A Dentist’s Kindness Results in Powerful Social Media Marketing Lesson

Dr. Edward Banas and his team at Ocean Springs Dental in Ocean Springs, Mississippi are heroes. When a special-needs boy was bullied and beat up at school, they stepped up to help repair the damage to his teeth at no cost to the family.

In addition to this being an awesome story about good people, there’s a very powerful social media marketing lesson here for every dental practice:

So what’s the marketing lesson to be learned? Having a social media platform in place helps spread your practice stories when opportunities arise. If you wait until you need a “broadcast channel” to start creating it, you’re too late.

It’s important to note that Ocean Springs Dental did NOT do this for publicity. They did it out of the goodness of their hearts. They were actually shocked at its viral reach. All they did was post a Facebook photo that featured Austin as the hero, not Dr. Banas.

Three Things Your Practice Can Do to Prepare for Stories That Spread

1. If your practice doesn’t have a social media marketing platform, it’s easy to begin building one. Start with a simple blog and a Facebook page.

2. Be consistent in publishing content to your dental social media platform. Baby steps are fine. Learn from other practices doing a good job. You need to be familiar and comfortable with your tools before you actually need them.

3. Make a conscious effort to watch for opportunities to serve others in your community. You don’t need to wait for someone to beat up an innocent kid. Everyone has teeth, and our economy has created lots of struggling people. Be creative. In the words of Winston Churchill, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

Stories that spread help grow your practice, unite your team, increase trust and loyalty with your patients, and often make the world a better place.