Companies across all industries are making their presence felt on social media. However, healthcare social media marketing has been lagging behind for quite some time. The good news is that this lack of presence on social media creates considerable opportunities for innovative healthcare companies to adopt social media marketing to achieve their digital marketing goals.
Using Social Media To Promote Your Healthcare Business
Although it can seem unconventional, social media marketing presents unique value to healthcare companies hoping to extend their brand reach, improve their brand awareness, and build authority in their market. Here are some of our healthcare social media marketing tips to help you grow your business.
Share Educational Information Related to Health
A common interest for most consumers today is their love for fitness and health. Social media is an effective platform to educate people about health, discourage high-risk behaviors, and lower the adverse effects of disease by educating people about self-care.
When strategizing your healthcare social media marketing plan, do not limit your campaign solely to creating self-promotional posts. Try focusing on ways in which you might help your audience improve their lives. Using social media, you can expand your organizational identity to include being a resource for people seeking helpful and insightful health-related content.
Raise Awareness About Diseases
Healthcare social media marketing has a key role to play in raising public awareness about chronic diseases, seasonal illnesses, and other healthcare-related threats. As a social media consultant for Spectrum Health advises, “Health care systems must provide trusted information …”
Raising awareness through social media is as easy as addressing daily concerns regarding healthy living, or reminding your followers about common health-related practices. It is also an effective tool for implementing campaigns targeting specific groups who will benefit from your content.
Debunk Health-Related Misinformation
By its very nature, social media marketing in the healthcare industry helps rapidly spread information to a diverse range of people. Social media marketing for healthcare is effective when the information that you provide is clear, helpful, and most importantly, fact-based. Unfortunately, there is ample misinformation related to health and wellness on social media networks. You can combat misinformation and build trust in your brand by providing insightful information from trusted health resources like WHO or CDC.
Use Social Media To Help People
Healthcare organizations and health authorities are vital sources of information, and social media offers creative ways for healthcare professionals to address commonly asked questions.
Social media presents fantastic opportunities to communicate directly with your target audience. Responding to comments from your audience, and asking them open-ended questions can start conversations and generate positive attitudes about your brand. Remember, a small and engaged audience is generally more valuable compared to a massive audience that is disengaged. Fostering warm relationships creates trust, which in turn is likely to produce more revenue for your business.
Share User-Generated Content
Content created and shared by users, commonly known as user-generated content, is a great strategy for healthcare social media marketing. Consumers naturally tend to trust recommendations put forward by other consumers, especially family and friends.
In a few cases, your company might even partner with patients to develop user-generated content. This type of content can serve as a testimonial or an opportunity to educate other people about treatments and their benefits. An important thing to keep in mind with user-generated content is that you must get permission from a patient to share their content.
Social Media Can Boost Your Healthcare Business
Irrespective of the industry segment your healthcare organization is from, B2B or patient-facing, a hospital conducting successful surgeries or one selling high quality stethoscopes, you have something unique and special to give out to your audience. Highlighting these ideas are exactly what will get you likes, shares, favorites, and retweets. 27% of patients post or comment on status updates that are based on health-related experiences.
Social media marketing in the healthcare industry is an effective tool for building your business. Just remember to make notes of what works for your organization and your audience. This will provide the much-needed base for engaging your audience, growing your following, and growing your business.
