From routine screenings and preventative care to treatment of various diseases, nearly 1 in 3 Americans avoid going to the doctor. Despite melanoma being the most common cancer in the US, there is a staggering disconnect in the number of people visiting a dermatologist for an annual screening. Thankfully, the use of social media in healthcare has allowed doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare professionals to combat the stigma and anxiety surrounding medical care.
Showing the playful side of medical professionals is in stark contrast to the buttoned up mannerisms that we’ve come to expect. Just consider the popularity of the almost cult-like following of the Dr. Pimple Popper Instagram feed or the corner of TikTok commonly referred to as skinTok, with over 16 BILLION views. Providing informative and educational content, as well as behind the scenes peeks at the practice to create a patient-centric approach, social media marketing for doctors lets you relieve some of that stress for your current and potential patients.
CREATE, CURATE, CULTIVATE, COLLABORATE
Establish an impactful presence on Social Media
CREATE – Visually appealing content is just as important as the message within – after all, you’ve got to first get your scrollers to stop on your post. Benefit from the show-and-tell ideology and look to your success stories for ready-made content! Various free and paid tools exist that allow you to use high quality, professional images and text generators to produce eye-catching graphics to use in your posts.
CURATE – Create your own posts and share posts from other credible sources to provide patients with valuable information by using curation tools to locate and save interesting posts for later use. Tag-teaming your own scrolling habits into content that can be repurposed, and allowing you to curate a library of content without having to spend valuable time creating all your posts from scratch expands the information you are presenting.
CULTIVATE – Grow your online presence by cultivating a community of followers through the use of your targeted posts, a hashtag strategy that broadens your outreach, and participating online to engage your audience. By enriching their online experience with articles, images, videos and other newsworthy content, you can establish your online voice as an authority in the dermatology practice while building trust and driving traffic back to your sites for regular information and industry updates.
COLLABORATE – Amplify your online presence by working with patients and other influencers or brand ambassadors to build buzz around the treatments you offer and provide a first-hand account of their own results. Collaboration with other stakeholders can offer an unconventional approach to content marketing. For instance, a local nutritionist may provide diet tips that help to renew the appearance of skin from the inside out, and cross-posting this content can broaden the impact of both of your businesses.
STAND OUT ON SOCIAL MEDIA
ANALYTICS TOOLS – Don’t invest the time and effort on platforms or posts that are not reaching your audience. Understanding the reach and effectiveness of your posts allows you to adapt your marketing strategy in real-time. Providing insight on everything from suggested post timing to engagement by various demographics both social media and Google Analytics offer an in-depth snapshot of your user engagement, making it easy to see which posts have landed with your viewers and which have missed the mark. These analytics can also drill down to search phrases and hashtags that have the highest engagement, helping to identify potential post topics.
SCHEDULING APPS – Managing multiple (or even one!) social media profiles can be a little overwhelming when you’re trying to create content in the middle of a busy day with patients. Don’t try to sit down every day to create and post content – you’ll feel like you are on a never-ending hamster wheel. Instead, take advantage of posts that you’ve saved for later use and your library of patient images to create and schedule posts for distribution throughout the week. When you need to create and post without delay, you can do this easily without disrupting your scheduled activity. Check out our Social Media Content Calendar for easier planning!