Nothing screams “the New Year is just around the corner,” like the emergence of yet another new social media platform.
Since the beginning of the internet, we’ve seen platform after platform pop up left and right. Some of them disappeared as quick as they came (RIP MySpace), but others stuck around for quite some time.
Dare I say; they’ve made a huge impact on the world of marketing – possessing the ability to grow your business exponentially. (I’m talking about you, Instagram!)
So what’s the latest buzz on the social media scene, and is it worth dabbling in? Let’s dive right into it…
What is BeReal and Can it Help You Grow Your Dental Practice?
Ok, ok… the title of this article gave the punchline away.
If you haven’t heard of BeReal, you’re in the right place.
(And if you have heard of BeReal but you have no idea if it’s a marketing platform you should consider exploring, you’re also in the right place.)
Let’s start by giving you the lay of the land behind the new social media platform.
What is BeReal?
BeReal is a social media platform that mimics a modern-day Snapchat.
The biggest difference? You’re only allowed to post on BeReal once a day.
When you sign up for an account, you’ll receive one daily prompt per day to take your BeReal and share it with your friends.
BeReal accesses both your front-facing and back camera – capturing what is happening at that moment with both cameras.
The catch here is that in order to view your friends’ BeReal, you have to post your daily BeReal yourself.
Typically, your account is private and kept between friends you add to BeReal from your own contacts. But you can choose the option to publicize your BeReal by posting onto the public forum.
Something to note about the app is that you have no idea when your BeReal prompt will come in. It could be at 9 AM one day, and 5 PM the next. However, when you receive your BeReal prompt, everyone on your friends list will be receiving theirs as well.
This almost guarantees that everyone on your list will be on the app at the same time.
How to Use BeReal to Grow Your Practice
Now BeReal isn’t your typical social media platform due to the nature of how the app works.
This means that your marketing strategy will greatly differ from Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms.
Since you’re only able to post once a day (and you have no idea when the prompt will drop), it’s not exactly a platform that’s primed for strategy and planning.
However, it could still be a useful tool to grow your practice if you have patients and clients who want to get a closer behind-the-scenes look at your practice.
Similar to capturing your emails for your email list, you need a system to capture your patients’ phone numbers if you hope to add them to your BeReal friends list.
This could be a great method if you want to nurture your current leads, so they become warm and eventually hot leads.
The key to capturing their contact information is to make it worth their while. Could you offer a discount? A free incentive? Or maybe even a free goodie bag?
Whatever it is, you need to offer your prospect something beneficial to them in exchange for their contact information.
Setting Realistic Expectations
Unlike social media platforms such as Instagram, BeReal won’t grow your practice in the same way that traditional social media platforms do. That’s because it provides exclusive access with very strict restrictions on how you can operate on the app.
While posting once per day is a hindrance when it comes to brand awareness and promotion, it is a great way to build trust with existing leads to turn them into loyal customers.
This means your expectations for how using BeReal to grow your practice needs to be different from your expectations from Instagram.
Instead of using it as a channel for massive growth (e.g. going viral), it is a great platform to capture intentional leads and warm them up along the way.
Your BeReal Strategy
Because of the nature of BeReal, your social media strategy needs to be different. You can’t plan and batch content ahead of time. And because you can’t plan for when you’re called to post a BeReal, the strategy needs to be focused on one thing – authenticity.
Show your BeReal followers a real-time view of what’s happening in your practice. Think outside the box and offer your BeReal followers a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on in your practice that your Instagram followers don’t get to see.
Think about your BeReal as a higher-tier social media where in exchange for their contact information, you’re providing them an exclusive view of something that free subscribers don’t get.
However, you shouldn’t forget to interact with your BeReal followers once they’re on the list. You’ll get to see your followers’ BeReal content as well, so interact with it and comment. Engaging with your followers is a great way to get personal and build trust with your prospects.
Should You Consider BeReal as Part of Your Marketing Strategy?
Personally, I would focus your attention on larger-scale social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, or even TikTok. That is because BeReal is still relatively new, which means the number of users on the platform still isn’t huge.
However, it’s not a bad idea to download the app to dabble and explore what it’s all about.
While currently, I don’t think BeReal will become a major contender in the digital marketing space in the near future – you never know.
But staying up-to-date with new social media marketing platforms and trends is always a great idea. So keep watching The Dental Marketer’s site, as we’ll keep you informed with all the new platforms popping up and whether or not it’s worth your time and effort.
