During recent years, the social media industry has expanded drastically. Let’s take Facebook for example. In 2005, the network had only 5 million users. Today, it has more than eight hundred million users and the number continues to grow.
Although the hospitality and retail industries were quick to notice the potential of social media, the health care sector was slow to adapt. However, things slowly began to change for healthcare insurance companies and companies.
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Table of Contents
- Why is Social Media Important for Healthcare Companies?
- Benefits of Social Media Marketing for Healthcare
- Facts and Figures
- Best Social Media Marketing Tactics for Healthcare Companies
- Study your Target Audience
- Respond to Patient Queries
- Offer Health Information
- Design Branded Social Media Campaigns
- Reputation Management Campaigns
- Building Loyal Patients
- Bottom Line
Why is Social Media Important for Healthcare Companies?
Expectations of better service and a rise in competition are compelling healthcare providers to integrate social media into their marketing strategy. Not only using social media results in more engagement but it also helps healthcare institutions to build stronger relationships with their patients.
Shortage of time and lack of resources can sometimes prevent healthcare professionals from staying connected to their patients. Setting up social media profiles can help them respond to their queries in time.
Benefits of Social Media Marketing for Healthcare
Before we delve into how healthcare social media marketing can boost your institution, let’s study some benefits of healthcare social media marketing.
Benefits of embracing social media include:
- Effective marketing campaigns
- Improved online presence
- More traffic
Facts and Figures
Nearly 42% of customers utilize social media and social platforms to check health-related consumer reviews.
Social media gives them enough platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to connect with a healthcare institution. For example, if somebody is looking for the best local neurosurgeon, he would opt for someone who has a decent number of online reviews.
Approximately 71% of social media users refer a family member or a friend to a brand after having a positive social media experience.
Some people have a hard time trusting in online reviews. However, they are likely to pay attention to reviews that come from family members and friends, through social media. That’s why building a credible social media presence can play a crucial role in getting a healthcare institution more patients.
24% of patients check health-related images of other patients.
It’s common for online users to check ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures of other patients. Whether it’s a weight loss surgery or any cosmetic procedure, success stories from healthcare institutions strongly influence a patient’s decision-making process. When you post testimonials or stories from your most successful cases, you increase the chances of converting traffic.
90% of social media users consider videos to be helpful for making a good decision
Video marketing is now an integral part of every social media campaign. That’s because it’s easier to get your message across through videos. Hospitals or medical institutions can showcase their hi-tech facility. The purpose is to share a human element through video. When the audience listens to a doctor explaining a procedure or introducing their staff members, they begin trusting in your expertise even before recruiting your services.
Best Social Media Marketing Tactics for Healthcare Companies
Whether it is Google, Facebook, YouTube, or LinkedIn; doctors and medical practitioners are turning to social media for promoting their services.
Let’s now discuss some important and effective social media strategies for healthcare industry:
Study your Target Audience
Every social media platform boasts a unique user base. The interests and demographics of users on Facebook and Twitter are different from that on Instagram. For that reason, you must plan a unique campaign for every medium.
That can only happen if you identify the best social media platform for your unique audience. Facebook is one of the top platforms for healthcare marketing. Building your social media following on Facebook is a great way to increase engagement and brand awareness. Hiring full-time social media experts or outsourcing your social media campaign will help you leverage the power of social media.
Respond to Patient Queries
Healthcare institutions use social media for responding to patients’ complaints and concerns. Many hospitals and medical clinics design a campaign to engage visitors by allowing them to ask queries through Facebook Live, LinkedIn, and other forums. By answering queries, a hospital can establish its authority and credibility online.
Offer Health Information
Providing tips and conducting live medical procedures on social media is an excellent way to offer useful insights to your audience. Hospitals and healthcare institutions can share these details through medical procedures, images, YouTube videos, and infographics. There are some popular image sharing websites such as Pinterest to build a following. Connecting to your audience through platforms like Yahoo and Quora also establishes a successful communication channel.
Another benefit of providing useful information to your users is that you improve your search engine ranking. Google+ can allow you create online communities where patients and professional doctors can engage via Hangout sessions.
Design Branded Social Media Campaigns
It’s common for healthcare brands to engage visitors through hashtag campaigns and online contest. For instance, a healthcare organization can conduct a quiz on a health topic or offer a giveaway. The trick is to add your brand name to a hashtag for creating hype and engaging audiences.
For example, you can design a hashtag campaign such as, #Ask[Name], or [name]Says for giving a voice to your brand. Hashtags work great on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. If you are a new entity in the healthcare industry, you can begin a campaign that revolves around the latest trending topics on Twitter. Don’t forget to add a supporting image. Many health insurance companies and hospitals are using this tactic for improving their brand awareness.
Reputation Management Campaigns
Social media marketing management allows healthcare companies to spread positive word about their brand. Social media platforms can help you compile a database of customer feedback and suggestions from visitors. Medical insurance companies, medical practitioners, and hospitals can share reviews customer reviews through social media as well.
Awareness campaigns and CSR activities can also be promoted online. Don’t forget to include famous local personalities or influencers who can promote a cause or a campaign. That way healthcare organizations can boost brand visibility both online and offline.
Building Loyal Patients
Social media marketing is not just about generating new leads. It also helps in maintaining relationship with existing employees and building patient loyalty. Your happy customers will talk about you and expand your customer base.
Social media marketing strategies can integrate opportunities to educate the public on care policies and practices. Posting accurate and relevant content online through videos, infographics, and medical procedures; healthcare organizations can reach patients and with the larger public.
Bottom Line
Through effective social media marketing, healthcare companies can enjoy more visibility and trigger more engagement. The key is to design targeted campaigns, keeping in mind your particular audience. Follow our guide if you want to take your health care organization to the next level through social media marketing.