Protecting Patient Relationships With Social Media

Are you struggling with what to post on social media? You are not alone. With all the new protocols you and your team are getting used to, it’s not surprising patient communication may have taken a back seat. 

Before we look at solutions to elevate or get your patient communication on track, let’s review the practice components associated with patient relationships. Here’s an overview: 

Patient communication is the number one way to:

• Reduce patient anxiety 
• Establish and grow trust
• Increase patient satisfaction
• Grow strong relationships

Trust and strong relationships allow patients to feel comfortable: 

• Accepting your treatment plans 
• Pre-paying for treatment 
• Sharing positive reviews
• Referring friends and family 
• Remaining loyal to your practice

When you consider the valuable benefits tied to patient relationships, it helps illustrate how vital patient communication really is. The good news is that you have unprecedented opportunities toestablish and grow patient relationships through the content you post on Facebook, Instagram and more. 

One of the first steps to overcome any social media communication hurdles is to identify what your challenges are. Here are several common roadblocks and how to overcome them:

1) Struggling with consistency/accountability. Solution: Implement protocols. Many practices have protocols in place for their practice operations. Do you have a system in place for your social media marketing and communication? This means there are specific tasks that need to be performed consistently, which can be tracked for implementation and accountability. 

2) Lacking time, skill set, or interest to manage social media. Solution: Consider a hybrid program where you can do social media with a dental social media professional, such as the Connect90 program. The Connect90 program provides you with content ideas, an online scheduling tool, and support. If more support is what you envision, you may consider fully outsourcing. 

3) Don’t know what you don’t know or analysis paralysis. Some say it takes a village to fully leverage social media today. The tools continue to evolve and it seems there are always new options popping up. This can be overwhelming and cause some teams to simply stop posting. 

Other teams manage social media spontaneously and sporadically. They might post when they have a birthday to celebrate or if they happen to have a good photo op—but strategy cannot exist without a plan in place. Social media management needs processes, forethought, and follow-through in order to be successful. Your patient relationships are worth it. 

Solution: Reach out to a trusted professional who can help. If you are in need of support or simply have a few questions, reach out to a Great Dental Websites Marketing Coach or the friendly folks at Connect90 for advice. We are here for you.