8 Useful Facebook Tips for Dental and Medical Practices

Approximately 80 percent of people use the Internet to research health information – including reviews and information about new doctors and hospitals. Many of those people use Facebook as a pre-visit consultation. They draw their first impressions from their experiences online and may even visit a social media page before stumbling upon a practice website. Patients are paying close attention to how many fans are on a doctor’s Facebook page, as well as the nature of the conversation on the page and whether the dentist or physician is interacting with patients online. Your Facebook page is an integral part of your business, and it must be maintained and updated frequently.


1. Take Control of Your Online Presence
If you don’t take control of your reputation online – someone else will. Many doctors feel too busy to manage a Facebook page in addition to an office and website. But whether or not you create and manage an office Facebook page; your practice is being talked about. The question is whether you are a part of the conversation. It is imperative that you not only join in the online dialogue, but also assume responsibility for it. You have the power to direct the majority of the public’s online perception about your practice by establishing, maintaining and promoting an active Facebook page.

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Twitter for Your Practice

Twitter is a social networking website that consists of short and quick messages, referred to as “tweets.” In this fast-paced world, people seek Twitter for quick information from their friends, family, favorite celebrities, and yes….their dentist and doctors.

Twitter describes itself as an information network, and with over 340,000,000 tweets posted per day, there is information about everything on Twitter. Once a tweet is posted, it is public to anyone who is interested in it. People can also share your tweet with their followers (referred to as a “retweet”) and they can respond to tweets you’ve posted (referred to as a “mention”).

With over 140,000,000 users it is likely that your most social patients, those likely to make recommendations, are active Twitter users. To encourage your patients to interact with you on Twitter, make sure they know you have an account, and that you’re active on it or at least respond to your followers. Adding a click-able button on your dental/medical website or the bottom of your email signature will intrigue your patients to visit your Twitter stream.

Once you gain your ideal number and quality of followers, try keeping your Twitter audience engaged. Tweet fun or little-known dental facts, doctor jokes, physician comics, upcoming office events, promotions, and perks exclusively available to your followers.

A clever idea to promote your practice on Twitter is to offer some sort of reward or incentive to those following you. If you tweet something like, “First ten people to retweet this get a free toothbrush!” then your followers will share that post with their followers - thus gaining exposure for your practice, and learn to visit your page frequently. Open-ended posts such as “Take a look at our new ___!” can start a conversation with your Twitter community. This makes it a great way to start and build those personal relationships you pride yourself on, AND a great tool to receive feedback and input on a new process you just implemented, or an older system you’re considering adjusting. Just make sure you or your office staff set aside at least a few minutes each week to respond to Twitter posts.

We offer social networking packages that include setup of Twitter, Facebook, and Blogger pages. We also offer unlimited on-demand updates. Meaning, you can call or email us with facts, events, and promotions and we will be happy to post them on your social networking pages for you. Call us at 888-423-9235 to join the social networking world today!