PRACTICE MANAGEMENT Instagram Posts to Grow Your Practice

By: David H. Wong, DDS

When it comes to Instagram and social media, the word “influence” gets thrown around quite often. With an estimated 127 million Instagram users in the US in 2023 (source: Statista), this represents a huge market for dentists. While not all of us desire influencer status, the ability to influence people and to affect their behaviors and actions without direct contact is a useful skill when it comes to growing your dental practice. Regardless of whether you favor Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or TikTok, here are some tips to help create effective posts and content in order to set your practice up for social media success. Having lectured on this topic of influence, I often hear from dentists that the main challenge they face is that they do not know what to post. They have worn out all the holiday posts, staff birthdays, dental awareness month, and so on, and they need more content. When creating content for my practice, I try to focus on four areas of influence: authenticity, attraction, proof, and expertise.

1. Authenticity: Create your own content. Yes, you can buy stock photos, repost other accounts, or hire a company to post for you, but in order to capture your audience (i.e. patients or colleagues), your content has to be yours. Patients, customers, and clients like real people, and real people have personalities, hobbies, families, and quirks. Real people share. They confide in one another. In your posts, share a little about yourself besides where you went to dental school. Brag on your staff. Show people what your day is like. Share a secret about yourself or maybe an industry secret that people may not know. When we confide in others and display authenticity, we build trust, and people like dentists they can trust.

2. Attraction: Pretty posts are nice. Pretty pictures are also important. But this is not the type of attraction I am talking about. Here, we are talking about the laws of attraction. Specifically, if you want people to like you, you have to like them. In your posts, do not be afraid to tag or promote your friends, staff, or colleagues. Tag your favorite dental organization, such as the ODA (@okdentassoc). Being attractive on social media means you are engaging and actively participating with others (hence “social media”). The more you like, comment, and share, the more that this will come back to you. The bottom line is that people like people who like them. That is the law of reciprocation.

3. Proof: Social proof. This is where you get to display your work for all the world to see. Post some “before and after” photos of the beautiful smiles you have created. If you do not take pictures of your work, now is a great time to start. Until then, you can also share a patient testimonial or maybe your best online review. Here is a secret: sometimes, I post my worst one-star Google review (authenticity, remember?).

4. Expertise: These posts are important so that people remember that you are, in fact, a legit dentist, not just some dancing TikTokker or office prankster. These types of posts will include your certificates, accomplishments, awards, recognition, or publicity. If you have been in the newspaper or on TV, Instagram is a great place to show it. You can also demonstrate your expertise by sharing how-to or how it’s done videos. People love tips and tricks (how to get whiter teeth, how to save money at the dentist, etc.).

There are many more types of Instagram posts out there, such as giveaways, but this is a great, simple place to start. Besides creating influential content, remember to post regularly and use pertinent hashtags, such as #tulsadentist, #whiteteeth, or #brightsmile, to maximize your reach. Do not forget to engage with other accounts and use all of Instagram’s other features, such as stories or reels. If you need any help, feel free to send me a message on my Instagram at @david. wong.dds or @plaquechyna.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dr. David Wong is a board-certified Periodontist in private practice in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He received his undergraduate education and dental training at the University of Oklahoma. He then went on to complete a three-year residency in periodontics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology as well as a Fellow in the International Congress of Oral Implantologists. He is a published author in several peer-reviewed dental journals but has also reached a mainstream audience in media such as Fox News and the Wall Street Journal. Dr. Wong presently resides in Tulsa with his wife and three children where he maintains a full-time private practice.