Everyone talks about social media, but what can it really do for your practice?
It is true, social media is generally not going to help bring new patients in your doors. Most people do not use Facebook or Twitter to find a doctor. However, there is still a lot of value in utilizing social media marketing for your practice.
Patient Retention
Because getting new patients into your office is often associated with a high cost, retaining patients is vital for the long-term success of your practice. If the patient has a good experience, there is no reason they should not stay with their dermatologist for the rest of their life.
To retain patients you need to stay active in their minds. The days of expensive mailers are mostly gone, and my golden rule is to not email your entire patient database more than once per month. So how else can you keep in touch? Social media!
Your patients are already logging into social media every single day, so why not have your post come up in their newsfeed? If they are twitter lovers, they will see your tweets. If they’re one of the 700 billion Facebook users worldwide , they’ll see your posts, and so forth.
Cross Marketing
Cross marketing is another important aspect in your overall marketing strategy. If a patient comes to see you for Juvederm®, you want to make sure they leave knowing you also offer other complimentary treatments like fractional laser resurfacing, as one example. You can promote your array of services in a menu of services and in waiting room signage, but another great way to softly remind patients of the services you offer is through social media.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
We all know how important SEO is, and Google says that over the next few years they will start to incorporate social media metrics in their SEO algorithm. Therefore, you want to start building your ‘likes’ on Facebook, followers on Twitter, circles on GooglePlus, and subscribers on Youtube now.
Online Reputation
Although we tend to think of Yelp and Google when it comes to online reputation, social media platforms Facebook and RealSelf also have their own rating system. Ideally, your happy patients will share their experiences so you can have a 5 star rating across the board. The simplest way to improve your ratings on sites that may be less than perfect is to ask happy patients to review their experience at your office.
RealSelf
RealSelf is a social media platform where patients can post questions and receive answers from cosmetic physicians all around the country. They can also share stories, see before and after photos, find physicians and see average pricing.
Unlike other social media, RealSelf absolutely IS a platform to bring new patients to your practice. I suggest answering 1 question per day, uploading at least 20 before and after photos, and having at least 5 patient reviews on the site. For a few hundred dollars a month you can upgrade your account for a backlink to your website or for their advertisements called spotlights. If done correctly, I have found the ROI to be very rewarding.
Tips & Tricks
- Make sure your social media channels are branded and have as much
information as possible filled out. - Post on average 3 times per week
- Do not use a mass distribution platform, i.e. write Facebook posts for Facebook, Twitter posts for Twitter and so forth. The language and idiosyncrasies are different so take the extra second to make each post unique.
- Posts should be 80% educational and 20% promotional so you do not come off as spam.
- Specials and incentives can be used to help engage users
- Typos and grammar do matter
- Don’t just make posts, interact with people!
- Answer patient questions on RealSelf
- Encourage patients to connect with you on social media
Ultimately, social media is a free marketing tool for your practice that should be utilized. The goal is to provide educational and useful information to your followers to help you stay an authority in the field, as well as increase patient retention, cross-marketing and SEO for your web presence.