How are dentists using social media to address the 8 Patient Concerns?
Do you know what patients are concerned about when they visit your website? You probably have a few ideas about the most common ones, such as price and pain. However, at Dental Focus, we have found that there are 8 Patient Concerns that cover the majority of their worries when choosing a dentist or treatment.
These are:
Form – Look & Feel
Function – Life-changing benefits
Longevity – How long it lasts and the aftercare
Value – The expert
Journey – The consultation and treatment experience
Character – Listens, cares, no judgement has “seen it all before and worse”
Fears – Nervous or phobic patients, relaxed/comforted, painless dentistry
Why Now? – Stories of sacrifice, stories or regret
Clients are now asking us about social media for dentists and how Dental Focus can help them grow their brand in their online communities and connect with existing and new patients.
Whilst the majority of content that most practices put out on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter is largely dentistry based, they are often reluctant to put up patient-based content for fear of breaking confidentiality. And rightly so!
BUT…There is a way.
How to get dental patient stories onto social media
Depending on your patient base, you may already have plenty of social media champions for your brand that you don’t even know about! Many patients will be social-media-savvy and happy to spread the good word about the service they receive at your practice. If they have had great journeys with you and spread word-of-mouth to their friends and family already, it’s not a great leap for them to do that on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Once you know that a patient is happy to recommend you, simply ask them – “Do you use Facebook?”.
If the answer is yes, then you can ask them – “Would you mind doing a post about your visit? We really appreciate spreading word-of-mouth about our practice in the local area and would love to help your friends and family.”
Then you can guide them on the type of post if they need help. They could do any of the following:
- Check-in to your practice
- Share your Facebook page
- Write a status update and tag your page
- Put up a “Story” and tag your page
- Post a video of them in the practice
- “GO Live” in the practice
For more information about social media for dentists remember to book in a call with our Guru Dominic Haslam – 0207 183 8388.”