Top 5 Instagram strategies to attract more patients to your practice

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Getting more patients with Instagram starts with a strategy. And if social media marketing isn't your area of expertise, that's completely normal. But a solid plan can make a huge difference between losing a few patients and gaining a dozen new ones.

Here's a look at the top five ways to make Instagram work for your practice.

Define your goals

Knowing your goals is crucial. Do you want to increase brand awareness, build trust, or attract specific types of patients? Clear goals help shape the kind of content you'll post, how often, and what metrics to track.

Let's say you want to grow your family practice by 25 patients by the end of the year. To do that, you might want to consider targeting parents with content on getting kids to brush their teeth. It might be worth posting once a week, and more often on your Instagram Stories to establish engagement. (More on that in a bit.)

2. Know your audience

It's important to understand who you're trying to reach. Are they parents looking for family dental care? Or young professionals interested in cosmetic dentistry? Tailoring content to your audience's interests and needs can make your posts more relevant and engaging.

For instance, if you want to build the cosmetic side of your practice, it's worth finding out what those patients are most interested in. Do they want a certain type of dermal filler, or are they more interested in teeth whitening? Find out the most common questions and post around this.

3. Create valuable, shareable content

Consider what your audience finds valuable, like tips on dental health, behind-the-scenes glimpses, or patient success stories. Educational posts or quick "did you know" tips also encourage shares, which can expand your reach and attract more followers.

Got a blog? Make sure you're promoting your posts on social media too. If you don't have one yet, read my blog on why every dental practice should have a blog.

Experimenting is the only way you'll find out what works and what doesn't. See what lands. This also goes back to goals and metrics – are you looking for new followers, or active engagement on your posts? The latter can be a more useful and tangible metric.

4. Engage regularly

Interaction is everything on Instagram. Respond to comments, like patient photos when they tag your practice, and ask questions in your captions to prompt engagement. Building relationships with your followers boosts trust and keeps them engaged with your practice.

Keep interactions with patients professional and appropriate – no matter what they post. Think before you post or react to a negative review – a swift, badly worded response to a patient online can have far-reaching consequences. Even if you delete it, they might have screenshotted.

Above all, make sure you're maintaining your duty of confidentiality to patients online as well as offline. Check out the Dental Defence Union's guide for more advice.

5. Use Stories and Reels

Instagram Stories and Reels are perfect for short, attention-grabbing content. They can showcase anything from a quick tour of your office to a "meet the team" clip.

Plus, these formats help you show up more often in followers' feeds, making your practice more memorable.

Remember to delegate and coordinate

Choose someone in your practice who's good at or has an interest in Instagram to take the lead. It's better to have fewer people in your practice with access to your social media, especially when it comes to maintaining your brand and responding to patient comments or questions.

It might also help to set up a content calendar to keep track of what to post and when, with room for organic activity and daily monitoring. Don't worry too much if it doesn't go to plan – sometimes off-the-cuff or timely posts can be more authentic.

The most important thing to remember for your Instagram strategy? Whether you're posting daily, weekly or monthly – keep it consistent.

If you're looking to kick your Instagram strategy up a notch or need help with your content calendar, drop me a message to see how I can help.

Main photo by Alexander Shatov on Unsplash