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Facebook Updates and the Impact on Your Dental Practice by Angela Weber, BA, MBA

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Usually when people go somewhere expecting to be social, they're not interested in talking about business. They might be somewhat interested in hearing about other people's businesses or opportunities, but these topics rapidly become annoying if they are allowed to overwhelm the conversation.

Facebook, which is of course the No. 1 online space where people go to be social, has learned through surveys that its users are turned off by promotional content. In particular, Facebook found that users don't like:
  1. Posts that solely push people to buy a product or install an app
  2. Posts that push people to enter promotions and sweepstakes with no real context
  3. Posts that reuse the exact same content from ads
Users instead want to see stories from their friends. Indeed, they do like seeing items from businesses' and organizations' pages, as long as the users care about the business and don't feel like they're being spammed. For 2015, Facebook intends to use its algorithms to keep an eye out for overly promotional posts from business pages, and then downgrade these posts in users' news feeds. This will have an impact on dental practices that use Facebook for marketing and advertising. If your dental practice is putting up posts like this:

"New Patients at ABC Dental get a free Spin Brush when they sign up for treatment. And the first appointment is free! Make your appointment today!"

… you might as well stop. Not many people are going to see it. But even though using Facebook to promote your dental practice will become more challenging, the platform is still worth your time. Here are a few tips.

Be engaging
Say something of interest, and don't just run contests to get a lot of likes. Tell your practice story. Give people something to respond to. Use social media as an opportunity to connect with potential and current patients so that they get a better understanding of what you are all about. One of the most overlooked aspects of social media is engagement. You want people to comment on your posts. You want to be part of their conversations. So be sure to respond to any comments posted on your page. These are gold. Each comment represents another opportunity to engage and treat your Facebook fans like friends.

Empower your team
If you're the only one posting on your Facebook page and it's getting overwhelming, invite your team to join in. After all, they have the most interaction with patients. They're in sync with what people are interested in. And they could possibly do a better job than you or an outsourced solution. No doubt some of your staff members have a natural facility with social media and use it frequently in their own lives. They instinctively know what works. Tap into their talents.

Get to know your patient audience
There is no shortcut on this one. Getting to know your patients will require you to pay attention. Let your previous posts be your guide. Look at which ones garnered the most comments, likes and shares. What content has taken off and what hasn't? If nothing yet has driven much engagement, don't be afraid to test a new approach. Once you figure out what your patients are interested in, you can use that knowledge to create similar content going forward. And remember that Facebook allows pages to target posts by gender, age, location and other criteria. Your audience has different facets.

Look beyond Facebook
No one knows what the future holds for dental practices on Facebook, and the social media landscape is always shifting. Now is a great time to branch out and expand to other social platforms, if you haven't already done so. For example, Instagram (owned by Facebook) is growing quickly, and its focus on visuals can be a powerful tool to tell your brand story. Establishing a presence on other social sites also expands your practice to people who don't like Facebook or aren't on it.

Smart usage
Although Facebook's change may seem like a needlessly restrictive roadblock, it's really intended to provide the user with a better experience. For the same reason that people don't want to hear sales pitches at a party, users will abandon the site if they feel they're always the target of constant promotions and contests. Understand that the platform ultimately isn't designed for businesses to talk themselves up, but for people to connect with one another. So use social media to connect, and you'll find success on Facebook and other platforms.

Angela Weber is the chief marketing officer for OrthoSynetics, a company that specializes in business services for the orthodontic and dental industries. She leads a team of marketing professionals dedicated to developing and implementing cutting-edge strategies and solutions for its members. Weber has more than 15 years of experience in the advertising industry, with a vast knowledge of current and past trends, philosophies and strategies for marketing within the health-care industry. Weber holds a BA in mass communications from Louisiana State University and an MBA from the University of New Orleans.



Dentaltown Magazine
September 2025
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