In the age of technology and digital communications, it is becoming increasingly important to market your dental practice through social media. Traditionally, mailed leaflets, phone calls, and word-of-mouth were the main sources of new clients. There are approximately 247 million U.S. social media users as of 2019. That is a massive market waiting to be tapped by your practice. By using social media, you are able to put a face to your business and quickly and effectively reach out to previous and potential clients.

There are three main social networking sites that are best for reaching and interacting with your client base: Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin. Each serves a specific purpose and can be utilized in different ways.

THERE ARE 3 SOCIAL MEDIA SITES YOU SHOULD BE PROMOTING YOUR BUSINESS ON AND HERE IS WHY

1. Facebook

Facebook is the most commonly-used platform, so having a Facebook account is a must.

Facebook is best used when looking to connect with audiences and to share information with those who are interested in your practice. You post content like:

• Photos of your patients who are cavity-free
• Celebrate your staff during special events like birthdays
• Promote events, like if you’re setting up a booth at a local fair or doing a talk at a school
• Informative content, like articles on the latest dental technology
• Information relating to your practice such as contact information, hours, and a map of your office 
• Updates that are relevant to your clients, like closures due to Covid-19

Post consistently; several times a week is best for reaching those who follow you.

Facebook can also help you to gather feedback and comments from your existing patients. Be sure to monitor patient comments and respond promptly to both positive and negative comments.

Be warned, Facebook is a money-making business and will want to charge you to share your content with a wider audience to get more reach and engagement with your posts. The key is to create content that users actually want to see and your content will spread organically.

Use Facebook for:

• Audience Reach: With over 2.8 billion monthly active users, Facebook is a platform that caters to a broad audience, making it an excellent choice for reaching a diverse range of potential patients.
• Engagement Features: Facebook offers various engagement features, including posts, photos, videos, events, and reviews. You can create a business page, share educational content, promote special offers, and interact with your community through comments and messages.
• Content Opportunities: You can share a variety of content on Facebook, such as dental tips, educational videos, patient testimonials, and updates about your dental practice.
• Community Building: Facebook allows you to create a community around your dental practice. You can engage with patients through comments, private messages, and events.

2. Linkedin

LinkedIn is an excellent platform for promoting your dental office, especially when you want to engage with a professional audience, build relationships within the healthcare industry, and establish your practice as an authority.

Remember to maintain a professional tone and image on LinkedIn. While other social media platforms may focus more on casual interactions, LinkedIn is a platform where professionalism and credibility are highly valued.

Use Linkedin for:

• Professional Networking: LinkedIn is a professional networking platform that allows you to connect with other professionals in the healthcare industry. It’s a great platform for sharing educational content, industry news, and professional achievements.
• Build Credibility: By sharing informative articles, participating in discussions, and showcasing the expertise of your team, you can build credibility and trust among potential patients and other professionals in the field.
• Educational Content: Share informative content about dental health, advancements in dentistry, and your team’s expertise. This can help build trust among potential patients.
• B2B Opportunities: If your dental office provides services to businesses or professionals, LinkedIn can be a valuable platform for B2B networking.

3. Instagram

Instagram is a platform that allows your practice to post and tag a single photo or a small scrollable gallery. This social media platform relies on hashtags and photo filters to create an image for your practice and name.

Instagram can be used as a tool for your staff to share office life, post photos of kids who are in the daily ‘no cavity club,’ and celebrate office events. It is less formal than Facebook and a great tool for connecting to your younger patient base.

Instagram is the best platform for reaching millennials (your family-aged audience) and other users who appreciate a good picture or video. If you have a themed office that means you’ll have an endless supply of visually interesting content to grab the attention of the cool, millennial moms in your area.

The Instagram app.

On top of attracting new patients, Instagram is a great place to attract good staff. Job hunters will often head to Instagram to find out the culture of a company they are looking to work for to see if they will be a good fit.

