Content Should be Fun and Topical

One of the biggest challenges with posting content to a blog or social media profile exists with selecting themes your audience will be interested in. 

People only gravitate to certain types of content. That’s why keeping reader interests in mind is a necessity. 

To help narrow down the selection and creation path I’ll cover themes, types of content to stay away from, and what typically works well in an online setting within this post. 

Stick to Industry Themes

Stick to what you know. In this case, that means themes should generally be related to dental/ortho/specialty topics. Visitors to your site or social profiles are looking for content related to your area of expertise.

In general, patients and prospective patients are not interested in your opinion on anything outside of what your practice specializes in or the collective personality of your office and how patient interaction is conducted. 

This is a general rule. There are some exceptions. One hypothetical scenario involves a beloved sports team in your market. If your practice decides to support the team by wearing jerseys on game days, posting occasional group pictures on social media may endear fellow fans to your practice and it can help illustrate that the practice employees are actually humans. 

Stay Away From!

Perhaps it’s obvious, but don’t talk about politics, sexuality, or anything remotely controversial on your official practice channels. It’s also wise to avoid the use of potentially offensive language and imagery that could be at issue for any current or prospective patients. 

Less straightforward, though, is the quoting and re-posting of medical studies and themes. Launching content from trade journal articles or topics with copious amounts of dental professional language will NOT be of interest to most of your audience. 

If you think a study or professional article contains interesting tidbits that will appeal to your audience, quote the interesting info and provide a link to the rest. That will allow the few people interested in the finite details to inspect them as they please. 

Popular Themes

So, what types of themes are appealing to people? 

Let’s start with layout. On the internet people scan content rather than read it in its entirety like they would with a book. That means being brief is important. Shorter paragraphs and plenty of strategic spacing is advisable. Sprinkling in bullet points and images can also help make a longer piece of content appear more palatable. 

Layout is great but what do people like to read? In truth, there’s no one correct layout formula. However, one simple suggestion is to consider the audience. What information will benefit patients and prospective patients personally? Focusing on ways to save time, money, or improve dental health are likely to attract interest. After all, nearly everyone is interested in personal growth in each of the aforementioned areas. 

Another winning formula is the cute, funny, or adorable content route. This requires more audience awareness, though. What is funny, cute, or adorable to one person may not elicit the same reaction from another person. 

 

By sticking to dental industry themes that are not offensive but provide personal appeal to your audience your practice will set itself up to gain positive visibility on search engines and social media channels. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions you may have!

 

—Mike Fitterer, Sr. Marketing Manager II, Sesame Communications