Social Media Marketing for Healthcare Clinics:
The Complete Guide
The Healthcare industry is fast evolving and increasingly competitive. Reaching out to more patients thus requires strong social media marketing strategies.
Social media marketing helps you connect and communicate with potential patients while helping your patients to make better, informed decisions for their health.
In uncertain times, such as the current Covid-19 pandemic, social media plays an even more important role to combat misinformation and educate patients about healthy behaviors. It is also a crucial time to make use of social media to engage with patients and improve the credibility of your clinics.
How to use social media to promote your clinic? This article answers the question and offers tips that you can start using today!
Why does social media matter to clinics?
Social media, the new word-of-mouth marketing method, is a powerful communication tool that can market any product or service online. In Singapore, its user penetration is 76% in 2021 and expected to reach 78% in 2023. That is roughly 4.33 million residents you can reach out to.
There are over 2,000 GP, Dental, and Specialist clinics in Singapore, the competition is intense. Having a social media presence can give you a competitive advantage.
In general, social media helps private clinics to:
Improve brand presence
Build and engage communities
Promote and sell products and services
Provide customer service on social media platforms
Measure brand sentiment through social media monitoring
Channels like Instagram LinkedIn capture trends and buzz that help you better understand and reach your target audience. It is extremely important for people-centric industries like healthcare to understand what patients care about and how to motivate them to choose your clinic. They also provide a direct communication channel with your patients.
Social media and healthcare are thus a powerful combination. Social networks have become an important resource for healthcare marketing not just for millennials. Research has shown that nearly 90% of baby boomers and older adults have used social media to look for and post health-related information.
Marketing your clinic’s product and services
Marketing your clinic’s product and services can be really refined and effective, without causing a dent in your marketing budget. Running an ad on Facebook and Instagram can cost as low as $5.00 per day.
Moreover, you get to target niche markets for specific services. For example, you run HPV vaccination ads to target younger women or screenings to the elderly. If you are a dental clinic you can promote your teeth cleaning/polishing services.
*Do note that when you run ads on social media, you still have to stay compliant with the PHMC act.
Raise awareness about new, emerging, and annual health concerns
You can remind patients of common health practices, share up-to-date information in times like a pandemic, or direct them to credible sources for the latest issues, announcements, and guidelines.
On the note of credible sources, the elephant in the room when it comes to social media and healthcare communication is always misinformation.
Combat misinformation
Social media by its very nature lets every voice be heard and helps spread information fast to diverse groups of audiences, leading to the spread of health misinformation.
When the misinformation is created and disseminated under the guise of a reputable institution’s name, it is important for the institution named to clarify its incredibility. But when the misinformation in the forms of “facts” is presented without context or incorrect context, it is important that doctors with relevant expertise should step in to point out the missing, important context and reframe the fact to be credible.
Crisis communication
When more people choose social media instead of newspapers for daily news, social media has become the key channel to deliver breaking information. For example, Twitter has already set up a page to show the timeline of Tweets with the latest information and updates on Covid-19 from trusted sources from around the world.
In times of crisis, a consistent, reliable source to manage and share health information is critical. Pinned posts and cover images can direct your audience to key information or resources at a glance. Advance preparation for effective crisis response is also important.
Here are some of their key points to help you prepare:
Identify key stakeholders, a primary contact, and a spokesperson
Know what to do in the first five minutes of a crisis
Build trust with your audience, including your internal audience
Answer common questions
You as a doctor are a valuable source of information on different health concerns.
Social media offers creative ways for healthcare professionals like you to address common questions. For example, your clinic can develop a Facebook Messenger chatbot to answer common follow-up questions for patients, direct them to the right resources, and counter misinformation.
Do note that as a doctor, you should not ‘friend’ your patients on social media. You can, however, chat through your clinic’s public page. But everything has to be done with your patient’s consent.
Public health monitoring
You can get a sense of the severity of different diseases or symptoms just by monitoring the number of hashtags like #flu, given that people nowadays post about everything online, including their health.
Be aware that social media offers abundant, available real-time data that could be used to your advantage.
Social media strategies and tips for clinics
Share valuable and accurate content to educate your audience
As we mentioned above, social media has become an indispensable tool in healthcare communication. People often turn to social media for healthcare-related information. Thus, to engage with your patients for the long run, you need to share valuable, accurate content regularly to educate and inform them. To be the leading source of healthful information for them, you need to provide:
Information on important medical issues, preventive health news
Fact-based, relevant content with contexts and credible sources to combat misinformation
And make sure you present them in relevant forms like infographics and videos that make complicated health information easier to understand.
Raise awareness for events, new treatments, and more
You should join awareness campaigns and social media conversations on the latest happenings in the industry.
For example, Mayo Clinic posts a Facebook post that links to an article on its website to raise awareness about Osteoporosis. It helps patients to know about uncommon diseases and ways to prevent them while it also strengthens the connection between your clinic and patients with such diseases.
source: Mayo Clinic Facebook
Highlight staff accomplishments
You should showcase front liners and people on your team, highlight their accomplishments to promote your organization while showing some personality and humanizing your organization.
Introduce your social media audience to the people who deal with patients every day. After all, they represent the face of your clinic. Talk about your front liners’ experience, achievements, and skills. By adding a sense of humanity to your healthcare practice, you become more relatable to your patients and communities. For example, Mersey Medical Services posts about its team members on Instagram often, making its brand image approachable, relatable to its audience.
source: Mers Medical Instagram
User-generated content
You can earn the trust of potential patients by leveraging positive patient reviews as testimonials. After all, people trust the recommendations of others, from their friends to anyone with similar medical conditions. Presenting user-generated content that endorses your organization is a massive win.