Use Instagram for:

• Visual Appeal: Instagram is a highly visual platform, making it ideal for showcasing your dental practice through high-quality images and videos. This is particularly useful for highlighting before-and-after dental work, office aesthetics, and the team.
• Engagement with Visual Storytelling: Use Instagram Stories and Reels to share behind-the-scenes glimpses, patient testimonials, and quick oral health tips. Visual storytelling can be powerful in creating a connection with your audience.
• Hashtags for Visibility: Utilize relevant hashtags to increase the visibility of your posts and reach a broader audience interested in dental health.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS WORTH THE EFFORT FOR YOUR DENTAL OR MEDICAL BUSINESS

It may sound time-consuming to utilize social media, but it often only takes a few minutes a day.

By cross-posting your content to all three of these sites, you can consistently and efficiently reach out to patients who are interested in your practice with considerably less time. There are even programs that help you manage all of your accounts from one place, such as Hootsuite.

Placing advertisements on these platforms allows you to reach new clients without spending a fortune. Each of these sites also offers analytics so that you can immediately see who is following your practice, which types of posts generate the most interest, and track current dental trends.

Social Media is about more than simply posting content. The content you create is also pivotal to your success. Featuring events in the community, educating patients on the importance of dental health and lifestyle changes, and highlighting opportunities for clients to interact with your practice are all key.

In order to create a ‘buzz’ around your practice, you can enter your office into dental design and local business competitions. This recognition not only increases the prestige of your office, it is the perfect promotional opportunity to share with your followers on social media.

The great thing about social media is that you can let your patients market your practice for you!

A themed office gives patients plenty of photo opportunities that they want to share to their social media profiles. Choose a hashtag that relates to your office and encourage patients to tag your practice in the photos they take. Not only does this increase word-of-mouth recommendations, it also makes patients feel connected and excited about your office. A happy practice is a social practice and your patients will be happy to promote your dental office on social media!

When using these platforms, keep in mind:

• Consistent Branding: Maintain consistent branding across all platforms, including your logo, business information, and visual style.
• Educational Content: Share informative and educational content about oral health. This not only positions your practice as an authority but also provides value to your audience.
• Engagement: Actively engage with your audience by responding to comments, messages, and reviews. Encourage patients to share their positive experiences.
• Promotions and Specials: Use social media to promote any special offers, discounts, or events happening at your dental office.

Remember to review and adhere to the specific guidelines and policies of each platform. Regularly analyze the performance of your content to understand what resonates best with your audience and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Check out these related resources for improving your social media efforts:

Connect Your Social Media Platforms Together To Save Time

3 Quick Tips on Using Theming as a Social Media Promotional Tool

The Best Dental Marketing Tactics and Strategy

Jump-Start Your Dental Marketing with These Key Strategies

Contact Imagination Design Studios (IDS) to get started transforming your office from a mundane to magical patient experience.

Want more social media tips for marketing your office? Download the free guide!

From our artists to our engineers, we pride ourselves on the level of expertise each team member brings to the projects we create. Our experts want to offer some insight into their work and offer professional advice to help your dental office reach its full potential.

Micaela

Social Media Marketing Coordinator
Bachelor of Design in Visual Communications
Joined IDS in 2007

Reviews matter for small businesses, especially if you cater to the public. Online reviews bring the benefit of social proof, something we have talked about before. Social proof is the influence that the actions and attitudes of other people have on your own behavior and decisions. 91 percent of people regularly or occasionally read online reviews. 84 percent of people trust online reviews as much as the recommendation of a friend.

HOW TO GET ONLINE REVIEWS FOR YOUR DENTAL OFFICE

So we all know reviews are important, but how do you get them? Here are a few tips and tricks you can use to get ahead of the competition.

Claim Your Online Business Profiles

If you want to have control over your reviews, be sure to claim your online profiles. This means either setting up a profile or claiming the default listing created by review sites. Make sure you have a presence on Google, Facebook, Yelp, and any industry-specific sites where your business can get reviewed.

If you must begin small, begin with taking control of your Google Business Page. Google reviews are the most important type of review for a dentist. Unless being referred, the first place a parent is going to go to find a pediatric dentist or doctor is Google to search for dentists in their neighborhood. If there are a number of options in an area, they will begin looking at reviews. For a small business competing against similar establishments in the same area, Google reviews can often be an important tiebreaker.

Make it Easy for Your Customers to Review You

Add links to your review pages on your website. Include links with your email correspondence and any e-newsletters. Make it easy by making it accessible.

