Facebook has emerged over the past few years as a powerful dental marketing platform.

In the U.S. alone, Facebook has approximately 160 million visitors each month – about 3 out of every 4 Internet users – with the majority of them visiting the site on a daily basis. (Source: comScore)

The Wealthy Dentist recently conducted a survey of dentists on their use of Facebook business pages.

67% of the dentist respondents report they have a Facebook business page, with 33% reporting they do not.

Analysis of the 67% using Facebook business pages revealed that even though dentists’ use of Facebook business pages is fairly new, sharing basic information about their business drove the bulk of engagement, representing 88% of why dentists were on Facebook.

• 88% Basic information about business.
• 65% Share content like video/images.
• 61% Connect with current dental patients.
• 50% Offer specials and discounts.
• 35% Connect with peers in dentistry.

Not understanding what to do with a Facebook page proved to be a particularly popular sentiment among the 33% of dentists not using Facebook at all.

When asked why they are not using a Facebook page, dentists gave the following reasons —

• 46% Not sure what to do.
• 28% Not interested.
• 13% Don’t have time.
• 13% Other.

Of the 13% who stated “other” as their reason for ignoring Facebook pages, two dentists gave the following reasons —

“Too much exposure!” (California dentist)

“Too many viruses, etc.” (Wisconsin dentist)

Despite an increasing willingness to use Facebook as part of their dental marketing plan, understanding exactly what to offer their dental patients on Facebook was a common issue among dentist respondents.

Here’s what those dentists had to say about using Facebook business pages —

“Facebook is really hard to learn and it keeps changing.” (Massachusetts dentist)

” I’m not sure what’s the best, most cost-effective way to use it in a way that fits our practice.” (Alabama dentist)

“I would like to know: what are some good ways to get people to follow you on Facebook?” (Missouri dentist)

“What does having a Facebook business page really do over what good internal marketing can?” (New York dentist)

“I’m sure it’s something I SHOULD be doing and wish I could learn and arrange time to do everything I SHOULD be doing.” (California dentist)

“It’s probably the wave of the future, but I don’t have the time to spend an hour a day devoted to it.” (General dentist)

Of the 67% of dentist respondents using a Facebook page for their dental practice marketing, several commented positively about their experiences using Facebook —

“We are able to connect not only with our own patients but also with their Facebook friends when they like or share one of our posts or videos. It helps us to get the word out.” (Missouri dentist)

“Having a Facebook page is a necessity in today’s social media driven society!” (General dentist)

“I felt it was critically important for us to understand our Facebook audience and how they like to engage with us on Facebook. So far it has been a positive experience.” (Ohio dentist)

“It’s a little bit of work but necessary today.” (Pennsylvania dentist)

“Not a huge hit yet, but lots of potential for referrals from our patients that not only “Like” us, but love us: our raving fans.” (Illinois dentist)

On the demographic side, 72% of the dentists who responded that they have Facebook page were suburban dentists, with only 8% urban and 2% rural dentists saying they use Facebook for dental marketing.

In addition to understanding how to use Facebook, dentists agree that the ability to reach new prospective dental patients on Facebook should be an important part of their dental marketing goals.

Jim Du Molin has been spending a lot of time on Facebook… that is, working on how dentists can get the most out of it.

Jim doesn’t want you to fall behind in this latest dental marketing trend, so he’s now including full Facebook support in his “New Patient Marketing Machine,” letting dentists embed pages from their websites within their profiles!

Click here to learn how to get your website on Facebook.