9 Simple But Effective Dental Facebook Post Ideas (+ FREE Graphics)

If you have a Facebook page for your dental practice and you post on it regularly (if you don't, you should), you've probably noticed a dip in the amount of followers who see your posts (a.k.a. your "reach").

Everyone with a Facebook business page is feeling this hit and, unfortunately, it doesn't look like it's going to change any time soon.

What once was a free platform for promoting your practice and encouraging visits to your dental website, is now a "pay to play" platform. That's not to say that Facebook isn't still valuable as an online dental marketing tool, you just may need to allocate some of your marketing budget to it to see a return.

Now that your ads account is setup and your credit card tied to the account, you can begin "boosting" the posts that you want to make sure your followers see. Perhaps you're offering a special on teeth whitening for the summer or just wrote a new blog post that you're eager to share. Publish your post as you would a normal Facebook post then select "Boost Post" in the bottom right corner:

A pop-up will appear with your post on the left and your targeting and budget options on the right:

If you only want to promote the post to current followers, choose "People who like your Page." If you want your followers plus their friends to see it, choose "People who like your Page and their friends."

Note: Choosing to target your followers and their friends is a good idea – many of your followers' friends are likely local and when they see that their friend "likes" your page, it's as good as a referral!

Now you'll need to decide how much you want to spend to boost your post. Facebook automatically starts you at $5.00 and you'll see a dropdown arrow to options ranging from $5.00 to $30.00. But don't worry! You can choose your own amount, even less than $5.00. Just highlight the dollar amount and type in your own. The minimum amount is only $1.00 per day so feel free to start small.

In fact, we suggest starting conservatively to see how boosted posts work for you. Try $2.00-$5.00 and your post will be seen by a decent amount of your followers.

You can gauge the success of your boosted post by the number of likes, comments, and shares it receives, but most importantly by how it impacts your practice. Did several patients call to schedule a teeth whitening appointment claiming they saw your special on Facebook? Great! Maybe next time you'll want to increase your spend a bit.

Don't be discouraged if spending a few dollars on a boosted post doesn't immediately generate new appointments or interest in a treatment. Try boosting a few different types of posts over several weeks and then decide if it's something you want to continue doing.

If your online dental marketing budget is small, be careful not to overspend on Facebook until you see if it is right for you. Some dentists find that their patients are very active on Facebook and like to engage with their content, while others don't see much return at all.

Give it a shot and let us know how it goes!

Every time you open your Facebook News Feed, something happens. One of the world's most misunderstood yet influential computer algorithms springs into action.

It's a frustrating equation for businesses, as they scramble to figure out why their posts are or aren't reaching their customers. As a dentist, your goal for Facebook is to stay connected with current patients and (if you're willing to pay for it) attract new patients.

Before outlining what you can do to improve you dental Facebook marketing, it's important to first understand how the algorithm works.

Facebook is an excellent internal marketing tool. It's a way to build patient community, which in turn will improve patient retention and boost referrals.

And while no one knows exactly how Facebook's algorithm works, we do have insight into some key factors. The value people place in Facebook is as a tool to stay connected with friends and family. It's the core proposition which the company was built upon.

Facebook's VP of News Feed Adam Mosseri says they are looking to protect this proposition in three ways:

1. Help users see the content they find most meaningful
2. Figure out how they can share to users the "moments that matter"
3. Work better to facilitate conversations based upon all these factors

Facebook's initial emphasis was to predict how likely it is someone will read an article or watch a video. But greater emphasis is now being placed on how likely a given story will facilitate a conversation between users.

In other words, Facebook cares the most about how engaging your content is.

Among many others, here are four key elements of the News Feed equation:

So… why does Facebook's complicated algorithm matter to your dental practice?

Because if you can't convince Facebook that you are worthy of visibility, your posts could get buried.

Every time you post content ask yourself this question: "Will my followers engage with this piece of content?"

Here are a few ways to "combat" the algorithm and improve your social credibility:

Even if you do everything right, it's still hard to gain visibility in your followers' News Feeds. Quite simply, there's no guarantee.

However, Facebook monetizes its business by allowing you to advertise on its platform. This is an opportunity to ensure visibility. It's a paid advertising solution that guarantees visibility to your patients while attracting prospective patients who have yet to hear about you.

The ad targeting options are astounding. You can couple interests with location so you only target those who might be seeking dental care near your practice. Are you a pediatric dentist? Set your targeting to mothers and fathers. Screening patients for oral cancer? Target users by age. And on and on.

You can even run "remarketing" campaigns where you will only target users who have already visited your website. Our Facebook Ads specialists have actually found this as the most effective method for getting and keeping more new patients.