Offer Incentives to Get More Reviews

Now that you are ready to receive and respond to reviews, how do you get them? Begin by offering incentives. This is helpful especially when you are a new business and do not have a lot of reviews. Offer a $5 gift card to a local coffee shop if they leave a review. Or create a contest where every good review is an entry into a prize draw – make sure you announce the winner on a social media to create excitement.

Ask the Right People to Give You Online Review

When looking for reviews, ask the right people. If you have a referral program set up and are able to track referrers you have a great resource at your disposal. If someone refers a friend to your office they are obviously happy with your services. Send them a thank you for the referral, a referral gift, and of course, a link to leave a review.

Once you encourage your customers to leave reviews, make sure their efforts are rewarded with a reply from your business. Reply to every good review with a thank you. And be ready to reply to every negative review as well.

Earn Your Reviews

If you want good reviews, then you’ll have to earn them. Have great services, a friendly staff, and an amazing themed office that makes their kids calm and happy! Our clients often have excellent reviews talking about the fun environment created by adding games and themed decor.

“The kids loved playing on the iPads on the wall and in the hot air balloon while we waited. Great experience!”
 
“We also love the play area-lots of things to do while the kids are waiting.”
 
“Super clean and decorated beautifully – it made the kids more excited to be there. Would recommend without hesitation.”
 
“Had a TON of eye candy for the kids (awesome decor and video game screens all over the place!)”

If your clients genuinely like your business, you’ll get the reviews you want. Get more marketing tips like these in our free guide.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO WHEN YOU GET A BAD REVIEW?

The majority of review sites will not allow you to delete a bad review, so be prepared to deal with them and use them to your benefit. Handling a bad review in a professional manner can actually be just as helpful as a good review as it can show how you handle negative situations.

Also, consumers trust a 4.5 star review more than 5 stars as they feel an imperfect score to be more truthful and reflective of the business. 5 stars are just too good to be true.

But back to how to handle those reviews. Here’s a quick rundown of points you should remember when you get a bad review:

1. You want to respond as quickly as possible so that other people are not able to read this angry review without your side of the story. But be cautious. Don’t respond in the heat of the moment or you may say something you don’t want out in public.
2. Do your homework. Make sure you know your employee’s side of the situation before you craft a response.
3. Take responsibility for your part in the problem and offer a sincere apology. Even if the review is unjustified, be empathetic to the reviewer’s complaint. Let them know you understand their frustration and will help them with their issue. This shows others that you care about your customers’ opinions and feelings and will hopefully calm the anger of this particular reviewer.
4. Thank the reviewer for taking the time to bring this issue to your attention. Let them know you pride yourself on excellent customer service and appreciate the opportunity to make things right.
5. Don’t go into too much detail in your reply. Offer to take the conversation offline. You don’t want to start a debate with an irate customer on your wall of reviews, so offer to have to call or email to further discuss the issue. If you’re dealing with an online troll, just walk away. That’s a fight you’ll never win. Anyone reading the review of a troll will know when someone is just being a bully compared to leaving a legitimate review

With these tips and tricks, you have the know-how to get you on the right path to gain more reviews.

Want more tips for marketing your office? Download the free guide to learn about branding basics, social media tips, ways to improve your online efforts, plus event and promotional ideas. Or check out these strategies to help market your dental business.

Check out these other marketing and patient experience related resources:

Key Strategies to Jump-Start Your Dental Marketing

What is Patient Experience and Why Does It Matter?

Once your office has been completed, the importance of a Grand Opening Theme Reveal should not be undervalued. Whether you have themed an existing office or built one from the ground up, a Theme Reveal is a perfect opportunity to connect with the community and gain new patients.

By hosting an event for families, it is considerably easier to draw in potential new patients and get everyone in your community excited about the theme you’ve created.  Existing patients will get a sneak peek at the office before they come in for an appointment. Kids have the chance to explore and get comfortable in the office, helping alleviate anxiety and getting them excited about visiting the dentist.

This is also a great option if you can’t get theming installed before your official business start date. Have a soft launch to get the business going and smooth out any kinks, then celebrate in a big way when you get your theming installed!

