- Facebook: 100% of our clients are on Facebook. This is probably the easiest platform to share articles, information, and lots of pictures on. And, until recently, it was the best way to get business hours, location, and phone numbers in front of a lot of people. Disadvantages? Facebook's boosting rules prevent a lot of our posts from being boosted. Very picky.
- Instagram: We only have five of our healthcare clients on Instagram. Not because we don't believe it's a good platform, but only for highly visual businesses, like Etsy shops, spudnuts, and restaurants. If the hospital had an in-house individual to post personal photos of employee staff having fun, it would be better. However, in the last few months, Instagram has rolled out new business features that make it easier to promote posts and create Instagram-business profiles. On Wainscot Media blog, they say: "Just like any marketing product you use, it’s important to set goals for your Instagram endeavors." If your hospital has a plan to use it well, and you plan to stick to that plan, then you'll be successful.
- Pinterest: Pinterest is an untapped world for hospitals. Very little of them use the platform to spread health tips and news. Although it's hard to target cities, besides large sprawling urban centers, getting content out has it's perks. "Pinterest needs to have a steady supply of fresh content. So before adding this to your social media channels, think about how you might engage talent from throughout the hospital," says CMBell. In my experience, Pinterest can work great in getting your name out there. I love to pin health articles and facts that I believe Pinterest users would like to see.
- Twitter: Although Twitter doesn't seem to work super well for hospitals in Utah, according to Dan Diamond on the Advisory Board, "Roughly 1,000 hospitals—about one-fifth of the nation's total—now have a presence on Twitter." Good posts to share include small health tips and the #healthtipTuesday. Having an active presence on Twitter also can help with patient questions and complaints. Although hospitals can't acknowledge that a user was a patient, they can direct them to the appropriate people to resolve their issues.
And just in case you need any more incentive, check out these stats from startyouruprise.com:
- 95% of millennials expect brands to have a Facebook Page. On top of that, 87% of Gen X'ers (30-44 year olds), and even 70% of those ages 45-60 think brands should, at the very least, have a Facebook Page.
- 41% of people said social media would affect their choice of a specific doctor, hospital, or medical facility.
- 60% of doctors say social media improves the quality of care delivered to patients
In conclusion, social media is a great resource for hospitals to represent their brand and create top-of-mind awareness of their services.
I enjoyed how you related to your work. I did the same thing. Its interesting how twitter has a healthtiptueday hash tag that people that use every week! Very interesting topic! Fun to read! Well done Alisha!
ReplyDeleteWhen reading your post, I began wondering what you do to accommodate (advertisement wise) to those consumers who don't use social media. This may refer to the older generations mostly, but likely not entirely. Do most of the companies you work for focus on social media advertisement as their primary form of advertising?
ReplyDeleteOh ya! My clients all still use traditional advertising (radio, newspaper, billboards) but they are finding that more and more people are online so it's better for them to invest. They don't ONLY advertise on social media. I don't think that's a good thing to do right now for any company.
DeleteSo as a consumer, I definitely fall into those statistics you shared. If, like a boutique for example, has no presence in social media, I question their authenticity. I know that sounds funny, but why, as a "hip" place would you NOT have social media? I think people are going to start going to social media more and more to look up anything-restaurants, dentists, pediatricians, and shift away from just googling or even older using the yellow pages. (Does anyone else still use those anyways? haha!)
ReplyDeleteI too really liked how you brought your work into your article, I think your line of work offers you a little bit different view of social media than the rest of us. When I think about social media ill be honest making money isn't what first comes to mind I found it interesting how some platforms optimized the advertisement process where others were adding additional rules that made it more difficult as annoying as they can be I realize the appeal of advertising on social media and your article made me see just how lucrative of a market it can be.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it crazy?
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