Mistakes to Avoid When Building a Healthcare Social Media Presence

Research shows that the average person looks at their phone 352 times a day—once every two minutes and 43 seconds, with many of those minutes being on social media. A healthcare brand’s social media presence has become an undeniably vital part of its communication strategy and helps to drive credibility, business, and awareness.

Understanding the Landscape of Social Media in Healthcare

Building a social media presence in the healthcare industry can bring unique challenges and benefits. When consumers trust healthcare organizations’ online content, they become confident and loyal patients who return time and time again. Crafting and maintaining the brand’s social platforms also provides the opportunity to reach a large and engaged audience. Studies show that older adults are frequently exposed to health content on social media, and 68 percent of parents use social channels for health information. Additionally, the casual and authentic tone that social media requires means that more messaging can be pushed out in real-time, often with less formal editing or composition.

When building a brand voice, content marketers must also consider healthcare’s complex legal and ethical landscape. Patient privacy, including strict adherence to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), means that your most powerful stories cannot always be shared in a straightforward way. However, with a bit of creativity and awareness of common pitfalls, healthcare media consumers are uniquely positioned to become brand loyalists. Read on to learn how to avoid common mistakes and navigate the challenges of building a healthcare social media presence.

Mistake 1: Inconsistent Brand Messaging

Varied voices, image styles, or sporadically timed posts can hinder and confuse current and potential customers. Creating an internally shareable manual ensures that team members understand and can execute content based on the brand voice and visual style when developing a consistent social media presence. For example, different tones or stated values from various contributors, like two doctors, may confuse the audience and decrease trust. Whether brands are developing these manuals internally or with a trusted marketing agency, nailing down the tone, style, visuals, and timing that consumers can expect will ensure that they can verify and trust the authenticity of your brand.

Mistake 2: Neglecting Audience Engagement

A brand’s social media presence is more than just putting content into the digital world. Engagement, or how a brand interacts with and encourages the community, is just as important. Engage authentically by personalizing interactions and responding promptly to messages, comments, and mentions. Thank your customers for positive feedback, converse genuinely, and be accountable for problems or negative attention. Your online presence can also improve with tools that allow users to interact through polls, infographics, or by asking questions that foster discussion. For example, you could poll parent followers on their biggest concerns for an upcoming respiratory virus season.

Mistake 3: Underestimating the Power of Content Planning

The clearest way for healthcare customers to trust and believe in a brand’s authenticity is through content consistency. Developing a content calendar is a seamless way for any team members involved in the social media strategy to stay on track and plan needed posts. A content calendar should include topics, formats, and a schedule for each platform. Sometimes, finding new content to post consistently can be challenging, but get creative and remember to incorporate seasonal events, industry or business milestones, health awareness campaigns, and holidays.

Mistake 4: Ignoring Analytics and Metrics

When your social media presence appears to be going “well enough,” it can be easy to ignore the valuable insights gained with a little bit of time and effort toward metrics and analytics. The depth and value of your social platforms depend on tracking key engagement metrics, including likes, shares, comments, mentions, clicks, etc. First, gathering data and then analyzing the patterns and trends of what resonates with your audience will make the most of your time and investment in your online strategy. Are your posts about public health issues resonating more than total joint rehabilitation services?

Each platform has separate analytics tools; you can also utilize third-party tools. Start by focusing on the primary metrics of your social channels that are easily tracked within the apps, such as likes on posts. The more likes you get, the more your content resonates with your audience. Comments can indicate what your audience engages with and whether responses are positive or negative, such as followers remarking on their favorable experiences with a new total joint surgeon. Shares indicate the virality of your posts and how your audience advocates for you to their followers. Tracking follower growth reflects your brand’s reach and the size of the audience.  

Building a social media presence with healthy engagement and a growing followership takes time. Especially in healthcare, the trustworthiness and authenticity that make a brand’s authority can not be rushed. Let Write RN help you with social media by focusing on consistent brand messaging, engaging the audience, planning content to stay creative, and utilizing analytics and metrics to grow authentically and organically.

FAQs

How can I ensure my brand’s messaging remains consistent across all social media platforms?

To maintain consistency in messaging, develop a brand manual that directs social media content creators to maintain the correct voice, tone, imaging, terminology, and other relevant guidelines. This strategy will also help guest contributors, like surgeons or nurses, stay on brand.

What are effective ways to engage with my healthcare audience on social media?

Get creative! Consider industry milestones or holidays like Nurse’s Week great opportunities to engage with a healthcare audience. Use interactive options like polls and questions to allow followers to provide their thoughts and feedback quickly while gaining valuable insight into your patients’ concerns or preferences.

How far in advance should I plan my social content?

Healthcare brands should plan social media content at least a week in advance. This time frame allows you to prepare for needed images or interviews from busy healthcare team members, navigate any HIPAA issues when sharing patient experiences, and consider any time or personnel constraints to maintain consistency.

Which social media metrics are most crucial for content marketing managers in healthcare?

Start with the most basic social media metrics, such as likes, comments, shares, and link click-throughs, to gain critical insights into your audience engagement. These metrics can easily show you what healthcare content is driving business to your website and revenue streams and what topics resonate with current patients and potential consumers. Once your social media presence continues to grow authentically or you run into a plateau that hinders your growth, you can dive deeper into more complicated metrics to maximize the brand potential.

How can I use social media analytics to improve my marketing strategy?

Sometimes, brands view social media solely as a bonus to their marketing strategy when it is really a necessary connection to patients. Healthcare customers depend on their hospital systems, providers, and caregivers to give them sound advice. Social media is the best avenue to engage with audiences and share the evidence-based information that your patients need. Use social media analytics, such as Instagram Insights, to analyze what posts and content create the most followers, shares, likes, and link click-throughs to your website.

References

Asurion. (n.d.). The new Normal: Phone use is up nearly 4-fold since 2019, according to tech care company Asurion. Retrieved March 28, 2024, from https://www.asurion.com/connect/news/tech-usage/ 

Bryan, M. A., Evans, Y., Morishita, C., Midamba, N., & Moreno, M. (2020). Parental perceptions of the internet and social media as a source of pediatric health information. Academic Pediatrics, 20(1), 31–38. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31648059/ 

Miller C. A., Schroeder M. W., Guidry J. P. D., Fuemmeler B. F., Pagoto S. (2023). Older adults’ exposure to and posting of health-related messages on Facebook by chronic health condition status. Digital Health, 9. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20552076231203799