You might not think it. But social media applies to health care providers like medical centers just as much as it does to any other organization! These days, most of us are glued to our smartphones and computers. We spend an awful lot of time catching up with the latest news on social media.
In fact, I challenge you to find a group of people that don’t use any social networks whatsoever! If you manage a medical practice, should you “get social” too? The answer is yes – and here’s why:
People of all ages use social media
If you consider social media as just a platform to post up pictures of your cat, you’d be wrong. The majority of Facebook and Twitter users, for example, use such networks to keep up-to-date with the latest news.
The fact is; it’s not just “young” people that use social media. People in their middle ages and even senior citizens go online and use social networks on a daily basis. If your practice ignores social media, it will lag behind the competition.
You should never assume that only one “group” of people would use social media on regular basis. Do some research on the subject, and the results might startle you!
People take medical advice from social networks
It’s hard to believe, but there are plenty of folks that seek medical advice from the Internet! One of the places they do this is by visiting a social network and asking their online friends. If your medical practice had a Facebook page, for example, they could get some general advice through there.
Doing so will help them to determine how severe their medical complaint is. And it could save them making an appointment to see you if their ailment isn’t as serious (i.e. they have a cold).
You can gain valuable feedback
One of the ways that you can improve your medical marketing is by asking your patients what they think about your services. Good or bad, the feedback you receive will help you to shape your future offerings and ensure you fix any issues.
Social media is a brilliant way for people to make their complaints or compliments heard by an organization. They will seldom take the time to write you a letter, nor will they want to make a phone call.
But, if you’ve got an active social media presence, they can tell you how they feel about your services online. It’s a quick and easy outlet for them, and it’s an easier way for you to manage your medical center’s feedback.
Patients can learn more about healthy living
If you want to promote healthy living to your patients, one of the ways to do so is by talking about it on social media. Let’s say that your website has a blog section. You could write articles about diet and exercise tips and post links to them from your social networks.
Once your patients have read those articles, they can discuss the content through your social media profiles.
As you can see, there are plenty of ways social media can boost your marketing efforts!
