Google Plus vs. Facebook: Which is Best for Dentists?

When it comes to social media marketing for dentists, one of the most often asked questions we hear from clients and prospective clients alike is, which social network is best for a dental practice to concentrate on primarily – Google+ or Facebook?

That question can be answered several ways, but most often the best way to answer that question…is with another question.

And another, and another, and so on…and so on and so on.

Does the Google+ Local factor make this a meaningless argument…any social media dentists care to comment?

While we would never pigeon hole a dental practice into one social community over another, here are some of the questions to ask yourself the next time you’re are searching for an answer to this most existential dental social media marketing question.

• Who are your patients?
• Where do they live – rural, suburban, or urban?
• Where do they work?
• Where is your practice located?
• What is the primary message you hope to convey through your dental social media communications?
• What are your plans for the future?
• Are you outsourcing or taking care of things in-house…or both?
• Are you on Google+?
• Are you on Facebook?
• Which do you like better?
• Where will you get the informational, beneficial, and sometimes humorous dental health content to publish through these communities?

Why are you wasting time asking yourself dumb questions???

The answer is simple.

Dentists using social media effectively understand the importance of being represented across multiple social media communities – this includes, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Foursquare, and LinkedIn…to name the major players.

Having a singular doctor’s profile or practice page dedicated to delivering the most share-worthy dental social media communications is selling yourself, your practice, your community, and your patients short.

Best practice is to organically develop your social dental sphere of influence through at least those seven aforementioned social media communities.

For the dentists still trying to figure out whether Facebook is better than Google+ for their social dental media prominence, take a look at this infographic: