The days of dentists generating new business by neighborly word-of-mouth—and of reluctant patients having little choice but to simply walk into an office unannounced with no idea who they were about to encounter in the dentist’s chair—are long-gone.
Thanks to social media such as Twitter and Facebook, dentists have a far bigger pool of patients to tap into while patients have the opportunity to grow comfortable with a dentist even before their first appointment. Nobody knows the benefits of social media better than Virginia-based dentists Dr. Jason Lipscomb and Dr. Stephen Knight, who have authored the book “Social Media For Dentists” and who provide advice on navigating the world of social media to dentists and patients alike at www.socialmediadentist.com and http://facebook.com/socialmediadentist.
Lipscomb and Knight view social media as a way for dentists to put a human face on their office and to ease the fears of those who are unenthusiastic about heading to the dentist. It is also an incredibly lucrative marketing opportunity, as it costs nothing to operate a Facebook and Twitter accounts and such accounts allow dentists to not only promote their offices but also establish themselves as a local expert by answering any questions patients may pose on these platforms.