The importance of influencers on social media platforms should never be underestimated. For aesthetic clinics, influencer-generated content can play a huge role in promoting its services and products.
For example, Bio Aesthetic Laser Clinic features influencers on its Instagram posts to endorse its facial services.
source: Bio Aesthetic Laser Clinic
Be responsive to your followers
One of the most effective ways to improve your social media presence and bolster patient satisfaction is to stay responsive to your followers.
As a healthcare service provider, you will likely get many questions, inquiries, comments, feedback, and reviews. Make sure you are always ready to answer the inquires and engage with your patient.
How to keep your social media channels compliant and secure?
It can be hard to navigate through the challenges of healthcare communication in social media. One of the big challenges is that healthcare social media accounts are subject to strict rules. While providing informative, timely , and accurate content, you need to follow all relevant regulations to remain compliant.
From 15 April 2019, clinics are required to comply with the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics (Advertisement) Regulations (PHMC) in advertising their healthcare services on social media, which makes it clear that your advertisements must not create unrealistic expectations of the services provided, or induce unnecessary consumption of healthcare services. The advertisement should only inform your patients of your services, enabling them to have a better understanding of the options available and make more informed decisions.
The PHMC Act explains the principles underpinning the Advertisement Regulations in the Healthcare Industry in Singapore, and provides you with general guidance on social media content, display of certificates, factual scenarios, etc. There are specific exceptions for each general principle that you should read up on before you launch social media marketing for your clinic.
General requirements regarding the content for advertisements are:
Must be factually accurate and capable of being substantiated
Must Not be offensive, ostentatious, or in bad taste
Must Not create unjustified expectations, etc.
Must Not contain “before & after” or only “after” treatment picture
Must Not contain laudatory statements, etc.
Must Not solicit or encourage the use of your clinic’
*Do note that advertisements using testimonials and endorsements are allowed on social media
That’s why you should establish your own online communication protocols. Your employees who handle social media marketing should be well trained to present content with due diligence and care, and they should be well versed in the clinic’s goal, mission, and vision.
Every content that is going public should thoroughly be verified, especially if it is medical information or a health tip.
What social media platforms should clinics use?
In Singapore, the four major social networks where you can reach the most audience are:
YouTube
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Unless you have the time and resources, it’s not really recommended to register your clinic on all of them.
YouTube Marketing for clinic
YouTube is a video-sharing network that streams billions of videos each day and the world’s second-largest search engine. You can set up your clinic’s own video network to share important messages and educational content in creative and engaging ways.
For example, instead of sending out wordy information on preventive measures for a common type of disease, post a short YouTube video explaining the information. It’s much easier for your patients to sit through a video than it is to read a big package of information.
Doctors and private practitioners who are not afraid to show their face in their YouTube videos or even start live streams. Showing your face on social media can significantly increase credibility and trustworthiness.
Who knows, you might become a celebrity doctor someday.
Do note that in order to upload high-quality videos onto YouTube, good video-editing skills are required.
Facebook Marketing for clinic
Facebook has the largest user base of any social media platform today. It also serves as a reference point for your patients and potential patients to easily find out what’s is going on in your clinic.
You might thus use Facebook to update your practice and events timely. For example, use Facebook to remind patients of seasonal health concerns and of your changed opening hours.
Instagram Marketing for clinic
It is clear that the majority of Instagram users are young. The content you present on Instagram should thus aim to target and engage the specific group that values the authenticity, personality, and creativity of your content.
After all, Instagram is the perfect visual platform to show off your clinic, your culture, and your daily life on the job. Not only you can attract potential patients who are amazed by your clinic’s value, but also potential motivated employees who care about social outreach and the broader implications of the work that they do.
LinkedIn Marketing for clinic
LinkedIn is a social media platform for professionals. It allows robust social networks and in-depth discussion and analysis to happen. You may not connect with new patients, but you can bolster your reputation as a professional clinic.
You can also join the conversation on topics of your interest. A track record of answering questions related to your field gives you credibility that will help you earn respect from other health professionals and even patients.
Dos and Don’ts on social media for healthcare clinics
Do keep your information accurate and factual - Always use reliable sources for any information, statistics, or facts you use and cite sources where applicable.
Do keep your audience in mind - Create content your readers will find relevant, helpful, and valuable.
Do keep it consistent - Update your content regularly. The more consistent you are, the more likely your audience will look forward to your content.
Do establish a communication protocol - Offer your employees the necessary trainings and establish a communication protocol to stay compliant and professional.
Don't overly self-promote - Keep the self-promotion to a minimum. Use your content to educate your patients so they can make more informed decisions.
Don't use too much humor - While humor can certainly be an engaging element of your brand voice, only use it strategically when discussing healthcare-related topics especially when that may be sensitive to your readers.
Don't violate any regulations and guidelines when using social media - Make sure everyone at your practice is aware of the regulatory environment and what they can and cannot do relating to your clinic’s social media presence. For example, remember not to mention patient names or post photos without clear guidelines and consent in place.
Don’t bore your audience by only using one form of content - Social media is supposed to be engaging and informative. Use a variety of suitable forms of media like videos, stories, infographics, and images for different platforms and content. A variety of forms of interesting content is key to connect and engage with your patients online.
Bonus Don’t: Don’t post/share political or sensitive topics - This is probably the biggest social media taboo to avoid. Never ever share political, sensitive, or offensive content. It can potentially damage your clinic’s reputation permanently.
Conclusion
Patients and the public today use social media to find healthcare resources. Incorporating social media into your marketing plan is not only rewarding but also essential. It might be challenging at the start, but you must not ignore the huge amount of new, incredible opportunities presented by social media.
Do you want to improve your clinic’s quality of care and attract more patients?
Let UNO help you!