Using Social Media to Help Grow Your Practice

For small medical practices, cultivating a community of followers on social media can seem daunting and intimidating. Scary as that may seem, social media is the most cost-effective and targeted way to reach your prospective patients. Studies show that a whopping 18 percent of all time spent online is spent on social media. Whether you’re trying to reach current patients and their families or prospective new patients, social media makes it easy to stay in the forefront of their minds. Having a large social media following can even help you to assess adding particular services or products that your patients have been itching for.

Here are some crucial social media tips to that could help grow your practice:

Use Multiple Social Networking Sites

Having a social media presence doesn’t mean having a Facebook page or a Twitter feed. It’s imperative to cover your bases by using a wide array of social networking platforms. Just remember, your favorite social network may not be your specific patient’s favorite. So diversify your approach by creating and maintaining accounts on all the biggest social networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+. Keep tabs on recent social media trends like emerging social networks including Snapchat and Instagram and focus most on the specific networks your potential targets are most active one.

Link Wherever You Can

Make sure to include clickable icons for your social media networks on your website. This makes it easier for those visiting your site to like and follow you on social media without having to track you down. Just like you want to provide links on your website to your profiles, it’s just as important to provide links from your social media pages back to your website. Lastly, add links to your top social accounts in your email signature to ensure that everyone you communicate with via email is aware of social media presence.

Engage and Participate

Social media is all about building relationships with your patients. Respond to questions, comments and reviews, and provide thoughtful feedback when needed, though remember to be cognizant and aware of the privacy of your patients. Sometimes by simply inviting your patients to share and connect with your social media networks, you may be able to bring more people to your page. Like other pages on Facebook and follow other pages on twitter. Be an active member of group pages within your field such as manufacturers and media outlets. People take comfort in knowing that there is a real human being behind all the posts as opposed to an autonomous computer system.

Be Proactive

Don’t be afraid to seek out potential new patients and connections. Most social networks have a way to connect you with people you know. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn allow you to search email contacts in pursuit of new connections. Don’t be afraid to use paid advertisements to boost your posts and pages if you have the budget and think it could help.

Having a great, social media presence can help your practice grow immensely, but this depends largely on how you choose to use these resources. Also, while quality social media is essential these days, that alone will not ensure success. Social media should be just one component of a comprehensive, well-rounded marketing effort. If you have questions or concerns about social media marketing and how it can help your practice, please contact McCauley Marketing Services today to see how was can help.