Seven Ways to Enhance Your Social Media Marketing Campaign
Over the past few decades, the practice of medicine has changed dramatically. You can’t expect to be successful just putting out your shingle anymore. It’s a highly competitive profession, one that requires careful attention to marketing and branding. A key component of that effort is the use of social media platforms. Here are a number of recommendations for using Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media sites to increase your visibility and bring in new patients.
Start with the most popular social media sites—There are dozens of social media outlets online. If you don’t have any social media presence, start with just a few platforms and use them more extensively. You’ll want to create accounts on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter. On each, you’ll need to create a profile—use words that describe your practice and that you think your patients will use when searching for a healthcare provider. If you have time for only one or two, find out which platforms are most popular with your patients (by asking them) and focus on those.
Promote your social media in all your communications—It’s not enough to have a YouTube channel or Facebook page. You need to make existing and potential patients aware of your social media presence. Make certain your website includes buttons that allow visitors to start following you. Put links in all patient emails and online records accounts. List your social media handles on business cards, appointment reminders, and other print materials.
Post meaningful/helpful content on your social media pages—When existing or potential patients visit your social media pages, they should find valuable information. That helps build trust, and it also sets you up as an authority. Think of the most important questions your patients ask on a regular basis and answer them in your social media posts. You can also share informative articles from journals or magazines or even host a webinar online.
Continually add new content—If potential or existing patients visit your social media on a regular basis and find static content, they’ll stop coming. It can be time-consuming to post new content on a regular basis, but it’s essential, even if just a new paragraph or two once a week.
Pictures and videos can be worth thousands of words (and dollars)—All the major social media sites make it simple for you to post virtually any type of image or informative video. Studies show that pictures and videos create the potential for visitors to engage much more with your social media pages.
Know the terms, words, and phrases that potential patients will use—In the online marketing business, these are referred to as “keywords.” You want to judiciously populate your social media posts with those words and phrases, so that you’ll rank higher and be more easily found.
Be willing to turn to social media experts—Your energies should be directed toward providing the best care you can for your patients. That will do as much as anything to build your patient roster. You may be surprised at the return on investment from hiring a company like InjuredCare.com.
Contact InjuredCarePracticeBuilder.com for Proven Social Media Consulting for Your Medical Practice