Thinking of adding Twitter to your dental marketing plan? You’re in good company, as more than half of dentists report using social media in their dental marketing strategies.

Twitter is an extremely popular social networking site that is frequented by many different types of businesses and people. The site allows users to follow each other and add messages, called tweets, on a regular basis. Tweets are short, 140 characters or less, snippets of information provided by tweeters throughout the day.

Twitter started out as a personal site, with people adding information related to what they ate for breakfast or bought at the store. But today, businesses use tweets to promote new services, discount offers, and articles or videos of interest. The sky is the limit.

There are many different ways that adding a Twitter account to your dental marketing plan can help you get new patients. Here are some tips for getting started with your own page.

profiles come first

If you have any experience with social sites, you’ll realize that before anything else happens, you need to create a proper profile. Twitter, of course, is no different. Within your Twitter profile you must include the basic information of your dental practice. You can also use this place to add an image related to your practice and provide links for email and for your dental business URL. This is a place to express who you are, who you serve, what services you provide, etc.

find some friends

The next thing you’ll want to do is start “following” those with similar interests. You probably don’t want to add competitors, although this is up to you. You’re more likely to add dental supply companies, people in similar roles who don’t compete with you, such as oral surgeons and orthodontists, local groups within the city where you practice, and even patients. Any business or person that is related to your dental business is a good target to follow on Twitter. You can even add some personal interests like their favorite sports team or restaurant, because there’s a good chance they already have a Twitter account.

Daily update

It is very important that you keep your Twitter account updated regularly. Try to think of something to tweet every day. You should have no problem coming up with a few tweets that relate to your dental practice. Remember, it’s only 140 characters, so come up with some quick tips related to oral health, oral hygiene, teeth whitening, etc.

Advertise your new Twitter page

Post notices asking your patients to join you on Twitter. This is becoming very common. I’ve noticed ads from billboards to bulletin boards asking customers of all kinds of businesses to follow them on Twitter. It is really impressive.

join the discussion

Don’t just put posts on your Twitter account talking about your dental business. You should also look for interesting places to add comments. Wish clients happy birthdays, provide feedback on the latest dental news or rumors, and retweet interesting things you’ve seen other people tweet about. Retweets are a huge part of Twitter, and when done correctly, they not only give you something to talk about, but they also give you the opportunity to help your fellow Tweeters and grow your own Twitter audience.

Twitter is the fastest growing social networking site on the Internet. With a little time and a little planning, Twitter is a great tool to add to your dental marketing plan.