(For the sample blog calendar, scroll down!)
I like New Year’s resolutions that I can keep and that yield significant results. Smart folks will kick off 2025 with a marketing plan that includes regular social media posts, an e-newsletter, and weekly blogs. If these three tasks didn’t make your professional resolutions list, it’s not too late to amend your agenda!
Social media rarely earns a dentist new patients. However, the cost of onboarding a new patient, from marketing to hygiene visits, is quite high. In light of these costs, patient retention is important. Regularly sharing blogs and social media posts will keep your brand in front of current patients, which helps with patient retention. (The sample blog calendar is available below.)
As a bonus, involving your team members in commenting, sharing, and participating in social media can help unite your team on a new level.
If you’re going to try social media posts, then go all in. Require your team to participate and hold them accountable. Every team member should log in at the end of your weekly team meeting and engage with one or more of your social media profiles. Get your team involved by asking for their input on the sample blog calendar and social media agenda. Your team members have their finger on the pulse of your patients. They hear the questions your patients ask, as well as the comments they make. Listen to your support team! They may generate some amazing new ideas!
If you have trouble deciding on topics for your blogs and social media posts, this sample blog calendar is a great springboard to get you started.
Sample Blog Calendar & Social Media Agenda
Jan – New Year, New Patient Special – Whitening Blog
Jan – Outdoor Photo Challenge – Veneers Blog
Jan – Team Tip* – Ortho Blog
Jan – Celebrity Smile Challenge** – Smile Makeovers Blog
Feb – Teeth Whitening Special – Are You Kissable? (Quiz: smile, lips, breath) Blog
Feb – Poll: Best VDay Gift (dinner, chocolates, flowers, jewelry) – Science Says Some Sweets Superior for Smiles Blog
Feb – Team Tip* – 5 Cures for Foul Breath Blog
Feb – Celebrity Smile Challenge** – Gum Disease Symptoms & Treatment Blog
March – St. Patty’s Day in [your town here] – Beer: Good for your teeth? Yes and no. Blog
March – Spring Break Dates (local districts) – 3 Dental Procedures to Schedule Over Spring Break (wisdom teeth, get braces put on, restorative) Blog
March – Team Tip* – Help [your town] Neighbors Find a Dentist Blog
March – Celebrity Smile Challenge** – No More Root Canals? Blog
Want to see the April to December topics? Call Riese today at 972-679-6885.
*Team Tip – Choose one employee per month to provide a tip about taking care of oral and/or overall health. Include a headshot or picture of the employee at work.
**Celebrity Smile Challenge – Grab pictures of celebrity smiles, crop them to only the mouth, and challenge your team and patients to identify the celebrity, based only on the image.
e-Newsletter
A dental practice newsletter’s sole purpose is patient retention through brand impressions. This means that patients who read your newsletter will also see your logo and remember how awesome you are. Unintentionally, their brain retains your brand more with each impression.
Why a newsletter?
You need to keep your brand in front of patients for three reasons:
- so they don’t stray to a different dentist’s office,
- so your practice comes to mind when asked for a recommendation for a dentist, and
- so it appears like you genuinely care about your patients and community.
Why choose an email newsletter? E-newsletters are more affordable and practical than print versions.
- Text and other elements can be altered at any time.
- No cost for printing and postage.
- Immediate delivery.
- Data is automatically collected on deliveries, opt-outs, shares, clicks, and more.
What goes in a dental newsletter?
Your newsletter should feature unique photography, a few blogs (teaser with link), results of challenges and polls from social media posts, plus reviews from Google, Facebook, or personal notes from patients.
Also announce any practice news: new hires, new tech, change in hours, holiday closings, birthday wishes, and congratulations to team members and patients. (People love to be named, or for their kids to be named, but get permission first).
For the best impact, distribute your e-newsletter on a set calendar, either monthly or quarterly.
Need a PRO Dental Marketing Team?
We do more than create blog calendars and social media agendas! Identiwrite Creative wants you to GET MORE NEW PATIENTS. Our team of dental writers, graphic designers, web technicians, and SEO experts can manage part or all of your online marketing strategy. We can also develop your custom marketing strategy after analyzing your competitors, as well as current rankings and traffic, and learning about your target market. If you need marketing help from experts who know dentistry and dental patients, call us today at 972-679-6885.
