The Most Effective use of Social Media for the Healthcare Industry

As we stated in our post, Healthcare Industry Marketing Trends to Seriously Consider, any healthcare marketing strategy would be remiss if it did not include social media in some way. The significance of social media for the healthcare industry is continuing to grow. In fact, more than 40% of consumers have admitted to being influenced by social media when it comes to their health. Social media platforms are excellent places for patients to express their opinions about recent hospital visits and collect information to aid in upcoming medical decisions. For healthcare organizations, social media presents an excellent opportunity to build relationships by engaging your audience, sharing valuable information and providing them with a platform on which to voice their opinions. Below are four ways to make the best use of social media for your healthcare organization.

Augment your traditional marketing. Making effective use of social media does not mean it’s time to abandon your traditional marketing. Instead, use social media to supplement those efforts by augmenting the interaction with your patients and customers. A great way to accomplish this is to introduce incoming doctors, promote new hospital programs and services and give your followers opportunities to comment about these developments.

Provide valuable content. From general fitness tips to spreading awareness of public health issues, social media allows you to educate the public. In addition, when local emergencies or disasters hit, social media can be a useful means to alert your community of emergency procedures, safety measures and the status of hospital resources. Performing these services will help to establish your facility as an authority in the industry as well as a trusted voice in the community.

Utilize ads on social media. Social media ads are particularly wise investments because they are highly effective and can be targeted to the communities you serve. In terms of ad placement, Facebook is a particularly worthwhile channel because of its propensity to procure a significant amount of exposure. To illustrate this point, Facebook reports that it had “1.79 billion monthly active users as of September 30, 2016.” Simply put, if you want as many views as possible, put your ad on Facebook. For additional benefits of advertising on Facebook, read our recent blog post, The Relevance of Facebook Ads for Your Business.

Avoid censoring. A large part of building relationships with consumers has to do with establishing trust. Your patients need to feel that they can be honest when commenting about your practice or hospital on social media. Apart from posts that contain spam or offensive comments, try not to filter your fans. Instead, let the discussions run their natural course. In the event that a negative comment appears, consider responding in order to promptly ease the situation. The loyalty this will instill will help you build a strong core of social media followers.

When putting the above recommendations into action, remember that it is important that you join the discussion and comment on your social media accounts regularly. This will demonstrate your commitment to engage with your followers.

Are you looking for fresh and exciting ideas to build up your marketing strategy? Contact Weise to see how we can help.