If you’ve been hoping to keep your clinic, hospital, practice, or any other healthcare-based business out of the social media limelight, then your time has come. Social media is becoming the ultimate tool for connecting your company with consumers. Building brand awareness, cultivating loyalty, and encouraging repeat business are just a few of the benefits that social media can bring to your company. So why wait any longer?

Many healthcare professionals would prefer to avoid social media because it’s a new technology that can be intimidating and difficult, and many professionals are unsure about whether or not their patients would be willing to publicly acknowledge their doctors, given the private nature of medical treatments. However, there is an easy way to use social media that inspires “Likes” and “Follows,” and you don’t need to spend all your time and money getting there. Take a look at the tips below to start your healthcare business on a social media journey.

Be An Early Adopter
Social media has been helping boost business for many industries, but healthcare is still catching up. Therefore, there’s no better time to sign up for Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube than now…it’s time to strike while the iron is hot! Being an early adopter of social media means your company has less competition to deal with and you have a unique opportunity to be a trendsetter in healthcare marketing. Start off slow by signing up for a few profiles and updating regularly. Encourage your employees, business partners, clients, and patients to connect with you and keep them interested. Capturing your audience’s attention from the beginning will pay off when social media marketing becomes a widespread practice within the healthcare industry.

Don’t Just Sign Up, Engage
If only social media marketing was as easy as creating a Facebook page. But like most things, a successful social media campaign will take a little elbow grease. The most important goal to keep in mind is that your users should constantly be engaged. Keeping them interested will ensure not only their return but that they’ll share your profile and recommend your business to friends and family. Think up topics that matter to your consumers and create posts that are relevant. Ask questions and strike up discussions, encourage users to post their own topics and ideas, and be sure to listen when they talk. Your users will be the make it or break it point of your social media efforts, so keep them involved and happy – you can’t lose!

Manage Your Reputation
Another social media fear factor is that by having an online and public profile, anybody can say anything about your company. That includes all the disgruntled customers, peeved employees, and anybody else that wants to put their two cents in. You just have to let the bad in with the good. Luckily, those inevitable negative comments don’t have to scare you into deleting your accounts…because honestly, you don’t need a Twitter account for people to still talk about your company! Instead, try a democratic approach by addressing negative comments. Reach out to customers who say they’ve had a bad experience with you and try and find a solution that works for both of you. Doing this in a public space, like Twitter or Facebook, will still boost your reputation, even if the customer is never satisfied. Next, run a Google search on your company every so often, or set up “Google Alerts” to notify you every time your company is mentioned. Staying on top of your company’s online reputation can save you lots of time and money in the future.

Plan Ahead
For a social media campaign to really take off, there needs to be a certain amount of planning in advance. If your company has any upcoming promotions, don’t wait until the last minute or day of to discuss them on your social media profiles. Lead up to these events with fun posts that get your customers excited and ready for the big day. A dentist’s office that is planning on offering a free teeth-whitening session to any new patients is a great example. Don’t just start talking about the promotion when it goes into effect. Also, consider offering the promotion to any of your followers that refer a new patient. This way, your posts will continue being shared and your reach will naturally be expanded. Finally, plan your day-to-day posts ahead of time to avoid posting too many things at once. No one likes being bombarded with posts from the same company, so be sure to spread your posts out. Experiment with the types of posts and when you’re posting them to find the perfect formula to reach as many of your users as possible.

The healthcare industry and social media marketing haven’t exactly gone hand-in-hand in the past, but they’re certainly starting to become friendly these days. Give your healthcare-based company a clear advantage by becoming an early adopter of social media practices. Connect with your patients and clients, become a household name, and find the kind of repeat business you’ve been looking for…all with a little help from the Internet.

Pete Wise is a Copywriter for 20/20 Institute, the leader in vision correction in Colorado. Their years of experience and top-rated doctors make their offices popular places to have your eye examined and get LASIK. Call for free information about the best lasik in denver.