The following article continues the article topic from February last year.
In a February 2024 issue of Trojan Today, I wrote about setting up a Facebook business page to increase your local presence and give you a medium to advertise, share your culture, and solicit new patients. Now that you have your Facebook business page, what do you post? It can be overwhelming to think about keeping that page filled with engaging content.
Make a list of recurring items throughout the year.
- Work anniversary for each staff member.
- Happy Birthday wishes to each staff member.
- Welcome each month or season.
These items share your office culture.
Post your office hours and contact details once each month.
Publish your office hours and phone number during the first few days of the month. You can cover holiday closures or special hours in these posts, such as emergency hours on any particular day, and federal and state holiday observances. Place your logo and primary phone number in a photo, and include the full hours, email contact information, website, and other relevant details in the copy. This keeps your photo nice and clear and prevents the Facebook algorithm from thinking you have too much text on your image, which can affect the placement of your post on users’ home page scroll.
Post each month about a healthy habit that contributes to oral health.
If you have a practice blog or newsletter that discusses healthy oral and overall good health habits, share it in a post when it becomes available and throughout the month so no one misses it. No blog or newsletter? No problem. Here’s an example of a quick and easy post for this kind of topic.
“Do you brush for 2 minutes each time you brush? Not many people do. How do you make sure you are brushing as long as you should? You can set a timer, hum a tune, or brush during a long commercial break on TV. Are you a parent? How do you help your child get two full minutes of brushing?”
This example begins with a catchy question, offers some helpful tips, and encourages engagement with a call to action – share how you get your kids to brush for two full minutes.
Holidays! You can find a holiday in each month about which to create a post.
- January: Welcome to the new year.
- February: Are you open on President’s Day? Do you want to share a Valentine’s wish?
- March: Show how your office staff decorated for St. Patrick’s Day.
- April: April showers bring May flowers.
- May: Flowers
You get the idea.
Dental Health observations are everywhere.
A quick Google search can get you a list of special days, weeks, or months to promote a dental or overall health awareness topic or health professional.
- Children’s Dental Health Month
- Dental Hygiene Month
- Hearth Health Month
- Dentists Day
- Registered Dental Hygienist Day
Organizations such as the American Heart Association, the American Dental Association, and primary health insurance companies often provide information on healthy living on their websites. Share links to that information on your social account.
Create a post or two each month soliciting or sharing reviews.
Do you have your Google Business page set up and access to it? You should. Grab your 5-star reviews from there and share them. Ask patients to share their positive experiences with you or provide a word or phrase that you can use. “I’m glad your experience was good today. Can I use that?”
Create a post each month on services available in your office.
Do you run any monthly specials on cosmetic or routine dental services? Here is where you can highlight them. Or simply make your patients and prospective patients aware of the services you offer at your practice.
- Teeth whitening
- Invisalign
- Get-ready-for-school exams
- Implants
- Veneers
Include any new equipment to help you deliver stellar service to your patients. A new CEREC machine for making crowns is a significant upgrade for your office. Share the benefits of making crowns in your office lab.
Maintain a content calendar to organize and share the creative workload.
Your content calendar can be as simple as a month-per-page calendar that you make notes in, or it can be as complicated as an Excel spreadsheet with multiple columns and color-coded rows.
I grew up in a household of teachers. I fill out content calendars like my dad filled out lesson plans. Put in the regular topics and posts you want to have on the calendar several months ahead. Add more detail as you get closer to the dates.
At the end of this article, you’ll find a basic content calendar for a fictitious general dentist office in a college town.
A content calendar also allows you to share your plans and get help from staff for content. They will know what is coming and arrange “photo ready” days to take pictures around the office.
Conclusion
You can establish a routine for your social media tasks just like you do for your insurance tasks. Establish a process and outline your plan. Then, dedicate a little time to complete it. Don’t have the time or desire? Some companies can manage your social media for you. Look for a company knowledgeable in dentistry. You can delegate everything to them. Need assistance in making it easier to handle yourself so you can control the content? Hootsuite, Buffer, Sendible, and more will pop up in a Google search for social media management software for small businesses. Want help with content specific to dental offices? Check out programs like Connect90, which offers customizable content for dental offices and a platform for managing all your publishing in one place.
Managing your office’s social media can be fun if you find the right mix of content and tools to help you. Just as you should keep your content a mix of 70% fun, nurturing posts to 30% selling your products and services, will keep your audience happily engaged with your practice, finding the right balance of how much you create on your own and how much of the process you delegate to another person, program, or outside company, will keep you happily engaged in your practice marketing.
Nikki Myers is the Marketing Coordinator for Trojan Professional Services. She has been with Trojan for more than 17 years, and the Editor of Trojan Today since 2022.
Read More From Nikki:
Trojan Today | Maximize Your Reach: The Power of Direct Mail Marketing
Trojan Today | Efficiently Create Multiple Social Posts
Trojan Today | Newsletters: So Much More Than a Writing Chore