Young dentist’s guide to…Instagram

Thinking of pushing a professional Instagram profile? Chris Baker lists some things to consider.

Everybody else is doing it so I better had!

Well, you don’t have to, but it is a great way for any young clinician to build their standing amongst their peers and to reach out to those younger patients who are digital natives too.

So, what should you be considering?

Things to consider for your Instagram account

• Get your profile right
  • Make sure that your Instagram handle is catchy and relevant
  • As you are likely to be posting in both a personal and professional capacity, include an email address so potential patients can get in touch
  • Link to other social media and your website
  • When people are deciding whether to follow your account, they will check out to see who you are following; it shows your interests. Don’t follow everyone when you start out, otherwise your feed will fill up with junk
• Make sure that the content you share has a consistent feel to it – an obvious identity in terms of colours and branding will make you instantly recognisable when followers are scrolling
• Images must be immediately striking – what will stop me in my tracks?
• Use geotags to show followers where you are
• A mixture of personal and professional content is best – people buy people and whilst the before and afters are important, they need to know what makes you tick outside of the surgery
• Apps – there are plenty of good third party applications to make your photos really stand out. VSCO, SKRWT and Darkroom are some of the best
• Storytelling – all good communication (and marketing) is the conveying of an engaging narrative. You can use the Instagram…