7 Things Your Medical Practice Should Be Doing on Social Media

For businesses such as medical and therapy practices, clinics, and facilities, social media can be a powerful way to reach potential patients, who are seeking out trusted resources from their communities and the broader communities of people online who face similar challenges.

Getting social media right requires your practice to be strategic and thoughtful about how your team uses each channel. It requires you to train your team to participate actively in content creation and ideation. And it requires a dedicated effort.

But more than the basics, it requires your team to translate the knowledge they have about how to engage with patients and their families in real life and adapt that language for a very different environment online.

With that in mind, here are seven essential rules for how to communicate effectively on social media for your medical practice:

1. Reflect your audience’s words and how they speak

When thinking about social media captions, video titles, and even blog titles and descriptions, you must frame them based on the questions and concerns your audience is likely to bring up. Don’t use jargon. Don’t focus on what something is technically called—at least not at first. Open with the question on their minds and then explain.

2. Acknowledge your audience’s vulnerability

My work with a wilderness therapy program taught me about the intense fear, confusion, anger, and shame that the families experience as they research their options. Often audiences reaching out about physical and mental health issues are in extremely vulnerable states. Acknowledge what they are feeling in your content. Demonstrate in your social posts that you understand where they are coming from, that they aren’t alone, and that they have ways to channel those feelings.

3. Make your experts available

Livestream and recorded videos on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are great ways to showcase your experts and make them available to your audiences. Save questions asked by your audience as a resource to create videos.

Therapist Kati Morton does a great job of creating content that answers her audience’s questions on her YouTube channel.

4. Be real

Social media is at its most powerful when people relate to what you have to say. It’s not only about being authoritative, but also about being empathetic. Give your team the training so they know what’s in bounds and what’s out of bounds as they speak about their expertise, their experiences, and their work in their professional capacities.

For instance, Dr. Jen Gunter often shares her own experiences as she speaks about the industry on her various social media channels, making her more relatable and trustworthy.

I try not to over think my past, but damn this is depressing. Also, I was operating until 19 weeks into a triplet pregnancy and probably not a good idea. Sigh -> Occupational Reproductive Hazards for Female Surgeons in the Operating Room: https://t.co/rMaVxGLdgL

— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) January 3, 2020

5. Pull back the curtain, so to speak

The number of touchpoints a customer (or patient) needs before reaching a buying (or service) decision keeps rising, according to Forrester. The internet has facilitated people’s ability to learn about almost any topic.

So use your social media as a way to reveal the nature of your work. It reassures your patients about what is to come (because we fear what we don’t know), and it demonstrates your credibility and expertise.

One strong example is Dr. Joseph Michaels, who shows the process of his surgeries from beginning to end. His clear approach keeps his audience engaged, and it benefits those who are interested in his procedures.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Swipe ⬅️ to see a 9 month follow up. I always say great results are a two way street. So what does that mean? Patients that go into surgery optimized (physically, mentally, medically, and nutritionally) and who continue to work hard through diet and exercise following their procedure can take their results to a new level. Incredible 9 month follow up pics @coconuts_85. Keep up the great work. #tummytuck #mom #momlife #postpartumbody #liposuction #happy #goals #curvy #curvygirl #love #gym #exercise #diet #makeover #mua #model #stylist #contour #body #plasticsurgeon #plasticsurgery #drjosephmichaels #workout #transformation #motivation #inspiration #instagood #fit #fitspo #fitness

A post shared by Dr. Joseph Michaels (@drjosephmichaels) on Dec 21, 2019 at 9:34am PST

6. Be consistent

Social media rewards consistency more than it does viral hits. For the vast majority of businesses, building a consistent audience of people who are likely to become customers tops notoriety any day.

With that in mind, focus on building a consistent social media calendar that your team can sustain. Post on your core channels several times per week (more often on fast paced channels like Twitter), and create content that is reliable in its approach, like “TV programs” or “newspaper columns.”

7. Adapt to the medium

Each social media channel is good for different things. But more than that, the lexicon of each channel is different. Don’t expect that you can use the same content on TikTok that you can on Facebook.

Even if you are cross-posting content, be sure your team is creating content that is suitable for the hashtagging practices, character count, level of sassiness, or level of granularity that the specific channel calls for.

Ready to build a social media strategy for your medical practice? Reach out to us to set up a call with one of our strategists.