Editor’s note: In the April issue, the team from Practice Compliance Solutions addressed why social media can be critical to building a business today. This article follows up on that with some guidelines for social media. And in the final installment, the team will suggest effective ways to respond to online reviews and summarize the legalities of patient communications via social media.
As we established in the first column in this series, positive reviews and a strong social media presence are essential for building trust and attracting new patients. They help prospective patients understand the customer experience, see your practice's personality and make informed decisions.
The point is to create engagement among your audience. If one of your followers “likes” something on your Facebook page, for example, their friend network might see that activity. It grows quickly.
So how do you create engaging content? Above all else, keep it professional. This is the public view of your office.
• Introduce your staff members and sharing posts that include what they’re up to. It’s personal because it creates that personal connection with your office–without becoming too, well, personal.
• Build excitement for an event. Having a fashion event or a big sale? Start a countdown to keep the posts fresh and energetic. Hosting a community event? Give the details and invite people to stop by.
• Share interesting news articles with just a few words. For example, if it’s a story on dry eye, your post can say, “Dr. Smith treats dry eye in our office.”
• Post photos of patients—always with their explicit permission. You can also ask patients to share their own photos to your social media pages (an even better way to leverage their network). Be sure that whatever you say does not compromise any aspect of the patient’s protected health information. For example, do not say: “Look how Mary’s new lenses aren’t so thick anymore!” Do say: “Mary’s smile says it all!”
• Have a contest. Ask visitors to vote for their favorite new frame on the frame board or the best Halloween pumpkin carved by staff members.
• Engage your younger staff. If you have digital natives on your staff, they may have photo editing and creative skills that would seem daunting to try. They may be able to take your posts from adequate to amazing—but be sure that at least one manager or supervisor reviews content for spelling, accuracy and relevance.
• If you’re using generative AI to help with your social media posts, those, too, need to go through the review and approval steps for the same points.
• Link back to your own website where you can. It’s great to share the information and get the engagement. But it’s even better when a patient who sees your dry eye post can click through to that portion of your website where you explain what you offer and how you welcome new patients.
Just remember to respect your patients' privacy. Don’t share private health information, and don’t set yourself up for fines, penalties or litigation. Social media engagement can be very effective and is one of the least expensive forms of marketing; use it correctly and to your advantage. In the next article in this series, we talk about responding to online reviews.
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