Social Media for Health Practices: To Do or Not To Do?
In fact, if you are a health clinic, this post is geared towards you. It’s a common question, “should you, as a health clinic or practitioner be doing social media?”
The truth is…it’s always a good idea to get on social media.
You might be thinking that there is nothing “trendy” to share, but that is beside the point. In fact, your niche market, local community, and people using social media to learn about services are on social media. Therefore, building a presence on there is a good idea.
Content For Social Media
There is a world of content a health clinic, practitioner, and health business can create. Here are a few ideas:
- videos explaining a condition or a treatment
- before/after pictures of an aesthetic treatment (with consent and permission)
- information graphic—whether plain or more complex, this is a great way to share text-related information to explain a health fact or condition
- pictures and quotes from the team (let people get to know you and who they will be seeing)
- community events your clinic participates in
- promos or specials via a graphic
- testimonials (this can be video or text-based in a graphic)
- pictures of the office/clinic
The ideas are endless, but what the point is that the content should reflect what you are inviting people to learn more about, which is your health clinic or practice.
Compliance
It’s important to note that anything you put online should be in compliance with health regulations. If you are sharing before/after photos, that needs to be provided consent for. You obviously cannot make certain health claims, or share patient information, and need to always be in compliance with HIPAA.
Engage on Social Media
The beauty of social media is that it allows you to engage with patients in real-time. Even without them being in your office.
One of the benefits of social media is enabling deeper and more meaningful discussions that address patient questions, concerns, and interests in real-time. As someone sees a post that they relate to, they may comment or send you a message.
Communication on social media, sparking conversations, is a fantastic way to get new leads. It also is a great way to show your existing patients new promos or specials you have on, or introduce a new service. This increases the services they would get with you and keep coming back.
It’s a good idea to include your social media links on things such as business cards, or have a note at the office, encouraging patients to follow.
Run Ads
If you have social media, primarily LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram, there are opportunities to do paid advertising on those platforms. This is a fairly inexpensive option to Google Ads, and if your patient-base is on these platforms, it may generate some business and get additional exposure.
All in all, there are a lot of benefits to ensure you are on social media if you are a health clinic or practice. Build your health brand, and engage with potential or existing patients. Social media doesn’t appear to be going away and can be powerful in the long run.
If you are ready to start social media marketing or need some direction on how to get started, contact the health marketing experts. Here, at invigoMEDIA, we help health clinics succeed online. Set up a consultation to see how we can help you.