Key Post Highlights
> If you don’t know who you’re creating content for… why are you creating content?
> A social media strategy can define your voice and tone.
> Without a clear social media strategy, it’s hard to know what your goals are.
TL;DR: Yes.
Great — post over!
Wait, I’ve just been informed that this cannot be “post over.” It’s “not good for SEO” and “barely answers the question.”
In all seriousness, there are plenty of reasons you may find yourself wondering if this whole social media thing is even worth the time and effort for your healthcare organization. Sometimes, you don’t always get the results you want and there are so many trends to stay on top of.
If you’ve ever found yourself wondering “What is this all for?” you’re in the right place.
It’s important to note that the title of this post isn’t just about whether or not social media is important for your healthcare organization. You don’t have to look far for a think piece or case study that will tell you social media is a great way to connect with consumers, showcase your patients’ and physicians’ stories, and get feedback in real time.
Most companies and organizations at this point agree that they ought to be doing something on social media. But a social media strategy gives that “something” a direction, a purpose. Without investing in the strategy portion, you may feel like you’re posting just to post.
A strategy can help you orient yourself in the sea of literally millions of other accounts. Here’s why you need one.
Understand Who Your Audience Really Is — And What They Really Want
Take a second to imagine the kind of person who follows your healthcare organization’s social media. How clearly can you see them? How old are they? How do you know that this is the person you’re actually marketing to?
Key audiences are a major part of both your social media and overall digital strategy. When you know who you’re creating content for, you can tailor the content you create to better serve, support, and convert them.
Figuring out who your audience is may mean analyzing current consumer demographic data if you have it, but it can also mean talking to these people directly. Discovery interviews with current patients can give you an inside look into their needs, wants, and questions. It’s a lot easier to create content when you can think back and picture the real-life face and opinion of someone your healthcare organization serves.
A Social Media Strategy Helps You Figure Out Who You Are
Have you ever looked at a brand’s social media account and thought, “These two posts were written by two totally different people?” A social media strategy can help you avoid this.
When your healthcare organization decides to join social media (or when your current plan doesn’t seem to be yielding results), it’s important to step back and strategize. Your social media strategy should take into account how you want to present your organization online.
To figure this out, you can ask yourself or your team questions like:
- What is the tone of your healthcare company’s voice on social media?
- What kinds of images do you share? What hashtags do you use?
- What CTAs are you asking your audience to accomplish?
- How is your organization going to respond to comments?
Your social media strategy should help you define — and standardize — exactly what your social media personality looks and sounds like.
Use Your Strategy To Identify Your Goals
Scrolling through your own social media feed can be a task you do pretty mindlessly — but this can’t be the approach you take to creating content for your healthcare organization. When you’re thoughtlessly churning out content, it might be a good time to think about what your social media goals actually are.
Your goals might be to:
- Build more awareness of your healthcare organization
- Drive more traffic to your website
- Increase conversions, sales, or leads
- Share important and timely health information
- Highlight career opportunities and increase applications
Your organizational goals may also influence which social media platforms you decide to build a presence on. And vice versa, which platforms you choose should also impact the goals you set.
Facebook is a tried-and-true tool that can enable you to answer patient questions. YouTube can be a great place for physician profiles or even how-to’s. Even TikTok can connect you to a younger audience or be a way to listen to current trends.
There’s no one right answer about what your goals should be or even which social media platforms you should select. There are just different options that might work better for your organization.
It Will Make Your Job Easier
When you have a social media strategy, the bottom line is that it will make your job easier. You will know who you’re trying to connect with and what you’re trying to accomplish. You’ll know what kind of metrics to collect and whether certain campaigns are working. You’ll also be able to share these insights with the leadership and stakeholders who make the final decisions about whether your efforts are worth investing in.
Because social media is such a ubiquitous part of our lives, it can be easy to take it for granted. But when it comes to putting that content out into the world, a social media strategy will serve you well.
