Which social media platform do you find most beneficial to your business?
At my dental practice, we focus on Facebook and Instagram. We post both places, and we’ve done giveaways on Instagram. We do stories that are both related to our dental practice and our staff. We highlight the people who work with us. We do fun polls. We feel like Facebook and Instagram are the easiest platforms to use quickly with low stress. I do think TikTok is awesome. We aren’t currently making videos, but maybe we will one day.
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What are your tips for social media marketing for dental practices?
My best tip is: make it fun first. While we may be super proud of that amazing veneer case or fantastic implant case, make it fun first. Go for a combination of fun posts and clinical cases that you’re proud of. Make sure to get proper HIPAA consent. It goes without saying when you share any patient information, but patients are usually very, very proud to have you share. I like to do little quick interviews and make Instagram stories of people who are proud of their dental care.
What advice do you have for practices that are just starting out with social media?
My advice is JDI: just do it. I know that’s a Nike slogan, but “Just do it” to me means just get started. Just make one post a day, one story a day. Don’t judge yourself too harshly. Take out your phone and post something; post a story, post a tip. It’s like exercising a muscle; the more you do it, the better you’re going to get.
Can you tell us a little about Dental Nachos?
The easiest way to describe Dental Nachos is like a Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood for dentists, teams, and people who work with dentists. Our goal is to create a community of people who care about each other, support each other, learn about business, learn about the stages in this circle of dentisting life, as I call it, and want to be successful. There’s information on survival and thrival tips like how to find a job, buy a practice, hire an associate, and sell your practice. We also strive to be a resource of support for people who feel alone. We have sponsors who also interact with our community and help them learn about new products, and give our group nacho deals.
What dental products help you to create gorgeous photos?
I have photography courses on our Dental Nachos on-demand CE by people like Dr. Todd Fleischman, my amazing friend who’s a fantastic dentist. Whitening products help us take gorgeous photos by helping people’s teeth look better. I think whitening is something that we sometimes forget about, but especially during a pandemic, people just want to treat themselves to something nice. I find that brightening smiles through whitening, which is low cost, low effort, and low stress, has been a really great way to create better photos.
Editor's note: This article appeared in the April 2022 print edition of Dental Economics magazine. Dentists in North America are eligible for a complimentary print subscription. Sign up here.