Social media has been a huge game changer in recent times. And the amount of people using social media has tripled in the last few years. This has led to the transformation of the digital marketing landscape. It has emerged as a dynamic platform for healthcare institutions to engage with patients, share information, and build the brand.
What is social media marketing?
Social media marketing involves using social media platforms to promote products, services or brands. In the context of healthcare, social media marketing includes a range of activities from sharing user-friendly informative content to engaging with patients and users, enhancing user experience, and offering support.
What is the mechanism of social media marketing in healthcare?
Content creation and sharing:
We can create informative and engaging content related to medical conditions, treatments, wellness tips, and other healthcare news. This content can be shared through various social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, LinkedIn, and others.
Patient engagement:
Social media allows for real-time interaction with patients. This can include answering questions, providing support, and facilitating discussions about health-related topics.
Brand building:
By maintaining a consistent and authoritative presence on social media, healthcare providers can build trust and credibility with their audience.
Data analytics:
Social media platforms provide analytical tools to track engagement, reach, and the effectiveness of various campaigns, allowing for continuous improvement of marketing strategies.
Why do we need social media marketing in healthcare?
Conduct patient experience research:
Identify online platforms where patients discuss their experiences with healthcare providers. This will allow us to gain valuable insights into patient sentiment and preferred communication channels.
Measure campaign effectiveness:
Analyze the organization’s reputation and quantify social media value generated through health and wellness campaigns. This will help us understand the impact of our marketing efforts and identify areas for improvement.
Leverage social listening for market intelligence:
Utilizing well-researched data to optimize our social media strategy. This data-driven approach will enable us to enhance our social media presence, attract new patients, and achieve our marketing goals.
Developing open communications:
Facilitate two-way public communication between patients and healthcare experts. This provides a chance for transparency and encourages healthy communication.
Track and analyze engagement:
Monitor audience responses and feedback to gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of marketing activities. These insights inform future strategies and campaign optimization.
Cultivate online brand reputation:
Leverage patient testimonials, positive reviews, and constructive feedback to build a strong and trustworthy healthcare brand online.
Gain real-time updates on competition:
You find the customer pain points, involvement, and the information they are seeking on the internet.
How do we approach social media marketing?
To streamline and enrich social media analytics projects, we’ve developed a proprietary framework. This framework facilitates in-depth analysis of patient and caregiver reactions, perceptions, and sentiment (both positive and negative) towards prescribed treatments.
We have 4-step approach, that includes:
Planning and data-extraction, where we determine the variables and key intelligence questions (KIQS) and collect relevant discussions from particular social media platforms.
Preparation and data segregation, where we engage in text mining, categorize discussions based on their relevance, divide them into sentimentally related segments for analysis, and produce data tables.
Data analysis and insight generation, we evaluate insights related to the organization and compile the favorable and unfavorable opinions of the variables for the right target audience.
Visualization and reporting, this is where we create infographics, data visualizations, reports, and healthcare organization insights.
Social media marketing in healthcare when used effectively, can significantly enhance patient engagement, education, and organizational growth. By leveraging the interactive and far-reaching nature of social media platforms, healthcare providers can build stronger relationships with their patients, promote healthier lifestyles, and improve overall public health outcomes.
