The Use of Social Media for Dental Practice Marketing - Abstract
Objective: Dentists use social media (SM) for various reasons, but only limited studies explored their use for dental marketing. This study aimed to explore the use of social media among dentists in Jordan to market their dental practice.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study used a self-administrated online questionnaire of 17 items distributed to 1000 dentists. The survey included questions related to dentists’ demographic and profession-related information, SM use in general, and social media use for dental practice marketing. Chi-square test was conducted to assess the association of dentists’ demographic and professional information with SM use for marketing.
Results: There were a total of 510 dentists participating in the study. Approximately two thirds (68.4%) were working in the private sector. Facebook was the most popular SM platform used by dentists (97.6%) and the primary purpose of using SM accounts was for personal uses. Yet, about one third (31.2%) of dentists were using SM for marketing, and three-quarters of dentists were thinking that using SM for marketing is effective and practical (73.3%). Dental marketing through SM was significantly higher among males, those younger than 40 years old, private sector practitioners, and dentists who obtained training in cosmetic dentistry or professional training on SM use.
Conclusion: Dentists hold a positive attitude toward SM as an effective tool for gaining new patients. Yet, a small percentage of dentists were using SM to market their practice. Training in cosmetic dentistry or professional training on SM use could contribute to dental marketing through SM in the future.