For Medical Practitioners: Using Facebook The Right Way

Social networking is hard to tame when it comes to business and marketing, especially when it comes to healthcare. But if you look at the platforms the way they were originally intended to be used, you can get real results in the form of new patients and a better reputation for your practice.

It's not about flashy marketing messages done by your office manager or some agency plastering ads all over Facebook. Getting popular on Facebook has it's own set of perks, but when it comes to attracting patients and raising your online reputation, it's really down to a couple of very simple social networking marketing practices.

1. Viral Marketing
The power of the "share" is the end-all, be-all when it comes to social network marketing, and it's no different for healthcare. It's hard to pinpoint what will go viral, but a crucial component is peer review. People are more likely to share content that a peer has already shared with them, so the trick is getting people to share your practice in the first place. This is the most important thing to remember when you're trying to make Facebook work for your practice.

2. Thought Leadership
This is where your Facebook Page comes in. It becomes a channel to share your expertise with your audience. Of course, it's better to get more followers to consolidate your thought leadership, but you don't have to be too aggressive in asking for "likes". If you manage to gain enough viral traction among your patients, the likes will start flowing in organically.

Now, here's the issue, how do you get your patients to post your practice on their Timelines?

You could mention it to them after their visits, or offer perks for people who post about you. Or you could do it in a more effective and automated way. Use practice marketing software to prompt patients to share their experience with you and your practice on their Timeline, making it much more likely to go viral and expand your outreach. By letting patients speak on behalf of your practice, you're getting free testimonials from real patients that spread rapidly across the social network atmosphere.

So stop worrying about your Facebook page. Get your patients talking about you on Facebook, and you'll start to see more new patients and have an easier time retaining them.

Comment below if you have any thoughts!