How To Leverage Social Media to Better Engage Patients
Social media is growing to be a tool used in many different businesses and consumer-based fields. Healthcare professionals are some of the many individuals that can benefit from leveraging social media tools. With the vast impact of social media and the consumer base that social media can help you reach, it is vital to find unique and effective ways to use your digital tools to engage with your current and potential patients.
What To Do and Not To Do When Using Social Media to Interact With Patients
Many healthcare managers work towards effective marketing and communication for their customer base. Increasingly, practices are straying away from traditional marketing tactics in favor of digital forms of marketing. This shift is caused by a larger percentage of current and potential patients utilizing online resources and relying on information found online to make their decisions. Leveraging this knowledge can have significant positive impacts on healthcare practices that interact with their consumers online.
There are many steps that healthcare companies can take to leverage social media to engage with patients, some of them include:
- Creating a brand personality: A consistent brand personality across all digital platforms ensures that your brand identity is unique and memorable. Further, target customers that you believe are relevant to your specific audience segments.
- Running ads: Running targeted advertising can help reach specific locations and demographics that you operate within and desire to reach. In addition, monitoring metrics such as engagement rates and conversion rates can help you continue targeting the right audience.
- Creating personal and engaging content: The healthcare field is based on trust, so sharing relevant but personal content can help build credibility among consumers.
- Highlighting success stories: Using social media to showcase testimonials and success stories can help build credibility for your services.
- Building an online community: Group discussions and interactions with content can help people find support in your medical practice and the online community you build.
Though there are many benefits to using social media tools for healthcare companies, there are factors to consider before sharing content. These factors include:
- Avoiding HIPAA violations: The Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has strict guidelines for healthcare professionals when sharing information on social media related to patients, conditions, procedures, and other private information.
- Legal and ethical considerations: It is critical to analyze the legal considerations of your content shared, including conflicts of interest and potential copyright issues, prior to posting.
Understanding your consumers is the key to success in social media. Leverage the factors that benefit your company and consider potential ethical and legal considerations before posting any content. Reach out to our team for more individualized guidance and marketing strategies.
