What’s Instagram Stories and How Can I Use It for my Dental Practice?
In the past few weeks you may have noticed a change on your Instagram account; there’s a new feature, Instagram Stories. What’s Instagram Stories you might wonder? It’s basically like Snapchat, but it’s on Instagram. Rumor has it that Instagram, owned by Facebook, tried to buy Snapchat, but Snapchat wouldn’t bite. It what seems like retaliation, Instagram has implemented this new Snapchat-like feature. It allows you to post videos or images on your Instagram account that disappear after 24 hours. What’s appealing about this feature being on Instagram, is that you can post as much as you like without feeling like you are spamming your followers because it doesn’t show up on your feed. Instead, your profile picture will appear at the top of user’s screens if they follow you, and they simply tap your icon to view your story. This new feature will hopefully help users stop posting repetitive content. Brands, companies, and practices are using this new feature to enhance their content marketing and social media strategy and so can you with these helpful tips.
Tell A Story
A great way to use Instagram Stories is to tell a story to your followers. This can be a complete run through of a patient’s appointment (with their permission) from start to finish. It can be a great marketing technique for patients who are curious to try your dental practice, or are interested in learning more about the procedures you are doing. Why not just post a video or a before and after photo on your Instagram wall? You can, definitely post one or two, but with Instagram Stories, you can post more without annoying your followers. One of the main reasons people unfollow Instagram channels is because they post too often.
Influence Your Followers
Maybe one of your followers has been considering dental implants or a particular whitening product but are unsure about taking the plunge. With Instagram Stories, you can feature products or procedures and their results. Every day you can feature a new product or procedure to get your followers interested, this is called influencing.
Increase Communication
With Instagram Stories, followers can directly message the Instagram Stories story they are viewing. This is great when you post a procedure and a patient has questions. An increase in communication will up your chances that the patient will pick up the phone and schedule an appointment. It’s important to have someone monitoring the Instagram channel regularly to respond to inquiries.
Educate
Use Instagram Stories to educate your patients, feature a fun fact every day or do a fun fact Friday. Your patients will love learning more about their dental health and how to improve it. You can also educate your patients by demonstrating how to floss or brush correctly. It’s also a great place to show off the technology you have in office and how it works.
Have Fun
Instagram Stories can be used to demonstrate how fun and friendly the staff can be. This is great for patients who don’t really look forward to their dental appointments. Looking forward to a fun environment with a great staff really changes the perception of dental appointments.
Start Implementing Instagram Stories Today
If your dental practice doesn’t already have an Instagram account, it’s time to make one. Instagram is great for featuring your before and after photos in addition to showcasing other aspects of your dental practice. Be sure to send out an email or ask patients in office to follow your Instagram account. Contact us at Dental Affiliate if you have any questions about how to expand your social media or content marketing horizon.
