8 Dental Social Media Marketing Ideas That Drive Engagement

Key Takeaways

• Social media can help you grow your reach beyond your followers.
• You can increase engagement based on the type of content you post, such as interactive polls, educational content, or live videos.
• Try a variety of content formats to see what drives the most engagement.
• Social media traffic tends to increase website traffic, so make sure your website is ready to handle an influx of visitors.

Nearly three in four Americans use some form of social media, which makes it a great way to get in front of prospective dental patients. But just being on social media isn’t enough to get patients to pick up the phone and schedule an appointment.

Let’s look at eight social media marketing ideas that can drive engagement and attract new dental patients.

1. Share Educational Content 

Sharing is the whole point of social media, so use your platforms to offer educational content, such as dental care tips and advice. Powerful insights can “stop the scroll” and get users to tune into what you have to say. 

Examples of educational content include:

• Brushing and flossing best practices
• Debunking dental myths, such as only needing to see a dentist if there’s a problem
• Preventative care advice
• Data on how certain foods and drinks can affect teeth
• Tips for parents on caring for children’s teeth
• Creating an oral hygiene routine
• Did-you-know style fun facts and trivia
• Dental history lessons, such as how ancient Egyptians used crushed eggshells and ox hooves as toothpaste ingredients
• Answers to frequently asked questions
• The effects of smoking and tobacco use on oral health

You can also showcase your practice, staff, and office. Share stories and reviews from satisfied patients. Talk about your specialties, treatments, and the results you’ve achieved for other patients. Post photos of your staff with interesting facts about their pets or hobbies.

Patients can make a more informed decision about using your services when they know more about you.

2. Host Social Media Contests

Contests are a powerful way to increase engagement on your social media pages. They create a sense of community among your patients while expanding your reach beyond your followers. The more people participate, the more free exposure your dental practice receives. 

Here are a few examples of social media contests that dentists can use:

• Encourage patients to share their smile photos.
• Post a fun dental-related image and ask the audience to caption it.
• Ask friends to share a post to get more likes on your page.
• Create a dental health trivia contest.

Offer prizes for participation, such as free dental care products or a gift card to a local business. Boost your efforts even more by co-creating a contest with another local business to amplify your reach.

3. Utilize Live Videos and Stories

Live content can help capture engagement in the moment. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram make it easy to broadcast live, giving you a way to reach followers in real time.

You can use live videos and stories to answer common dental questions or offer demonstrations. Give followers a glimpse into a day in the life of a dental practice, taking patients behind the scenes at your practice.

Nielsen data shows that brand recall is the greatest driver of lift, with branded content contributing to a recall rate of 81%. The longer your audience stays engaged in your content, the greater the chance they will recall your dental practice.

4. Share User-Generated Content 

Patients can be great sources of social media content, and you can show your appreciation by highlighting them on your channels. This might include photos of patients, positive feedback, or comments they leave on your posts.

You can also engage your audience by asking for their opinions. Interactive polls and surveys give patients a chance for their voices to be heard. You can also gauge how many people you’re reaching with your content based on the number of responses.

Try using a variety of content formats, such as traditional posts, IG Reels, and videos. This will give you an idea of what type of content your audience cares most about and will give you more engagement per post.

5. Create Informative Infographics 

Visuals are key for driving engagement on social media. Infographics are the fourth most-used type of content and can increase website traffic by 12%. They’re also 30 times more likely to be read in their entirety than blog posts.

For dental practices, infographics can serve several purposes. Use them to simplify complex treatments with visuals, share interesting dental health data, or provide visual guides for daily dental care.

To boost visibility even more, infographics can be powerful advertisements. You can use Facebook Ads to grow your content’s reach and get more followers on your page. Make your ad effective with our Facebook Ad copywriting tips for dentists.

6. Leverage Seasonal and Trending Topics 

Seasonal and trending topics can give you plenty of things to talk about and connect with followers in new ways. For example, you can share festive content that aligns with the current holiday season. It captures the spirit of the moment and can help improve your relevance.

You can also use social media to participate in national dental health awareness months or days. For example:

• February is Children’s Dental Health Month and Gum Disease Awareness Month.
• February 28th is Tooth Fairy Day.
• The first full week of March is Dental Assistants Recognition Week.
• April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month.
• Root Canal Day is the second Wednesday in May.
• National Smiles Month starts in mid-May and runs through mid-June.
• June is National Smiles Month.
• September is Office Manager Appreciation Month.
• October is Dental Hygiene Month.
• World Smile Day is the first Friday in October.
• National Brush Day is November 1.

There are lots of other dental-themed holidays you can celebrate. Give them a nod on social media to spread awareness.

7. Offer Exclusive Social Media Promotions 

Social media gives you a way to engage directly with your followers. It creates a special connection with them that isn’t found anywhere else. That’s what makes social media the ideal place to offer exclusive promotions and giveaways.

Limited-time discounts and flash sales encourage followers to take immediate action. You could also offer referral incentives to entice followers to refer friends and family.

Even though this content is exclusive to social media followers, there’s always room for everyone. These promotions can help encourage all of your patients to join you on social media and be “in the know” when you offer something special.

8. Highlight Community Involvement 

Dentists who are involved in the community can use their appearances and activities to boost their social media. Share your participation in local community events or post about your team’s volunteer efforts.

For example, if you’ve set up a booth at a community business fair or festival, you can use photos from the event and talk about your participation. Or, if you do free dental cleanings or seminars at local schools, you can share a little about the experience with your audience.

If you’re collaborating with other businesses, you can work with each other to cross-post content and share your collective efforts. Tag other businesses in your posts that also participated in community events to grow visibility for everyone. This may encourage them to repost the content to their own audiences, giving you even more exposure.

GrowthPlug Makes Social Media Engagement Easy

GrowthPlug has the tools to help you fully capitalize on your dental social media marketing efforts, including: 

Professional Website

A custom practice website is the foundation of any dental marketing strategy — and the face you present to your community. If you haven’t updated your website in years — or worse, don’t have one at all — you’re losing patients and revenue to competitors who understand its importance. 

GrowthPlug can help you build a custom site that presents you in the best possible light and showcases the unique value your practice offers. With a quality website, you’ll improve your SEO, attract more patients, and book more appointments.

Social Media Management

A strong social marketing plan requires regular posting on your chosen channels. But let’s face it — dentists are busy people, and most don’t consider themselves writers. No worries — GrowthPlug can help. Take advantage of our social media management services, and let us do it for you. 

In addition to creating engaging content for your social media channels, we can also provide content generation — expert copywriting and SEO services to help you publish customized content for your website, blog, and advertising assets. We can create multi-channel campaigns that will help you rank higher on Google and improve patient acquisition. 

Automated Review Generation

Reviews from satisfied customers are perhaps the best advertising tool available to dentists, but soliciting them can be time-consuming. Let GrowthPlug do the work for you with automated review generation.

We will send post-visit review requests to your patients by email and text. You can use positive reviews on your website, social media posts, and advertising campaigns to build trust. And negative feedback gives you opportunities to make course corrections that will improve your practice’s performance and reputation. 

See How GrowthPlug Helps You Acquire New Patients

These tools ensure your patient marketing outreach is consistent and effective, helping you maintain a strong presence across various channels. For a truly comprehensive approach, partnering with GrowthPlug can help maximize your marketing impact and reach the right kinds of patients.

Prepare to make a strong impression and keep the conversation going— get a free website audit and give your audience an optimal experience.