The world we live in today has gone digital and it is not news anymore that almost every aspect of human endeavors have been taken online. It isn’t surprising either that about half of the world population today has at least one social media account.
Businesses and enterprises in every sector of life are rapidly catching on to the social media wave and saying hello to the online world.
The health sector and wellness industry have also embraced social media presence and are engaging with online buyers more than ever before. After all, the healthcare industry is now the number one employer in the United States, which means it is definitely definitely feeling the pressure to meet its customers and workers where they ‘hang out’ the most. And that is social media.
Today, it is an undeniable fact that social media is a very powerful and effective marketing tool for physicians and other people in the health industry. So in this article, we are going to discuss a few social media tips health care organizations should follow religiously so that they can remain relevant in 2019.
Millions, if not billions of social media users around the world look to social media for information from professionals about their health and how to maintain it.
The truth is that marketing via social media has the potential to help healthcare organizations promote relationship with patients, engage them, improve the reputation of health workers and help patients to build trust in health care workers.
According to Digital Authority Partners, studies have found that about 57% of patients make decisions on where to get treatment considering the healthcare providers’ online presence. In addition, about 60% of doctors believe that social media marketing play a role in helping to improve the quality of care they provide to patients.
However, with so many activities going on in the social media now, one might get a bit confused on where to start from or what exactly to do as a healthcare worker or organization on social media. Here are some tips for you:
Choose The Right Platform For Yourself
For many people, the social media journey starts when they create an account and start being active on the network but then it will be better if you start much more earlier.
You will have to make deliberate planning attempts even before registering an account on a specific social media platform. One of the necessary things you need to do at this stage is to consider the social network that suits you and your goals the most.
While doing this, there are a number of things you should consider, like which platform are you more familiar with, how do you want to package your message and which platform suits your purposes more among others.
You should also bear in mind that although most social platforms are similar to each other, there are some differences in the way they operate.
For instance, Facebook accommodate posts with larger word counts while Twitter does not and Instagram is home to primarily pictures and videos.
This knowledge will make it easier for you to choose which one is best for you.
At the same time, of course, you can also create accounts with more than one social media platform if you can handle them effectively.
Establish A Communication Protocol For Yourself
Healthcare marketers on social media often run into the challenge of affecting patients’ privacy and non-compliance with regulations that are to guide them on social media such as HIPAA in the course of their activities online.
However, this challenge can easily be defeated if you have a well planned and structured communication protocol for yourself in place.
Make sure to establish a strong set of guidelines for your online communication.
While framing these guidelines, it is best to consult with professionals in the marketing & PR industry, and your legal team to guide you against violating laid down principles for health care organizations communicating online.
You can also hire the services of experienced social media marketers who are familiar with the rules. This will help you use social media adequately and diligently and to avoid privacy and compliance issues in the course of your online interactions.
Educate Your Audience Via Your Social Media Accounts
One of the most subtle ways to market your healthcare organization and improve your brand reputation on social media is by constantly educating your audience with credible and beneficial health information.
Strive to become a leading source for useful health information in your niche.
Tell your audience things they should know about their health, join awareness campaigns on the platform, participate in social media conversations about health, use infographics to simplify complicated health information, etc. This will help establish and build trust for your brand.
While doing this however, you should make sure you are not overly promotional of your organization, as this might be unethical.
Bring More Fun To Wellness
Of course, health and wellness is a serious topic, but that does not mean it must only be talked about in gloomy tones nor that your brand has to spell doom all the times.
You can switch things up and make the wellness industry more fun with the way you package your messages and how you deliver them.
This alone can go a long way in helping your clients see that they do not have to dread nor fear visiting your clinic.
Making your social media health campaigns more fun and lively could also encourage people to join in on the campaign and make healthy changes to the way they lead their lives without seeing it as too much challenge. So go ahead, be creative, make wellness more fun.
No matter what you do, the truth remains that social media has a lot to offer to healthcare organizations and practitioners.
If you are yet to tap into these many amazing benefits then you are missing out big time. Follow these tips that have been highlighted in this article to join in on the trend and you sure will be glad you did.
This post comes from JGBilling, a medical coding outsourcing company in Chicago.