If you don’t know your audience, how do you know what sort of conversation to have?
A key fact to note is that posts show up in a generalized area around your location; this makes it critical to have some understanding of the actions of people around you. First, find out when your audience checking their social media. When you are scheduling a post, consider your target audience’s schedule: are they on lunch, in a meeting, at home, just getting off work, or in traffic? Take a guess at when would be the most convenient for them, and post your content around that time. For example, 8:15PM to 8:30PM may sound late to you, but what about your audience? Think of traffic time frames in the area and post after a time they are likely to have started travel. Be open to experimenting with times to see when you get the best response.
General Time Frame Tips
- Never Post on the Hour
- Post Mid-Hour, 15-Til or 15-Past
- For Seniors, Try 4:30PM to 5:15PM
- For Middle Age Adults, Try 6:15PM to 7:30PM
- For Young Adults, Try 2:45PM to 3:15PM
Graphics and tagging. One of the most important elements of using Facebook is the ability to collaborate with others. For example, if you work with another practice or patient and create a post about the event, you can tag them in it. In fact, you should. This brings the community together and shows that you are involved.
In other posts, think about practice news, like adding a new team member or piece of technology. Talk about how the addition to the practice can benefit them. Be sure to keep the content fun and engaging. Tooth-friendly recipes, DIYs, and tips like how to brush or floss, or knowing when to switch out your toothbrush are great topics to choose from.
- There Are 1.18 Billion Daily Active Users
- 29.7% of Users Are Between the Ages of 25 and 34, Making This the Most Common Age Demographic
- Engagement Is 18% Higher on Thursdays and Fridays
- Highest Traffic Occurs Mid-Week Between 1PM to 3PM
Source: https://zephoria.com/top-15-valuable-facebook-statistics/
Short, sweet and to the point. For each tweet, you only get 140 characters, so it is important to be concise, while still remembering to be engaging. Include relevant hashtags and, just like Facebook, take advantage of tagging to show your community involvement. Another great way to engage with others is by re-tweeting their content. The key with Twitter is to remember it is a very fast-paced social media platform. You have to be vigilant and consistently active, or you will get lost.
- 29.2% of U.S. Social Media Users Are on Twitter, with 310 Monthly Active Users
- 6,000 Tweets Are Sent Every Second
- 54% of Users Take Action After Seeing a Brand Mentioned in Tweets, Including Visiting Their Website, Searching For the Brand, or Re-Tweeting Content
Source: https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/44-twitter-stats-2016/
Hashtags. Instagram is a social media platform that focuses on photos and videos as media and largely appeals to the younger generation. Like Twitter, your posts need to be short and sweet. The focus should be on making the images themselves compelling, combined with strong, relevant hashtags.
Use your call to action to promote something like a before and after, or a special offer graphic. Including photos of community service events, goings-on in the practice, and other relevant social events helps showcase that you are people, more than just a facility. Remember that with Instagram, you cannot include URLs in the posts, but you can in your profile.
- There Are 400 Million Active Users
- 60% of Those Users Log in Daily
- 90% of Users Are Younger Than 35
- Engagement with Brands is 10x Higher Than Facebook and 84x Higher Than Twitter
- Posts with At Least 1 Hashtag Gain 12.6% More Engagement
Source: https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/37-instagram-stats-2016/
Get Started
If you haven’t created your social media profiles, that’s step one. From there, it’s about learning who your audience is and how you can best engage with them. If you’ve been trying out different things, but can’t seem to figure out what works, contact one of our Social Media Specialists. They can help get you on the right track to success.