1. Choose an Event Date and Spread the Word About Your Grand Opening

Choose a date for your Grand Opening Theme Reveal party. Alert local newspapers, send a message to mommy blogs, advertise in school newsletters, send out a notice to your existing patients, and create some buzz for your new, improved office on social media!

2. Host a Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

Incorporate a formal ribbon-cutting moment into your event. Invite local officials, chamber of commerce representatives, or influential community members to participate. This can generate positive media coverage and enhance your office’s reputation.

3. Guide the Party from Outside to Inside

If you party starts outside, people walking past your event will be drawn in and want to know more. A tour of the inside to show off your theming is important as well, but make sure you grab attention and draw in visitors with fun and balloons. Then you can have tours of the inside of your office, showing off you great theming.

4. Bring in Local Entertainment for Kids and Adults

Your event can be as big or small as you want!

• Invite sports mascots and local sports celebrities to sign autographs for your patients.
• Have someone dress as the tooth fairy to entertain kids.
• Hire artists to paint children’s faces and clowns to hand out balloon animals.
• Get a band to play some music for children and adults to dance to. This will also draw attention to people who can hear your party from a distance.

5. Serve Food at Your Party!

Nothing brings in crowd faster than a BBQ or a pancake breakfast as part of your reveal. Kids loooove hotdogs.

6. Have a Photo Op Available for Guests

Whether it’s an IDS themed prop, pictures with the tooth fairy, or a basket of kid-sized costumes in front of your dental office logo, make sure your name is getting shared on social media by the people attending your event.

7. Run a Contest for Party Attendees

Everyone loves prizes! Have a draw where attendees must write down their name and email to sign up for your newsletter. Or run a social media contest for the best photo op image tagged with your party hashtag.

8. Offer Exclusive Event Promotions

Attract even more attendees by offering event-only deals, such as:

• Discounts on first appointments for new patients.
• Free dental consultations for families attending the event.
• Branded goodie bags with dental care items, like toothbrushes, floss, and stickers.

9. Partner with Local Businesses

Collaborate with nearby businesses to amplify your event. For example:

• Local bakeries or cafes could provide treats.
• A nearby bookstore might set up a booth with themed children’s books.
• Gyms or wellness centers could sponsor giveaways, promoting mutual business growth.

This partnership creates a win-win situation, broadens your reach, and strengthens ties with the community.

10. Live Demonstrations or Interactive Activities

Set up stations where kids can learn something fun and dental-related. Ideas include:

• Tooth brushing challenges with fun timers and prizes.
• Interactive displays showing how teeth grow and why dental care matters.
• “Decorate a Tooth” craft stations, where kids can design and color their own tooth cutouts.

These hands-on experiences make dental health education enjoyable and memorable.

11. Document the Event for Future Marketing

Capture the energy and excitement of your Theme Reveal to use in future promotions. Hire a photographer or videographer to create:

• Highlight reels for your website and social media.
• Photos for email campaigns and print materials.
• Testimonials from families about their experience at the event.

This content can be repurposed to attract new patients long after the event is over.

Create a Welcoming Environment, Invite Patients in, and Set Yourself Up for Success!

A Grand Opening Theme Reveal isn’t just an event—it’s an opportunity to connect with the community, showcase your incredible new themed space, and establish your office as the go-to dental practice for families. Whether through food, fun, or creative contests, every element contributes to an unforgettable experience.

By following these steps, your event will be a marketing success and a stepping stone to lasting relationships with your patients.

This is all apart of your greater dental marketing strategy. Regardless of which stage you are at in the design and build process for your dental office theming, it is never too late to start planning your Grand Opening Theme Reveal to bring in new patients.

You can find all these tips and more in our free Marketing Guide for Dentists. Grab your copy today and read it on the go.

Stay Organized with This Party Checklist:

Want more tips for marketing your office? Download the free guide to learn about branding basics, social media tips, ways to improve your online efforts, plus event and promotional ideas.

From our artists to our engineers, we pride ourselves on the level of expertise each team member brings to the projects we create. Our experts want to offer some insight into their work and offer professional advice to help your dental office reach its full potential.

Victoria

Senior Designer
Bachelor of Applied Arts in Visual Communications
Joined IDS in 2010