Top Hashtags for a Dental Practice
How to use hashtags for your dental practice
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, hashtags are here to stay. They were first introduced in 2007, and they’ve become a game changer in the social media marketing world ever since. Use them correctly, and you’ll engage patients and reach new ones. Use them incorrectly, and you’ll be wasting your time and driving your followers away. For those of you who’d like a refresher, here’s the 4-1-1 on all things hashtag.
What is a hashtag?
Quite literally, a hashtag is a word or phrase that is crammed together without spaces, preceded by a pound sign (#).
Why would I use a hashtag?
A hashtag, from a marketing standpoint, is a method for organizing photos on Instagram. Think shared online album. When you post a photo on Instagram and then finish the caption with a hashtag, your photo will automatically be indexed with all other photos that have that hashtag. So, when a patient browses the folder with the hashtag you used, your photo will be seen. If you use an established hashtag, one used by a large company, your post will reside in a popular stream. Likewise, unique hashtags will be seen by fewer people.
Tips for Creating Hashtags That Work
Cut to the chase. This is not the time to be creative. Get to the point, and don’t leave your hashtag up for interpretation. If you’re posting about dental implants, don’t use #bestoption because that will take your post to a completely different thread. In other words, be as specific as you can.
Use keywords. Again, the point is not to be original or creative. Use words already used so that your post will appear among the most popular hashtags. When this happens, you’ll be increasing the visibility of your content which means more potential patients will be made aware of your practice.
Create a bunch. When it comes to hashtags, the more, the merrier. Why? Again, visibility. Maximize your reach and engagement by sharing as many hashtags as you can.
Be strategic. Ask yourself if the words you use in your hashtags are ones you’d google when searching for a dentist. For example, if the caption of your post is congratulating your Chicago dentist on receiving recognition, #topdentist and #chicagodentist would be more effective than #congrats and #waytogo.
Use your location. You may have 5, 428 Instagram followers because of your captivating photos and humorous captions, but if your practice is located in San Francisco and your followers live anywhere besides San Francisco, your account isn’t making the most of your posts. To ensure your posts land in the most optimal folders, include your location. Examples would include #sfdentist #sanfranciscodentist #bayareadentist.
Searching Hashtags
A shortcut to learning which hashtags are being used is by searching within the Instagram app. If you go to the Instagram search bar and tap the Tags section, you’ll be able to check out what hashtags are being used. And by clicking on each tag, you’ll see how many posts are using that hashtag and how many of them are people you follow. And if you aim to include as many hashtags as possible in each post, searching hashtags is an excellent way to start.
Trending Hashtag Examples
Curious which hashtags are used the most? Take a look at this list. According to recent analytics, the following are currently the most popular dentistry hashtags on Instagram: #dentistry #dentist (over 1.5 million posts) #dental #smile #teeth #dentista #odontologia #cosmeticdentistry #tooth #orthodontics #odonto #dentalcare #dentalphotography #dentalhygienist #teethwhitening #oralhealth #veneers #dentalassistant #dentistrylife #dentalimplants #braces #dentalstudent #oralsurgery #dentalhygiene #dentistryworld #smilemakeover #invisalign #dentalclinic #doctor #bhfyp
#PBHS
When done right, hashtags can revolutionize your social media strategy. If what you’d really like is a pro who can take over this aspect of our practice marketing, we get it. And our social media experts are ready to help. Contact us today and find out which social media package would best fit your practice.