Top 5 Ways Doctors can Leverage Social Media

The health industry is becoming more and more competitive as the aging population grows in the United States. While major hospitals and medical clinics have the upper hand when it comes to attracting clients because of large advertising budgets, doctors and physicians who own smaller practices deal with much smaller marketing budgets and therefore have to get creative on how they attract new clients. If you’re a doctor that’s struggling to attract new patients, use the following five tips on how to leverage social media in your favor:

Educate and Interact, Never Offer AdviceA quick tip that every medical professional should follow is to never offer official advice to one particular patient through social media. This can be a recipe for disaster, especially when it comes to HIPAA. Social media is a tool that is best used for educating your followers about general medical topics. Patients are always interested to learn a new bit of information that could potentially improve their health in the future, and posting daily tips or tidbits about recent medical news can help increase your following, especially if your posts are shared with friends or family members of your followers.

Add Images or Infographics to Each PostWhen dealing with medical issues, statistics and terminology, consumers often find it difficult to understand exactly what something means. The best way to avoid this is to use an image along with your post. Your loyal followers who read your posts every day won’t spend more than a couple minutes on your particular page at a time. Get your point across quickly, grab their attention, and hope that they share your post with others.

Post on LinkedIn Every DayWhile LinkedIn might not be the best tool to attract more customers, you must use the platform to network with other professionals who are doctors and medical professionals as well. They can be a great source for referrals and new patients. To avoid any conflicts, focus on networking with people who specialize in a totally separate area of medicine than you do.

Ask Questions On TwitterAsking questions is a great way to engage your audience and leverage the more “personal” side of your profession. Many doctors are viewed as individuals who have knowledge about every subject and need little advice from others on any medical subject. Asking questions and obtaining opinions from other medical professionals is a great way of showing your followers that you care enough about their health to double check that your decision our diagnosis is accurate.

Offer Discounts and Special PromotionsTreat your medical practice like any business owner would treat their company. Use social media to offer special promotions on specific procedures or encourage more people to make an appointment by entering patients who visit you during a specified time period into a raffle for a prize of significant value.

Eric Vainer has more than 20 years of experience working both in for-profit and not-for-profit environments. Vainer is a licensed pedorthist.