By Lucy McCarthy, Marketing Executive at Hive Business.

I am often asked what the best things to share on Facebook are. Here are my top five things you should consider adding to your news feed:

Blogs and other pages from your website

Many practices spend lots of money on their website and spend months getting it right, for it to sit there in the hope that someone will find it. You need to make sure that the pages are updated regularly to include up to date information (including prices, new treatments and staff members) and relevant content on the practice blog.

Share pages from your website, such as; the team page with a short introduction to who that person is and what they do at the practice, any treatment pages and even the opening hour’s page to show when people can visit you.

If you update your blog regularly, you need to share the content across your social media channels. Around 5% of your social posts should aim to educate your followers on dentistry and your blog is the perfect tool to do this. I recommend sharing your blogs on social media a few times initially and for as long as they are relevant to your followers. If they are topical blogs then they will go out of date and it isn’t good practice to share irrelevant content!

News articles

Last year you couldn’t scroll through any mainstream news outlet without reading about the sugar tax. But who is better positioned to give their opinion and tips for avoiding sugar than your friendly local dentist?

Many practices are afraid to give their opinion on such topics but it shows your patients that you’re up to date with the industry debates. Obviously, I advise you not to be too controversial with your opinions but joining the conversation will create an opportunity for your patients to engage with you.

Of course, news stories do not have to be as serious as sugar tax and children’s rotting teeth! The dog that got braces or the breakthroughs in the dental world are great stories to share with your audience and will likely boost engagement.

Practice activity

Promote and share the different activities taking place both in and out of the practice, including:

• Sponsorship or support for any charity events your team is involved in.
• Patient presentations to tell them about different services.
• Welcoming new staff members with a picture and a short bio.
• Thank you cards or even gifts from happy patients.
• Staff birthday celebrations.
• Anything going on in your local area (festivals, late night shopping, new shops etc.).

Giving your patients an insight into the personality of the practice and the team will help them get an idea of the type of experience they can expect when they visit you.

If you constantly bombard your followers with dental news and information about treatments they will likely disengage. It is about finding the right balance between the different types of content you’re sharing. We recommend 15% of your updates should be about you or your team.

Videos

A large portion of your posts (around 80%) should be about the difference you’ve made to your patients’ lives. You’ll be able to do this by posting testimonials, case study blogs and visual content such as videos. Videos are a great way of sharing what you do and why people should come to visit you.

Where possible, always consider using a professional to produce your videos or invest in some quality equipment. There is nothing more off-putting than a grainy, out of focus, impossible to hear video that will completely devalue the service you’re trying to promote.

I recently came across some great how-to videos from Ware Dental which are short and sweet but really get the personality of the practice across. We create videos for our marketing clients that can be used across all social media platforms and on your website, take a look here.

Of course, your video content could go viral, I’m sure you’re all familiar with the singing dentist by now! But if it doesn’t, they are still worth having on your page as a simple way to communicate your message to your followers. Facebook has also recently introduced the option to add a video to where your banner photo would normally sit on the page.

Offers, competitions and promotions

Social media offers various tactics to promote your practice. Sponsoring your posts is a great way to attract more followers and in turn bring more patients to your practice. Using a special offer or promoting a service you provide is a great way to gain more followers.

A social media competition is also another way to boost engagement on your page. You’ll need to consider what you would like to achieve before launching yourself into competitions and promotions. If you’re constantly promoting offers, this can also make people disengage and even cheapen your practice.

All of this content needs to be engaging, so where possible use eye-catching photography and graphics to bring some personality to your posts. If you would like help with your social media and want to discuss how to produce different content to serve your marketing goals, please get in touch on 01872 300232 or email us at hello@hivebusiness.co.uk.