Social Media Marketing in Healthcare: Ways to Connect With Your Patients
Social Media and Medicine in Modernity: Symbiotic
Sharks have little fish that cling to them which those sharks never eat. This is because there’s a certain “symbiotic relationship” between the two. They have “symbiosis”. The fish clean parasites from the body of the shark, so the shark allows them to continue doing so without eating them.
Some animals have a symbiotic relationship. They can’t really exist without one another. Modern healthcare social media marketing has a sort of symbiosis with modern medicine. This is because modern medicine is a massive, globe-spanning industry that generates clear profits for corporations, enterprises, and governments.
Healthcare is integral to modern society. Without many of the breakthroughs in hygiene and general health that have come from healthcare, the world as we know it wouldn’t be the same. Social media has, similarly, become a transformative sociological component. It’s foreseeable that social media and healthcare objectives may align.
They do, and in a symbiotic sense where they both support and energize one another. In this writing, we’re going to briefly explore a few more ways you can utilize social media for the betterment of your healthcare facility, the patients it serves, and society overall.
1. Telemedicine Through Social Media
Social media offers a variety of camera options. “Facetime” is an “Apple” innovation, but on Facebook, there are options to conduct video conferences. Zoom developed in the wake of 2020’s pandemic crisis, and there are also options such as Stream Yard. YouTube can be used to conduct live conferences that act like telemedicine seminars, and the list goes on.
Essentially, you can leverage modern social media technology such that what would previously require a waiting room in a physical building with associated infrastructure now only requires a web connection and a decent computer. There are varying ways to charge for telemedicine checkups and a lot of possibilities.
For one thing, you can rule out issues that don’t require hands-on assistance, and the majority of “check-ups” will be of this variety. It makes it easier for you to see more patients in a day. So one of the most important ways to use social media for your healthcare facility is in a telemedicine capacity.
2. Collecting Data to Identify Patients
Social media represents a portal through which the majority of humanity interacts with itself. Accordingly, people conduct searches, share articles, and participate in discussions regarding varying medical conditions. Data collection filters on social media can collect key information points which you can use to help identify who might become a potential patient.
For example, somebody who is pre-diabetic, or just becoming diabetic with Diabetes Type II, might start conducting Google searches pertaining to numbness in feet, or vision issues. They might participate in online discussions that are similar.
Accordingly, your practice can operate from information generated by such persons to suggest therapies for their burgeoning condition.
3. Following Sociological Trends
There are trends in medicine and the economy that direct the daily activities of people. Sociological trends may indicate what you need to do as a healthcare facility. You might have to begin offering new medical marketing services, you might have to refrain from offering services, and you may need to put out Public Service Announcements (PSAs) to help people avoid medical mistakes.
There was a time when asbestos and lead paint were used in residential infrastructure. Now we know that’s unhealthy. This societal, sociological trend would have benefited from healthcare businesses advising society of associated risks.
Issues like this exist today and will exist tomorrow. Following sociological trends through social media as a medical practice helps you stay contemporary, and assist in bettering society as a whole.
4. Building a Statistical Database
When you’re following sociological trends and working with marketers to acquire data relevant to your healthcare practice, you can build your own in-house database. This can be used in a predictive capacity, it can be used to facilitate profit, it can be used in a variety of different ways that match your particular needs.
5. Capitalizing on Breakthroughs of Other Healthcare Operations
Other healthcare operations are also using social media. They’re marketing their services. They are sharing new trends. Basically, they’re telegraphing their moves through social media, as are you. It’s competitively necessary to engage in social media as a healthcare business.
As a bonus, though, you can figure out how to expand outward, and where to optimize the products and services your healthcare facility provides toward greater profit.
Leveraging Social Media Toward Operational Enhancement
Capitalizing on breakthroughs of other healthcare operations, building statistical databases, following sociological trends, collecting data for patient identification, and utilizing telemedicine solutions represent key ways your healthcare facility can utilize social media outlets.
Social media is here to stay, and learning how to work with it is definitely something your healthcare facility should keep in mind. As we transition toward Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, this will increasingly be the case. Accordingly, get in now, while there’s still a ground-floor entryway.
