The way patients approach healthcare today is quite different than it was a decade ago. Social media is booming and taking the healthcare industry by storm. As a physician, we understand that social media can seem intimidating. Your time is primarily spent with your patients and practice—making sure they’re well taken care of and happy, creating a caring environment, and successfully running your practice. This leaves you with little time to worry about your social media presence.
That’s where we come in! Here at beMarketing, our healthcare marketing Hive is ready to prescribe the best social media platforms for doctors so you can achieve stable results within your practice and get more patients walking through your doors.
Social media is a surprisingly large part of the marketing equation for doctors. Simply put, if your practice wants to produce chronic results, it needs to be active on all the major platforms. Most of your patients are already using social media, so why aren’t you? Take a look at these numbers:
There are over 200 million social network users in the U.S., making up more than 65% of the population.
Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest are some of the most popular platforms today, with over 330 million monthly active users!
The main goal of social media is to:
- Increase followers and engagement
- Build your brand and online presence
- Market your practice to a larger audience, bringing new patients to your practice
If you’re wondering where you should be active online, we’re breaking it down and sharing what social platforms are best for doctors to promote their practice.
Facebook is one of the leading platforms for social media management services and should be considered by all practices. It’s a great platform for increasing brand awareness and engagement, and it’s an easy way to target and track your ideal audience. Once you create a business profile, your patients can then use Facebook Messenger to communicate with you. Patients can leave reviews and recommendations, driving new patients to your practice. You can optimize posts that have a strong impact on local SEO, helping your practice appear in a top search result.
LinkedIn may be primarily B2B, but it’s also a social media tool. You can never take the “social” out of social media. Setting up a LinkedIn profile for your practice will help you connect with colleagues, share medical insights, and engage with other healthcare professionals. Additionally, LinkedIn is also great for recruiting talent, allowing you to connect with recruiters, review resumes, and find endorsements for potential hires.
Like Facebook, except more direct, is the social platform Twitter. This platform encourages users to get straight to the point with a limited word count. By using Twitter as part of your social media management services, your practice can distribute high-quality content, drive traffic to your website, and increase exposure to potential patients who are looking for credible healthcare information.
Instagram is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms, focusing heavily on picture and video posts to connect with your audience. For doctors, Instagram can be used to post patient outcomes and share images of your practice and the physicians who work there. Instagram can also be used to target potential patients and promote any conferences or events your practice may be holding.
Like Instagram, Pinterest is very visual. Users share pins on boards, like a digital corkboard. Images designed like advertisements encourage users to click through to land on your website. Pinterest is a great platform to share health tips and tricks, simple healthy food recipes, and community events. Pinterest is largely made up of women users, so when starting a Pinterest page for your practice, it’s wise to appeal to women so they can repin and redistribute the information you are putting out.
At beMarketing, we are your go-to healthcare marketing agency. Whether you’re launching a new practice or simply want to expand your online reach, our team is here to help you develop a strategic plan to make social media for doctors easy and effective.
Ready to give your practice a digital boost? beMarketing can help you establish a brand new marketing treatment plan or revive your current medical marketing strategies, so your campaigns will never miss a (heart) beat. If you’re ready to diagnose your practice and make sure it’s in top-notch health, contact us today to get started.
