1.   Social media helps to humanize your business

The main driving points of social media are both the people, and the relationships that form between them. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and even LinkedIn are all great places to showcase the personality and voice behind your brand. From participating in online conversations, to highlighting your company culture and showcasing the employees that make up the organization, social media is the key to making your brand more relatable to patients, their families and referrers and, as a result, makes it easier to form relationships with them.

2. Social media increases the accessibility of your practice

Gone are the days where the only way for patients to contact a medical practice is to either call or email during work hours. Sure, that may still be the best and most foolproof method, however, for many people the convenience of, social media is appealing. Social media plays an important role in giving patients a space to find information, ask questions and look for answers in previously asked questions. As an increasing number of people are turning to the internet and social media to discover information and seek answers, it is important for practices to provide this avenue to them. In this digital age, practices and businesses cannot be left behind in the realm of online communication, and time and effort need to be invested to keep up with our patient community. Not only does social media provide better, more accessible support, it also frees up your reception team allowing them to focus on face to face communication with patients.

3. Social media is excellent for networking with fellow professionals

Not only is social media an excellent platform for practices to showcase their expertise and knowledge, it is also a great way to communicate with other professionals and businesses in similar industries, engaging in a wider community of medical professionals than previously possible. LinkedIn is an excellent platform for this – its Groups feature enables professionals with mutual interests and/or professions to get together to share content, debate hot button issues, share job and collaboration opportunities, find answers, and showcase their expertise.

4. Social media can help to educate your patients

Social media gives your practice the ability to share information with your patients and followers, alerting them each time you make a new post. This provides your practice with the important ability to provide patients with key clinical updates, in addition to other helpful information. Most importantly, it is an effective and easy method to disseminate information at a much lower cost than traditional methods.

5. It gives your practice a chance to observe what your patient’s want and what’s important to them, and how they could improve to meet those needs

Social media listening is the act of observing the conversations and interactions that your target market makes online. In doing so, practices can get insights into potential opportunities to grow and develop through online feedback. It can also help keep you informed about the services and offerings of your competitors! With an ever-increasing number of people taking to social media to talk about their experiences online, it pays for a practice to be in tune with the online discussions that take place regarding their practice and the health care industry.