Best Practices to Use on Your Instagram Profile

How to Create Your Instagram Profile

Setting up an Instagram account is very easy and simple. However, you should know that Instagram is used only through a mobile application on your Smartphone. You can’t manage or post through your computer or laptop. But you can use your computer to ‘like’ and comment on Instagram.

Now it’s time to create your profile:

§ First, decide who is going to be in charge of the account, managing and posting to it. Then this team member can download the app to their phone and install it.

§ Register with an email address. Because this is for a business, the person managing the account could use their work email or any other appropriate email address that you check periodically. This address will be used to verify the account.

§ Choose a username that best fits your practice. You can use identical or variations of your practice name, website URL or the dentist’s name. You want something that is easy to identify your dental business.

§ Add a name to the profile. This can be the same as your username (with spaces) or it can be different. You can use the practice’s or the dentist’s name.

§ Include your website URL. This will be shown on your profile where people can click on it and be taken directly to your practice’s online home.

§ Upload a picture. This could be a picture of the dentist, the office, or your logo. Choose something that identifies your dental practice because you want people to recognize this image and think of your practice.

§ Add a description. This is just a short one to two sentences describing the practice or dentist.

Now you can start adding pictures and videos to your profile.

Best Practices to Use on Your Instagram Profile

To get the most from your Instagram account, acquire more followers that could lead to new patients, and build your presence and brand through the platform, follow these seven best practices:

Post a variety of pictures Patients want to get to know the dentist(s), your practice and see your work. Take pictures of the dentist(s), the dentist working on a patient (with permission of the patient, of course), the office, “behind the scenes” shots, staff members, smiling patients and families, your local community, before and after pictures, and products you offer. This is a great time to get creative with your photography skills and show normal objects in a new, unusual way. Research what other dentists are doing to get more ideas.

Always use hashtags Instagram is known for their hashtag use. Hashtags start with the “#” symbol followed by a word or phrase (but always with no spaces between words). Basically they are keywords that will pop up on search results when people are looking for specific words or terms. It is highly recommended to always include at least one hashtag with each post, but it’s not unusual to see six or more being used. Just remember that the more keywords you use, the more chances you get of people finding you.

Tag people in your photos This will give you a wider audience because people in that person’s network will now see your post. To tag a person, use the “@” symbol followed by their Instagram username. As long as they have an Instagram account, you can tag other dentists, employees, patients, friends, family members, etc. If someone tags you, it is a good idea to respond to get people’s attention.

Respond to comments People want to see that you’re engaged with your audience, listening to them and that you care enough to interact. Social media is a two-way street and you must be engaged with your followers. You want to let them know you are there and taking them seriously as you create a bond with your patients.

Post videos periodically Pictures do get more ‘likes’ than videos on Instagram; however, videos seem to get more comments. People like to watch and engage with videos, especially on Instagram because they are only 15-seconds long. This is another way to be creative in order to increase your following.

Create a schedule Try not to overrun people’s feeds with tons of pictures and videos. Find out how often your audience likes to see you pop up in their feed. It may just be once a day or three times a day. Then you can create a schedule of how often you need to post.