This short post makes one assumption up front – that you at least know a little bit about Pinterest and may be using it personally. If not, you can get up to speed by watching this 90-second video. Now that you have a little foundation, you’re probably wondering how your dental practice can benefit from Pinterest.
Pinterest Is a Catalyst
As is the case with ALL dental practice social media marketing strategies, the first question should never be “How can we use Pinterest to sell dentistry?” Rather, in the case of Pinterest, the first question should be “How can our practice use Pinterest to provide value to patients and create trusted relationships that earn opportunities to soft-sell dentistry?”
Facebook maps your “social graph.” You know who your friends are, and you have fans on your practice’s Facebook page. Pinterest is different because it maps your “interest graph.” In other words, it’s driven by interests that people have in common. It’s also driven by “content discovery,” which means that people are always exploring the web for new ideas and information, based on their interests.
You’re probably saying, “But typically, dentistry ISN’T a topic people are passionately exploring!” You’re right! However, there are topics and interests related to dentistry that people ARE exploring. And, don’t forget … we all like to do business with people we know and like. Your patients are interested in YOU and your team. Take a look at the pins Dr. Costello puts on their practice’s Pinterest boards, which are pushed through to Facebook. They’re designed to create traffic, spark conversations, provide useful information and have a little fun. In turn, they increase top-of-mind awareness of Dr. Costello’s practice and their dental services.
Pinterest Is Easy for Your Practice to Use and Maintain
One of the coolest things about Pinterest, from a dental practice marketing perspective, is that you don’t have to spend tons of time creating content! You’re leveraging content that others create. You’re just distilling and channeling it into a framework that markets your practice and strengthens your relationships.
Why the Inability to Localize Isn’t a Drawback
Some Pinterest detractors contend that small businesses dependent on local, geo-specific audiences (like dental practices) don’t benefit from Pinterest. That only makes sense if you think of Pinterest as a “mass marketing” strategy – which it isn’t.
Like all social media marketing tactics in a dental practice, Pinterest should be thought of, first and foremost, as an internal marketing strategy targeted toward one-on-one relationships. Your patients will share content with people in their trusted networks – many of whom live in your community and are great prospective patients.
How to Get Started Using Pinterest in Your Practice
1. Pick a team member who can spend 10 minutes a day working on this. If you have someone who already loves Pinterest and is using it personally, that may be the best choice.
2. Connect your Pinterest account to Facebook.
3. Download our free eBook, “10 Pinboard Ideas For Dental & Orthodontic Practices” and use it to spark YOUR pinboard’s ideas!
Good luck! Start pinning!
Interested in pinterest to market dentistry
Thanks for your comment, Gary. We’d be happy to answer any specific questions you have about Pinterest marketing for a dental practice. Would you like us to give you a call? Or, you are welcome to email me. JackMySocialPractice.com
Our office has crreated a Pinterest account and have been trying to link it to our business page on Facebook, but it will only allow us to link the App with a page admin’s personal Facebook account. I noticed that the doctor used as an example in this article manged to figure it out, and was wondering where I can find instructions to do so for our office. Thanks!
Great question, Sarah! I would have liked to have explained this in more detail in the post, but it got lengthy…. Here’s the answer to your question. You are correct about the inability for Pinterest to be tied directly to a Facebook business page. That is not possible to date. What you see on Dr. Costello’s Facebook page is basically a “display feed” of his Pinterest page. A third-party application, installed on his business page and displayed as a tab, is sucking in his Pinterest posts and displaying them. Perhaps eventually, you’ll be able to connect those two things directly, but you can’t do that yet. So, try installing the application (link above in the post) on your business page, and then go from there. Let me know if that makes sense for you. I’ll try to explain it in a different way if it doesn’t. Thanks!
Jack, Great article (as usual)! I am curious when I do this will it show my personal Pinterest posts or Hammond Ellis pins? Because I have to log on to FB with my personal FB login will it let me specify which Pinterest account I would like to use?
Hi Tonya! I’m assuming you are talking about the Pinterest Facebook application. You can specify any Pinterest page you would like to pull from. You actually don’t even have to log in to Pinterest for the application to work, you only need to be an admin of your Facebook page.
This is a fabulous article on using Pinterest to market your dental practice! “People want to do business with people they know, like and trust”, so true!
We can’t all go out and shake a million hands like the politicians do, but we can use Pinterest as a tool to connect and share with potential and current patients! And with your help, we can do it right! Thanks for what you do, Jack.
Nomi Waters
Thanks, Nomi.
Great information Jack and Naomi. You make connecting easy, fun and valuable!
Thanks, Anne. By the way, I enjoyed the article on your site I recently read, “Choosing the Right Identity, Message and Plan” in unlocking great marketing in a practice. In talking about messaging strategy, the author said, “An effective message strategy frames up what makes you unique and reinforces the value of your service so patients and staff can readily share the unique values of your practice with others.” I think this is great advice—and thoughtful social media marketing tactics can really help practices do that. Thanks, Anne.
Hey Jack-
Wow! Our practice is certainly enjoying the association c My Social Practice. All great so far. We learn something new about our service every day. I’m standing at gate at Logan in Boston waiting to fly to an all day Platinum Members Coaching Meeting tomorrow. Then a redeye back to Boston tomorrow & drive to meet the family at our place in Vermont for the Columbus Day Holiday Weekend.
Keep up the great stuff you all do & sometime we’ll chat. Will let you know how many leads come our way through MSP. All your designed sites for us have Jay Geier-Scheduling Institute-Call Tracker #’s. I get a report every day.
Have a great holiday weekend!
Thanks Dr. Johnson. We are excited to be working with you too! Thanks for the Happy Columbus Day Holiday Weekend wish. Same to you.