It’s very easy to point the finger at teenagers these days. If they are not dressed oddly, then they are talking in slang or, the horror, posting inappropriate content on social media.
Well, it isn’t just teenagers who are guilty of posting the wrong things on social media, adults can do that, as well. I’m not talking about harassing someone or posting compromising photos of yourself. Rather, many think of social media as their personal CNN, where they can broadcast anything that strikes their fancy. Well, just as CNN worked to establish itself as trusted media source, by providing real news and fact-based programming to viewers, if you are on social media, you have to provide content that your followers can use.
That means you can’t just post sales messages or pet videos on your social media channels. So, how do you use this social media thing so that you actually have content that is valuable to followers and makes two-way communication welcome?
Choose Your Social Media Channel Wisely
According to the digital marketing firm, Convince and Convert, 22 percent of American use social media several times a day, so you would be crazy not to be on social media. The question is which platform to use? The answer it depends. What is the demographic of your patient base? Is it families with young children? Seniors? Young professionals? A mix of all three? As a healthcare provider your best bet is to have a presence on both Facebook and Twitter. The majority of people who use social media, use both of those sites, so you will reach a good portion of your patient base.
Provide Useful Content
Once you are on social media, what do you post? Pet videos won’t cut it for an eye care practice. Your content should be information that followers will want to share. So, you can post content related to vision and eye health from the National Eye Institute (NEI) and universities that doing research in vision and eyes. You can also post photos of the frames that you have for sale as well as your employees at work (with no patients or patient records in sight) and photos from when you first started working in the practice. When it comes to photos, don’t take pictures of patients and let both the employees and patients know not to take selfies or other photos on the premises due to HIPPA regulations.
Give Before Asking Anything In Return
While you are on social media to bring patients into the practice, know that people dislike social media posts that are just sales pitches. So, make sure that you do more informational posts than you do sales posts. The information you post should provide news patients can use regarding vision and eye health. That way, when you do post a sales message, people will take notice.
Tell Your Story
What lead to you going into optometry or ophthalmology? Why did you open your own practice? What do you like to do outside of the office? People are interested in these stories, so share them on your social media channels. Let people know more the person in charge of the practice, they will feel an affinity for your practice and be more likely to both go to your practice and recommend your practice to others.
Social media isn’t just for kids. Businesses like yours can benefit from social media. You just have to use it in the right way.
Sources:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/330538
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/244677