Social media is critical to your healthcare practice’s success; in today’s world, it’s much more than a simple distraction. Learning how to sell on social media can greatly impact your bottom line.
Specifically, platforms like Facebook have made it possible for customers to set up appointments or purchase products without leaving the app.
However, you must understand the nature of these platforms and how their users behave. Let’s examine best practices for becoming successful on social media.
#1 – Select the Right Platform: The adage is, “meet your customers (aka, patients) where they are.” Your existing marketing analytics can help you here.
- Which platform has the biggest audience?
- Which platform has the highest engagement?
Your highest-performing platform is an excellent place to test social media selling.
You can also choose platforms based on demographics. Simply determine which social media community has significant users with the age and gender of your ideal customer. Also check income level. To market more expensive healthcare services/products, Facebook might be your best platform.
#2 – Create High-Quality Content: Facebook posts with images receive 2.3 times more engagement. And since you’re selling, engagement should be your most important metric. So, be sure to feature your services/products with high-quality images — or video (with subtitles, as 85% of Facebook users watch video content with the sound off, studies show).
#3 – Connect To Your Website: Social media platforms will only make up one part of your whole marketing strategy. Some patients will feel comfortable using your social media links. Other customers require more time and relationship-building. It should be easy for them to access your website. So, make sure all of your platforms connect back to your website — where they can sign up for email lists or make appointments.
#4 – Use Promotions To Create Urgency: While social media is an opportunity for healthcare businesses, many patients/customers won’t be ready to “buy.” You need to help customers move from browsing to buying. The best way is to create a sense of urgency, a fear of missing out on a great offer.
With social media tools, you can use time-sensitive promotions to create buying urgency. After you’ve adjusted your prices, make sure you have campaigns in place to let your followers know.
#5 – Use “Book an Appointment Now” Buttons: You want your prospective patient to book an appointment without leaving a social media app, so you’ll have less customer dropoff. When your customers want everything faster and easier, it’s essential to reduce friction in your buying process.
With over 2.7 billion monthly active users, Facebook is one of the most widely (and consistently) used social media platforms.
As social media platforms grow, so does their role in the consumer journey. In addition to marketing on social media, businesses can use these platforms to sell products directly to customers — as well as appointment bookings.
However, it’s important to remember that learning how to sell on social media is only one part of your greater marketing strategy. It should also only be one part of your social media strategy.
If all you’re doing with social media is selling, your audience will start to lose interest. Make sure that you mix up your social media with high-quality content, audience engagement, and other calls-to-action.
Ideally, you still want to use social platforms to bring people to your website to sign-up for emails or provide service/product feedback.
Overwhelmed? Let us handle the details
Somnowell Marketing has a team in place to professionally create and execute your social medial marketing and patient communications campaigns. Emails, messaging, web content, blogs, social media — they can handle it all, taking the burden off your shoulders. The information is always from respected sources, and will dispel any misinformation. Your online content and social media posts are an investment in your practice’s reputation — and that’s undeniably priceless.
