How’s your social media strategy looking? When was the last time you overhauled your approach to make sure you’re reaching patients, building relationships and promoting your services?
If the answers are ‘less than ideal’ and ‘not for a while’, you’re underusing one of the most effective – not to mention cost-effective – tools you have.
Here’s why – and how to start pulling together a social media strategy that really works for you.
Social media’s impact on healthcare organisations and brand awareness
Start with your outcomes in mind. Social media plays a crucial role in shaping reputation and brand awareness so you can:
- Establish a strong online presence
Create a professional and engaging social media presence that highlights your organisation’s expertise, services and commitment to patient care.
- Improve brand reputation
Share positive patient stories, showcase awards and achievements, and demonstrate your organisation’s dedication to quality care.
- Reach a wider audience
Expand your organisation’s reach, connecting with potential patients and referral sources across various social media platforms.
- Promote healthcare services
Share information about new services, events and promotions to attract new patients and retain existing ones.
Social media’s impact on patient engagement and communication
Struggling for inspiration about what to post? Wrapped’s digital communications executive Erin Jones manages social media for our healthcare clients.
“We work with both private and NHS organisations. Although the commercial focus of private healthcare brings a different slant, the power of social media is broadly the same. When you’re planning how to maximise your channels, consider these four content streams.”
- Provide health information and education
Share valuable health information, tips and resources to help patients make informed decisions about their health.
- Build relationships with patients
Connect with patients on a personal level, responding to their questions and concerns, and building a sense of community.
- Promote preventive care
Encourage patients to adopt healthy habits and engage in preventive care measures to reduce the risk of chronic diseases.
- Gather patient feedback
Collect valuable insights into patient needs, preferences and experiences to improve healthcare services.
Effective social media strategies for healthcare organisations
With your outcomes established, and your content streams identified, you can start to create a framework for your social media strategies. When managing platforms for our healthcare clients (take a look at the stories behind them), we broadly work through the following steps:
- Develop a clear social media strategy
Define specific goals, target audiences and messaging, making sure what you’re saying aligns with your company’s overall marketing objectives.
- Create engaging and informative content
Share valuable content that addresses patient needs and interests, using a variety of formats, such as videos, images and infographics, to appeal to different tastes and learning preferences.
- Respond to patient inquiries promptly
Social media isn’t a one-way street. That’s the point. Actively engage with people, responding to questions, concerns and feedback swiftly and professionally.
- Monitor social media trends and analytics
Stay up to date on industry trends and analyse social media data to measure the effectiveness of campaigns and make informed decisions.
- Partner with influencers
Consider collaborating with relevant influencers in the healthcare space to reach a wider audience and build trust among potential patients.
Contact us today to discover how our expertise can super-size your healthcare marketing efforts through strategic social media engagement.
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