What are the benefits of Social Media Marketing for your Practice?

There are approximately 4.6 billion social media users. This is over half of the world’s entire population. 

Social media platforms offer people many options for absorbing information. Whether it’s seeing what friends are up to, learning a new skill, shopping for new furniture, or looking for a new and local dentist, everything can be found in one place.

But how exactly can social media impact your practice and its success? Keep reading and I will cover everything you need to know about how social media marketing can benefit your practice.

 

What is Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing is the use of a social media platform to grow your business. As a small business owner, you are likely always looking for ways to get your practice on the radar of potential patients. Maintaining an active presence on different social media channels is a great way to do just that.

Today you can find 96% of all small businesses using social media in their marketing strategy. With that many small businesses available online, it is much easier for consumers to get the information that they need. In fact, 74% of consumers rely on social media platforms to guide their purchasing decisions and customers who engage with a business on social media spend up to 40% more with that business in the long run.  

In short, social media marketing isn’t just helpful for your practice, but it can also be the determining factor in a new patient selecting you over a competing practice. 

What are the Benefits of Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing has many different benefits. Let’s take a look at a few of the most valuable ones.

Connecting with Your Audience has Never been Easier

Social media exists solely online. This means at any given place and time, consumers can find you online, get to know you as a practice, and decide if they want to move forward with you. 

From your perspective, you can market your business no matter where you are in the world. With social media marketing, you can increase awareness of your brand. Whether you do it through paid advertising or through organic advertising it is up to you. 

With help from reporting, you can also learn about who your audience is. This can greatly improve your interactions with your audience online. Not only will can you determine what they like, but you can also know exactly what they need from you. This can help with paid social advertising, which I will talk about later.

Grow Your Customer Base while Humanizing your Practice

With the help of social media marketing, your practice can connect with potential clients. This can be a great way to talk about your services and foster real relationships with individuals. Doing so will not only increase a potential patient’s respect for you but also introduces you as more than just your business.

Creating personal connections with your patients and prospective patients can be crucial to separating yourself from your competitors. As a small business, you have an advantage over the bigger businesses in that you can create this relationship with your followers. Take the time to figure out what your patients need but also show them what you can do. Post about these achievements on your social media profiles for everyone else to see as well. At the end of the day, authenticity builds trust.

You’ll Save Money on Your Campaigns

Not only is social media marketing one of the most effective ways to market your practice, but it’s affordable as well. Let’s take a look at where your money goes when working with social media advertising:

• Each account you create for your practice is completely free
• Within each platform, you can review pertinent data that relates to the performance of your content, without a subscription
• Posting content about promotions and sales is completely free and consumers are also more likely to share your content if it’s engaging, which can generate even better results 
• If you do decide to pay for advertising through social media platforms, there are algorithms in place to ensure that you are targeting the audience that is most relevant to your practice, meaning you can target your local customer base

Protect Your Reputation

Sometimes patients take it upon themselves to vent on your Facebook page. This is a great opportunity for you as the business owner, to respond back to them and make it right. Not only will this most likely lessen the severity of the situation, but it can also show the rest of your following that you welcome any sort of feedback. It’s important, after all, to take time to highlight the positives about your practice but also address the negatives before a situation worsens.

In addition, you can gauge the sentiment around your brand because social media gives you an indication of how much people are talking about your practice. As mentioned previously, staying on top of your feedback can protect your brand reputation.

Final Thoughts

So, have I persuaded you to create a social media account? I sure hope so! At the end of the day, it all boils down to your presence. With the help of social media, you can help build your practice’s presence and it will, in turn, help provide successful results.

—Marie Dubray, Social Media Specialist, Sesame Communications