The Benefits of Marketing Your Health Organization Through Social Media

General.

Marketing trends continually evolve, and for your organization to remain competitive, you must market your health facility appropriately.

Although traditional marketing leans heavily on advertising, more contemporary approaches leverage social media. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok allow you to market and share information without cost while building valuable relationships with clients.

Marketing your health facility through social media is an excellent way to interact with clients and spread the word about your services. In addition, it provides a unique outlet for healthcare professionals and other experts to share their knowledge and expertise.

In this article, we explore marketing your health facility through social media and how these channels play an integral role in the sustainable growth of your organization.

Why market your health facility through social media?

When you market your health facility through social media, it allows for direct interaction with both prospective and current patients, helping to establish credibility and forging stronger relationships.

Social media allows you to share details of services directly with your audience, helping build your organization’s brand awareness. It’s also an excellent way to spread the word about your facility’s latest news, whether it’s an upcoming fundraiser or a new staff member.

Patients and clients enjoy feeling connected with their healthcare providers, and those that use social media as a marketing tool have an advantage.

Additionally, social media helps keep the lines of communication open. You can use it to share helpful and educational information that patients find valuable.

Leveraging social media is a cost-effective approach to marketing that helps build a solid online presence.

The power of social proof

If we look back even a couple of decades, people relied on word-of-mouth for recommendations for clinics, doctors, and other health professionals. It was often the case that people and their entire family would remain under the care of one doctor throughout their lives.

However, times have changed, and social proof is now an incredibly valuable commodity. In other words, instead of relying on personal recommendations, people now use online reviews and testimonials to decide which health facility they should visit.

In fact, in some consumer reviews, 93% of respondents read online reviews for local businesses before deciding to use its services. What’s more, 84% of individuals trust online reviews as much as they would personal recommendations.

The statistics show how essential social proof is to your marketing strategy. In addition, these online reviews provide valuable insight into how your patients feel about your facility. Even negative reviews which may initially seem damning are an opportunity for improvement and for you to respond in a helpful, obliging manner that highlights your professionalism.

There’s plenty of opportunities to help build trust through social proof, including through:

• social media engagement and visibility
• online ratings and reviews on third-party channels
• patient testimonials that you can feature on your facility’s websites
• question and answer segments
• community involvement

How to market your hospital through social media

Now that we’ve covered why it’s beneficial to market your health facility through social media, here are some best practice tips:

1. Choose relevant social media channels: Major social media channels include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. The most suitable options depend on your patient demographics and your facility. For example, TikTok requires short, interesting videos, most likely using a single spokesperson or team. On the other hand, for large facilities, static social media that only requires images and text might be more suitable. Also, consider that younger age groups tend to gravitate towards Instagram and TikTok, whereas Facebook has users of all generations.
2. Research your competitors: If other clinics and hospitals have an impressive social media following, try to determine their formula and how you can leverage your unique selling points.
3. Educate don’t sell: Most of your social media marketing should be educational and valuable to the reader. So, try and present educational material and an interesting format, for example, video interviews, expert opinions, or podcasts.
4. Don’t forget social proof: Share testimonials from happy patients and highlight them regularly in your posts. Reviews and even client case studies are a great way to showcase your expertise as a facility and encourage patients to use you as their first choice.

Marketing your health facility the right way

Social media is a powerful and cost-effective approach to marketing that helps build a solid online presence without having to pay for advertising. It also provides social proof and allows you to educate your audience while also providing valuable information geared towards their needs and interests.

Establishing your social media presence allows you to demonstrate the value of your facility.