How To Use Social Media If You Are In The Health Care Business

Most businesses are satisfied with having a website put up and publishing and updating content on its pages and blog posts. This is not enough, and neither is not taking advantage of growing trends in marketing through the internet.

A health care business needs to get its name in front of the people who need its services. The best way to do that is to increase the presence of the health care business and market its services online via social media.

Businesses are losing out if they do not take the golden opportunity of using social media to reach their target markets.

Why Should Social Media Be Considered In Marketing The Health Care Business?

YouTube and Facebook dominate the social media most used in the United States with a staggering figure of 7 out of every 10 adults actively using these two top platforms. A great opportunity to reach more prospects is available through social media.

There are several social media platforms used worldwide, but the following are the most used in the US as of early 2018, with the respective percentages of the polled adult population (18 years old and above) who say they use them:

1. YouTube – 73%
2. Facebook – 68%
3. Instagram – 35%
4. Pinterest – 29%
5. Snapchat – 27%
6. LinkedIn – 25%
7. Twitter – 24%
8. WhatsApp – 22%

Social Media Platforms used to be just that, a means for individuals to socially commune with other individuals.

Two of the YouTube Founders said that the idea for the platform was as a video version of online dating sites. Nine months after its initial activation on February 14, 2005, YouTube was already being used by businesses for marketing.

The first video uploaded in YouTube to garner 1 Million views was an advertisement for Nike featuring the then popular Brazilian football player, Ronaldinho.

Here’s the video (Remastered):

Facebook started on February 4, 2004, as a communication platform and a networking tool among students and colleges. By July 2018, Facebook is visited by 168.76 million active mobile users in the US.

If only for the potential of reaching a larger target audience, health care businesses like inpatient drug rehabilitation centers ought to use social media for their marketing efforts.

Tactics To Gain Marketing Advantage Through Social Media:

1. Unique Selling Point (USP)

Find and play up your business Unique Selling Point (USP).

What is the health care company?s competitive advantage that distinguishes it over others

Why are you better than your competitors?

This could be in the company?s vision and mission statements, or this could be its strategic signature, or this could be the proverbial ‘secret ingredient’. An example would be best healthcare rehab or something similar, which could be used as your social media hashtags. The equivalent of keywords used in websites to gain SEO are the hashtags in social media.

2. Consider Demographics

Consider the demographics of your target audience viz-a-viz the users of various social media platforms. It does not necessarily mean that YouTube, being the most visited social media, is automatically the best platform for your health care business.

3. Use Online Metric Tools

Make use of online metrics tools to study your competitors online presence and yours, too. BuzzSumo Content Analyzer searches and shows the number of times your search item is mentioned in various social media channels. Your search item may be a keyword, a hashtag, or a domain name.

From the insights gained through the BuzzSumo Content Analyzer, you may take actions to improve your online presence and gain an edge over your competitors. You may try to publish through the websites that appear in the analyzer as already having a considerable web presence in the topic you searched. Or you may create a better-quality content than the web pages that appear in the analyzer.

And lastly, you should create an account in the social media channel that showed the most number of mentions.

4. Set Up Social Media Accounts

Set-up your accounts in a few social media platforms. You will need to post regularly, so do not spread your efforts too thin in so many fronts. You also need to interact with visitors, so you will need time to visit your accounts and reply to reader’s queries and comments. Always provide a means for readers to post their opinions and comments.

Luckily, Facebook and other social media channels provide real-time alerts for new messages on mobile phones.

5. Deliver High-Quality Content

Deliver high-quality content that can easily be understood and digested by your target readers. Aim to add knowledge to your readers. Strive to be a reliable expert in your field of business. Your expertise will be a more effective sales pitch than the blatant invitation for readers to patronize your services. Make use of photos, videos, and sounds. The use of infographics and videos of webinars and interviews will make your posts interesting and will also help generate interest and impart knowledge.

Social Media Platforms are also called micro-blogs, so limit your posts to a few words that are well chosen and sentences that are easily understood. Do not hesitate to provide links to content of non-competitor sites which provide additional value to your area of expertise.

6. Interlink Social Media Accounts

Take advantage of the overlapping in the way people use social media platforms. Studies reveal that most Americans use more than one social media channel with three being the median for each user. Interlink your social media accounts to each other as well as to your regular web pages.

YouTube videos can be embedded in Facebook. Your readers may be given an option to ‘Pin’ your posted videos and graphics to their Pinterest accounts. Additionally, your Facebook posts may provide links to more in-depth discussions on your regular website. This way, your social media accounts provide more exposure to your corporate web pages.

7. Help People

Take away the social stigma of addiction. Provide a platform to help spread accurate scientific information on the nature of addiction as an illness that needs to be treated. Turn your readers into a community of knowledgeable individuals who recognize that treatment is possible, Publish success stories of treated individuals and their experiences. Help people speak up and combat the stigma.