Healthcare Social Media Marketing Strategies

In today’s digital-driven environment, embracing social media is a business and marketing must-have for healthcare. Organizations have abandoned conventional advertising methods and are now utilizing the internet to interact with patients through efficient marketing and communication strategies. In order to engage patients and consumers, many healthcare organizations are attempting to use different social media platforms relevant to today’s world. The right combination of social media channels—and how you use them—has emerged as a crucial tool to reach, engage and attract consumers effectively and efficiently. Almost every brand and company now know the importance of being present online. In fact, it is estimated that 70% of healthcare organizations use social media. 

Benefits of Social Media in Healthcare

In general, social media can help improve an individual’s sense of connectedness with real or online communities and can be an effective communication tool. Social media and healthcare are powerful because they have become strong health resources when combined. Here are a few ways social media has proven to be beneficial in healthcare. 

Raising Awareness

Social media is essential for raising public awareness about new, emerging, and annual health concerns. Raising awareness from credible sources makes it easier for your followers to counter inappropriate healthcare social media claims they see in posts from their own social connections. A healthcare brand can also use social media strategy to promote events, research, treatments, and other services. Healthcare brands must maintain freshness and excitement in their social media content to best reach their audience.

Cost-Effective Marketing

Social media sites can be effectively used for healthcare marketing and as a promotional platform at a lesser cost than other media forms. They provide a cost-effective opportunity for monitoring and dispensing important information about healthcare services. It’s been revealed that social media influences the image and visibility of a healthcare or wellness brand. Recent studies show that 57% of consumers said that a healthcare or wellness brand’s social media presence strongly influenced their choice regarding where to go for services. 

Handling Crisis Situations

Social media is an extremely effective tool in times of crisis by providing information to consumers instantly. For example, social media lets healthcare professionals pass along information released by organizations such as the Red Cross, WHO, CDC or even interact with television channels. So it’s no wonder major healthcare organizations have turned to social media networks to confront these challenges. As a result, they rapidly communicate important health information to the healthcare community and the public in general.

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Combating Misinformation

As a healthcare and wellness brand, you have an extra responsibility to make sure the content you’re producing is credible for your audience. But the reality is that we can’t control the other inaccurate content that is spread on social media. However, you can contribute to a larger pool of ethical and scientifically-sound information and advice. In doing so, your brand builds authority and trust in your communities. Sharing correct facts from the start is essential, no matter the medium. One way to increase your online credibility is to look to other credible sources, including evidence-based and peer-reviewed literature, in your space. 

Increased Engagement

By leveraging social media trends that people tend to follow, healthcare and wellness brands can engage much more effectively with patients on underrepresented or less talked about topics. Using a cohesive and consistent strategy to encourage engagement in this function will increase patient engagement and active participation in the healthcare process. It will also establish expertise and knowledge while lessening the unreliability of internet health information that is currently so prevalent. 

Possible Risks

While a social media presence has many benefits, it requires careful planning and execution. There are a few social media risks in healthcare, and it is imperative to determine ways to overcome them to integrate social media into your brand successfully. In a nutshell, the wise and prudent use of social networking sites and platforms can go a long way in promoting a healthcare and wellness provider. However, the careless use of these platforms may also have a significant impact—in a negative way.

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Best Practices & Tips for Healthcare Social Media Marketing 

With increasing competition and expectations of better service and faster responses, healthcare and wellness providers must turn to social media to strengthen patient relationships. Due to a lack of resources and time frequently preventing medical professionals from staying in touch with patients, social media allows them to respond to patients quickly. The following are the best healthcare and wellness industry social media strategies. 

Follow All Compliance Laws & Regulations

Social media has transformed the nature of business communication, and healthcare is no exception. HIPAA is a highly controversial topic that moderates the use of social media in the healthcare industry. This is why many healthcare organizations struggle with HIPAA compliance in the age of social media. However, with proper guidelines in place, social media can be used in many ways that benefit a healthcare organization while remaining compliant. Brands should develop and implement clear policies addressing personal and professional social media usage to ensure HIPAA compliance. If you prioritize a patient’s privacy, you’re already on the right track. 

Tell a Story

Audiences tend to resonate well with storytelling from brands. Social media users are engaged in continuous conversation with their networks of self-identified friends and relationships. If organizations view social media as a place to deliver a message, it won’t be viable. The challenge is entering existing conversations and to shape them gradually and consistently to mirror the brand’s message. It’s critical to frame the conversations with an authentic voice reflecting how people talk.

Utilize Social Listening

A critical part of any state-of-the-art social media strategy is the combined art of listening and learning. Your method must include continuous awareness of the current social environment. Best-in-class organizations have established formal listening practices. Listen to what people are saying to learn how to engage in the conversation—and, more importantly, determine needed changes in your marketing strategies. In addition, watch what people are searching for on Google. That’s just one of the diagnostic tools that can give organizations a heads-up that they can use to refine and reshape conversations. While getting “likes” on posts and retweets of tweets is good, engaging with communities on their terms and in their networks is much more critical to fostering meaningful relationships. 

Include Inspirational Content

Empathy can be considered one of the most important elements in medical marketing because it builds trust, guides patients’ decision-making process, and helps you differentiate yourself from your competitors. The idea is to make patients the hero of the story. An effective way to do that is by sharing inspirational patient success stories–while keeping HIPAA guidelines in place. This form of user-generated content inspires potential patients, helping them instill trust in your organization. As mentioned earlier, brands must leverage storytelling to craft compelling patient experiences that tap emotions and engage readers while conveying what your brand offers.

Research the Right Hashtags

Hashtags are a powerful tool for healthcare and wellness brands’ looking to stay connected through social media. Although you would think social media tags are more fitting for things like recipes or known holidays, using hashtags in healthcare is an excellent way for an organization to connect with its community. But first, you’ll need to do your research. Dive into each social media platform you’re using and explore the posts connected to the tag you’re considering. If the tag is being used in unsavory ways, steer clear. If not, use the tag for similar content and get ready to engage with prospective patients. 

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LaneTerralever's Healthcare Social Media Marketing Approach to Strategy

At LaneTerralever, we are dedicated to building your brand presence on social media. We have worked alongside renowned healthcare organizations and wellness providers to overcome the complex challenges of healthcare marketing. Our work blends strategic insight and deep understanding with creativity and digital innovation, delivering social media campaigns and solutions that make a difference in patients’ lives. In addition, we work with you and bring unique perspectives to develop a patient-centered social media strategy for your organization. Once we have a plan in place, you’ll see the results in better patient engagement and higher customer satisfaction. To learn more about what we can do to help elevate your healthcare and wellness brand through an innovative digital marketing approach, contact us below.

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