How to Grow a Medical Practice with Social Media Marketing

According to a study by the American Academy of Family Physicians, 70% of primary care physicians use social media marketing at least once a month.  So, if you run a medical practice, social media is not something that you can afford to ignore. After all, if your competitors are doing it, you should be doing it too.  But just how can you use social media to grow your medical practice? Here, Best Edge Medical Marketing provide some tips.

1. Have a Purpose

Before you start using social media, you need to have a purpose for what you are doing.  For a medical practice, you will ideally want to build your follower count, and increase the level of trust that people have for you.  But what is your main purpose? Do you want to inform your community about pressing health issues, or do you want to attract baby boomers to your practice?  Once you have a purpose, you can work out who your demographic is, and then sign up to the relevant platforms.

2. Post Relevant Content Regularly

Videos of cats may be cute, but they’re not the best thing to publish on your social media platforms if you want to gain the trust of your followers.  With most homeowners now having the internet, it’s easier than ever to self diagnose. Unfortunately, many of these diagnoses are wrong, which can lead to many patients feeling anxious.  Your social media platforms could be a place for people to go to obtain reassurance and real advice. So make a point to post content regularly, interact with your followers, and engage your community.  Keep your social media pages active, and post relevant information that can help those in your area.

3. Remain Professional

Whilst it’s vital to engage with your community on social media, it is also incredibly important to remain professional.  Before pressing the ‘submit’ or ‘post’ button, read back what you have written and see if you are happy with it. A good rule of thumb is to see whether your mother would be happy with what you have written.  Whilst you don’t want your posts to come across as boring, they always need to be professional and should follow the same etiquette rules that you would use in real life. Remember, you are representing your company on social media, and anything you say can and will impact your reputation.

4. Don’t Overshare

You might find it cathartic to share information about a specific problem patient, but it won’t do your reputation any favors.  It could even land you in court if the patient can identify themselves from what you have posted. You really should never, ever post anything about a patient online.  Even if you think you are anonymously talking about a condition one of your patients is facing, you shouldn’t do it without their permission. Another thing you should avoid doing is answering any specific medical questions.  Instead, advise them to visit your practice so that you can perform a proper diagnosis.

Social media marketing is a great way to engage your community, but you should take the time to do it correctly.  Otherwise, you may end up harming your reputation.