The Importance of Following Social Media Marketing Best Practices
The benefits of social media in healthcare are numerous. Social platforms now play a crucial role in distributing up-to-date information surrounding public health concerns, and provide a space where healthcare providers, patients, their loved ones and the public alike can distribute and consume vital information easily. So while the power is in our hands to change attitudes and enact change, we must do so conscientiously.
Having a strong social media presence facilitates trust and healthcare organizations can use social media to build a community where patients feel supported, more confident in their treatment, and not alone. In this article, we’ll discuss 7 healthcare marketing strategies including:
• Segmenting your audience and allocating them relevant resources with tailored, clear objectives
• Ethically balancing compliance with engagement
• Fostering a safe community through analytics-backed improvements
After reading this article, you’ll have a catalogue of strategies that you can start implementing right away, but if you would prefer to hit the marks safely and partner with a company who’s done this all before, then we’ve got your back. Feel free to contact us.
1. Define Clear, Measurable Objectives
Setting clear social media goals in healthcare not only improves planning but also makes it easier to measure the success of your campaigns. When you clearly label your exact campaign objectives, whether that’s raising awareness, increasing the downloads of a health app, or providing health information, you’ll be able to narrow down which performance metrics are more relevant to your organization.
SMART goals provide the perfect structure for ensuring this – start out with identifying a goal that is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time specific.Instead of vaguely aiming to increase downloads, set a specific goal – like achieving a 20% increase in downloads of your mental health app by the end of next quarter. Doing so will shed light on what actual, direct impact you are making.
88% of healthcare professionals source medical information from social media (Master of Health Administration)
3. Make Strategic Use of Social Media Platforms
There’s no single best social media platform for healthcare. To use social media effectively, it’s best to take advantage of the unique strengths and audience demographics of each platform when segmenting your audience.
Your healthcare social media strategy will be made much simpler when you consider platform demographics – that TikTok’s younger audience is more receptive to short health tips, while LinkedIn’s professional environment is more suited to building credibility. From what we’ve seen, it’s better to post less but more relevant information on each platform and optimize your marketing efforts than have an overly active social media presence, which will become confusing to navigate through.
4. Develop High-Value, Compliant Content Suitable for the Healthcare Industry
Engaging social media content types
Audiences on social media expect you to create engaging healthcare content, but how do you explain the complexities of a healthcare topic in a way fit for social media without oversimplifying or misrepresenting the matter? Whilst it can seem a challenge, if you strike the balance just right, you’ll end up unlocking one of the major advantages of social media, namely, that the healthcare sector can promote health literacy in an engaging, accessible way.
You can dispel deep-rooted misunderstandings with sharp myth-busting videos or overlay infographics on top of emotive patient stories. When tasked to raise awareness on the often-overlooked intersection of ADHD and ID in collaboration with University College London, we were faced with this exact dilemma, but by making abstract symptoms tangible through captivating visuals, we were able to capture the nuances and depth of this unique experience in a subtle way.
Compliance-first creative: HIPAA, NHS
The healthcare industry is highly regulated, and planning every social media post with that awareness in mind will save you a lot of time. Despite social media’s typically lax environment, healthcare organizations and non-profits should remain steadfast in their commitment to professionalism and follow strict adherence to compliance measures and healthcare regulations. So, get clear on privacy rights, which protect individually identifiable health information, and ensure that the claims you make are not exaggerated or false.
When supporting CAMHS with the recent rise in demand for mental health services, we made sure our animation was soothing and calm in tone whilst the educational material still maintained a medical authority and professional voice. Because of this strict adherence to sensitivity measures, CAMHS were able to roll out the animation media to each of their UK branches without issue.
27% of patients post on social media to share updates or health-related experiences (MDDI)
5. Use Social Media to Foster Meaningful Community Engagement
Patient engagement strategies are a key part of helping people get involved and feel heard, so why not align with what patients are already using social media for? Since 29% of patients viewing health information are viewing other patients’ experiences with their disease (PWC), and 27% of patients post on social media to share updates or health-related experiences (MDDI), using social profiles to relate with others and feel less alone is clearly incredibly important.
People rely on social media as a no-barrier entry into what could otherwise be seen as an overwhelming, incomprehensible, jargon-infused landscape, and building online healthcare communities is a way to expand on this need in a professional, more organized manner. Your social account can provide a monitored space for this to happen, one that is both relaxed and safe to talk in. Encouraging user-generated content and testimonials, promptly responding to patient inquiries by hosting live Q&A sessions or creating interactive posts that emulate the experience for others to understand better are all ways you can action this.
6. Gain Insight on Performance and Optimize with Analytics
Stay on top of your digital marketing goals through metric tracking and use social listening tools like Sprout Social to see rates of discussion as well as what words are associated with a topic. You can use a variety of tools to measure engagement rate, conversions, reach, and sentiment, and then A/B test your content to refine your strategy.
When focusing on the actual data, you’ll be able to make more informed decisions, and keep creating content that sparks real change. The impact of social media as a tool for healthcare became especially apparent when looking at the data for our collaboration with NACOA, a vital non-profit that supports the children of alcoholics. Via social media campaigning, NACOA’s helpline received an increase in calls by 33%, many of which were first time callers.
7. Maintain Compliance and Ethical Boundaries
Building a social media policy for healthcare is a continuous task. As new information, language and technology force policies to update, you should train staff regularly on how to post responsibly. Marketing for healthcare requires more astuteness than marketing generally, especially when it comes to sharing patient stories, which under HIPAA guidelines must be done so only with explicit consent.
Always judge carefully whether the information you are presenting could be misrepresented or if it is perpetuating misinformation, whether it is sensitive to the needs of your target audience, and whether it follows ethical content sharing practices.
Conclusion: Develop a Social Media Strategy for Healthcare That Supports Those Who Need It
When you incorporate these 7 data-driven tips into your healthcare social media strategy, you’ll create an environment that empowers patients, supports healthcare providers, and dutifully informs the public on pressing health concerns.
Social media keeps people connected and as long as you maintain professional boundaries, you can facilitate this connection in a responsible, organized manner that cements your organization as credible and uplifts your social profile.
If you would like further advice on how to implement these strategies or want to partner with a creative video agency that specializes in social media content, then feel free to contact us.
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Head of Marketing at Synima