Social Media For Healthcare
As we all know, using social media for the healthcare industry is critical due to advertising regulations.
In this interview, Mr. Joe Ghantous, will be covering how to use social media in the healthcare industry without violating the restrictions and rules.
Check out his informative answers below, as you can also watch the recorded interview here:
Q: How should the health industry think about social media & why does it matter?
A: I always recommend for brands including the healthcare institutes to think about social media in the “Farmer” approach not the “Hunter”
The hunter goes out into the woods looks for something he can kill. Once he kills his prey, he takes it home, cooks it and feeds his family. The hunter’s way of feeding his family lacks longevity. He may get luck two days in a row or not. If the hunter is unlucky, he will be hungry so will his family.
The farmer takes a different approach. He cultivates the earth, plants seeds, fertilizes those seeds & nurtures them with water. He grows his crops & takes care of the land and every year he & his family are able to eat. The approach we should take with social media marketing is very similar to the farmer’s. Medical institutes need to cultivate great relationships with their social media fans & followers to create a sustainable practice that produces consistent results year in & year out.
As for why social media matters for the healthcare industry, well I will share with you 5 main reasons:
- Nearly 90% of older adults have used social media to seek and share health information.
- 87% of doctors use social media for personal reasons and 67% of those doctors use social media for professional use.
- 60% of people who use social media trust posts by their doctors. 55% trust hospital posts.
- Only 15% of hospitals hire a full time social media manager. 6% assign an intern.
- Last but not least, around 20% of smartphone users have at least one health app on their phone, and many have more than one. These numbers are even higher for patients and caregivers
Q: Can you list the most effective strategies for social media marketing in health industry?
A: Having an effective strategy is the foundation success for any business and is a must-have before moving to the use of digital marketing tools (ex: website, social media,..)
Before listing the most Effective Strategies for Social Media Marketing in Health Industry, I would like to stress on the saying “Social media marketing is a marathon”
There are a lot of people who create a business social media presence and wait for the fireworks, then…crickets! No one is engaging and it seems like their posts are being lost in an echo chamber. Just like fancy shoes won’t make you run faster, just “putting something out” on social media doesn’t mean it will have any more affect than if you shouted the same thing out on the street.
Social media is a relationship building tool, but like any relationship, mutual interest takes both time and persistence.
Now we are back for the best strategies, I will be sharing with you 5 most effective ones to be used:
a. Content Marketing Strategy
Content marketing and educational content is the smartest way to attract new patients and customers for your healthcare business in 2020.
In 2020 we have to focus on marketing for the present day – a time where content is the king.
b.Video Marketing Strategy
Video marketing is the best channel for healthcare marketers to build trust and increase awareness around their healthcare business in 2020.
There’s very little that can rival video when it comes to engagement; it’s why TV ads have been the holy grail of marketing in the past and why YouTube is as successful as it is. And in case you weren’t aware, YouTube is not just a video website. It’s actually a search engine. As another author pointed out, with over 4 billion searches per month, YouTube is bigger than Bing, Yahoo, and Ask.com, combined.
c. Influencer Marketing Strategy
Influencer marketing strategy is a great fit for healthcare industry, but if the influencers where chosen correctly.
Some of the best influencers for medical institutes are:
- Doctor/Physician
- Health Blogger
- Entrepreneur in the health field
- Cancer Survivor
- Health Reporter
- Nurse
d. Multichannel Initiatives And Customer Touch-Points Strategy
Medical institutes should understand that customers are omnichannel so their healthcare marketing initiatives should be too. Starting with social media presence, professional website with online chatting option and contact forms, text messaging and any possible channel that offers a unique user experience and increases user engagement
As a summary, healthcare institutes should keep their options open, appreciate their customers, and their choices and they’ll leave happier than they came.
Q: What are the main roles that social Media plays in healthcare institutions?
A: Until now, social media is playing a vital role for medical institutes mainly through:
- Sharing Information
Social media aims to grant individuals the ability to access information quickly and interact with others.
Healthcare organizations use these tools and websites to distribute information with consumers in various forms, such as dispensing general information about flu shots and tips to avoid a cold.
- Handling Crisis Situations
In times of emergency, the use of social media has developed to provide minute-by-minute information to consumers.
Hospitals and other healthcare organizations can regularly update on hospital capacity, operation standings, and emergency room access through social media networks during natural catastrophes or disease outbreaks.
- Training Medical Personnel
Some healthcare institutions have started to use social media channels as a component of their training process.
Physicians most often seek online communities where they can browse news articles, listen to specialists, research medical developments, discuss with colleagues regarding patient issues, and network.
On social media, they can accord cases and ideas, discuss practice administration challenges, get referrals, disseminate their analysis, market their practices, or engage in health espousal.
- Supporting Peers
The entire idea of social media is to relate to people.
When someone is going through a challenging time, just knowing that there are several people out there who have proceeded through the same or are undergoing the same problems, provides emotional comfort to the patient.
Social support has been identified to show positive health consequences, with some studies showing that patients’ consent and general health are enhanced when they get help from family and companions.
Q: How Physicians, medical practices, and institutions should create their digital footprint?
A: Social media is an open platform and once you post something you can’t control its spread. So my tip for medical institutes is to follow the “Elevator Test”, which means that they shouldn’t communicate anything over social media platforms that would not want overheard in a crowded hospital elevator.
First I like to invite the healthcare institutes to brand themselves on social media.
Branding is not a logo, it’s a value proposition. That’s why Physicians, medical practices, and institutions should consider these questions as they build their own brand identity.
- What are their major strengths?
- What do their practices offer that others may not?
- Do they have sub-specialty expertise that sets them apart from other practitioners?
- What are the key messages they want to communicate?
As for the tools, there are many tools for health care professionals, including:
a. Social media
The main platforms to be available and active on are LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter & YouTube
Applications
The use of mobile devices by health care professionals (HCPs) has transformed many aspects of clinical practice.
Numerous apps are now available to assist HCPs with many important tasks, such as:
- Information And Time Management;
- Health Record Maintenance And Access;
- Communications And Consulting;
- Reference And Information Gathering;
- Patients Management And Monitoring;
- Clinical Decision-Making;
- And Medical Education And Training
c. Blogs
The “blog,” is the oldest and most established form of social media, which has been used in medicine since as early as 2004.
Blogs can reach wide audiences, especially if one writes content that is of significant interest.
d. Wikis
Wikis are public forum websites featuring text and multimedia content that can be edited by users.
Surprisingly, Wikipedia is the most commonly used wiki in the medical community.
Q: How doctors & medical institutions can protect their online reputation?
A: Nowadays, institutions are becoming naked, and if they are going to be naked… fitness in no longer optional. If they are going to be naked, they better get buff.
That’s why they should focus on protecting their online reputation, especially that 47% of Internet users search for information about doctors or other health professionals before engaging with a health business. % 38 percent of Internet users search for information about hospitals and other medical facilities.
Now you might be asking, how to protect this online reputation, well first it should have a search engine optimized website that looks professional and gives the correct advice when possible.
After that they should work on always increasing their patients’ satisfaction. Here I would like to stress on an important point, 90% of negative feedbacks usually come on secondary aspects in a medical institute (waiting time, parking,…) not of the medical service itself.
Medical institutes can’t be available online without knowing what others are taking about it online, therefore they should be listing and setting alerts on all conversations related to them. There are many tools to support this point similar to Google Alerts.
Last but not least, doctors & medical institutes may ask their patient’s to take few minutes and write an online review or fill a short form to support them online.
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