Social media continues to influence the marketing strategies of millions of businesses, including thousands of dental practices. With over 30 million active users nationwide, X remains very popular. But it is right for your dental practice and could you be utilising it better?
Of the 57 million social media users in the UK, 45% are currently active on X. It is no surprise then that 67% of all B2B businesses are using X as a digital marketing tool. In recent years X has enabled businesses to build brand presence online and open new channels for engagement, interactivity and lead-building to a large audience. According to research from the Digital Marketing Institute, four out of ten X users have carried out a purchase after having seen a product/service promoted on the platform. This goes to show the influence X still has on consumer purchase habits and highlights the benefits being present on it can have.
The short answer is yes. X is free to use with the potential for paid advertising that only charges your account when a customer clicks through to a link. How frequently you use X depends on your overall goals and the resources and time you have to manage the account.
With millions of active users on the platform and businesses competing for space, it can be hard to share content and services without getting drowned out. Here are some ways to stay relevant on X, stay detectable and stay interesting.
If you are planning on using X to reach potential patients in your area, it is worth engaging with local people and businesses. You can do this by following them, liking their tweets and commenting on their posts. Doing this will help increase your own practice’s exposure among their followers.
If you run a blog on your website or regularly post articles, X can be a great place to share this content. Tweet out short intros to your articles or videos that spark curiosity and get people to click through. This does not always have to be new content. Evergreen content from the archives can be shared multiple times if still relevant to patients. In theory, the more educated your audience becomes on teeth and dentistry, the more likely they will begin thinking and caring about their own oral health.
It is recommended that you tweet at least once a day to maximise the number of times the X algorithm decides to display your posts. The tweets themselves should ideally provide a call-to-action and inform your audience of why your tweet is of value to them. Mix in facts and statistics to draw attention to the post. Search for other practices on X and see what types of marketing content and tactics they're using. Doing this will help inform your own strategy.
Your profile should have a simple bio that outlines what services you provide, the location of your practice, contact number and a link to your website. Using a free tool such as Linktree and including it in your bio can be an additional opportunity to direct people to your other social accounts and website. Consider adding a hashtag with your title or speciality, for example #dentist or #orthodontist. This helps connect your bio with other mentions of these words on X.
It is important to look at the statistics of your tweets every so often. Areas to analyse include what time of day your content gets the most activity and what type of content followers are engaging most with. Doing this can help you formulate a strategy and optimise your tone, tweet times and content type. Investing in a social media scheduling tool such as HubSpot or Sprout Social can provide additional analysis and allow you to schedule posts ahead of time so that you don’t have to log in every time you want to post.
Have fun with your tweets by sharing the people behind your practice - the dental nurses, hygienists, receptions. Not every post has to be promoting a service or blog. Share pictures of staff dressed up for the holidays, achievements, birthdays, charity events and any other interesting extra-circularly activity that might be going on. Doing this lets your followers know there are real people working for your practice and can help patients feel more comfortable and relaxed about the world of dentistry in general.
On social media, there have been few trends bigger than teeth whitening over the past few years with the internet awash with twentysomethings showing off their pearly whites. With teeth whitening only set to grow substantially over the next 10 years, now is the perfect time to promote your own whitening services on X. Consider sharing testimonials and before and after pictures to capture your audience’s attention. For ideas and to keep up to date with our latest offers and blog posts, follow Kent Express by clicking the link below.