one can determine your brand values except you. Ask yourself: “what does my dental practice value? What do we believe in?” By answering these questions, you can begin to map out your brand values, and further understand your brand voice.
Brand voice and brand values are important, since a recent poll found that 64% of people cite shared values as the main reason they have a relationship with a brand.
Create a Consistent, Full Brand Experience
After your brand voice is in place the next point of focus is creating a cohesive, consistent brand experience. A brand experience refers to how your dental practice interacts with your audience at every single point, and the way in which an audience experiences your brand. The key to successful brand experience is creating a positive, consistent brand experience. When a family visits your dental practice or interacts with it online, they are constantly evaluating the level of care that they receive. If your dental practice can deliver consistent, positive experiences for your patients, then they come to rely upon that stellar level of service. Consistency is so important, that one study discovered that 87% of customers think brands need to put more effort into providing a consistent experience. Additionally, 72% of customers will share their positive experiences with 6 or more people, and 67% of people cite a bad experience as a reason for selecting a competing brand.
Brand consistency goes a long way in maintaining a healthy relationship between your dental practice and its audience.
Create a Content Strategy
Social media is nothing if you don’t have anything to share, which is why you should spend some time creating a content strategy for your social media channels. When creating your strategy, consider your brand values, and do your best to align your content with those values. Additionally, we suggest planning your content5 strategy at least a month out so that you have an idea of what will be posted in the coming months. Try to capitalize on popular holidays with themed posts, and share some fun news about your team (with their permission.) Don’t be too rigid when planning your content strategy, and allow yourself some wiggle room to post things that pop up at a moment’s notice.
With a thorough content strategy, you can rid yourself of guesswork and social media posting anxiety buy working ahead.
Share the Right Content
A key part of a content strategy is sharing the content that your audience wants. There are no set rules for content, however, some content plays better with audiences than others. For instance, Hubspot conducted a study on the types of content which generate the most social interactions. They found the most popular content types to be: lists, videos, how-to articles, what-posts, and why-posts. When planning your social media content strategy, consider using one of these types of posts as a vehicle for your ideas.
Check out our post for more information on shareable content.
Have an Emergency Plan
“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” While this quote encapsulates John Steinbeck’s classic novel “Of Mice and Men,” it is equally relevant to real world issues – and particularly helpful for social media. For social media, it’s important for you to have an emergency plan for a number of scenarios. You need to be prepared to respond to social media criticism, and to avoid it all together. You should be prepared to hand over your social media tasks to a new team member when your staff changes. You should also be prepared for the rare scenario of a social media hack.
Ask yourself a few questions to measure your preparedness. Is your brand voice strong enough and defined enough to handle the transition between different social media managers? Do you have a way to handle social media commenters that are publicly upset with your dental practice? These are just a few important questions to ask yourself, and they can go a long way in preparing you and your dental practice for the worst.
Smile Savvy makes Social Media Easy
Social media is tantamount to obtaining larger, local brand visibility and obtaining new patients. Smile Savvy provides social media management that can help your dental practice cut through the noisy social space and reach more local patients. Click here for more information about our social media services.
