In today’s digitally driven society, patients have the freedom to choose their eye care provider rather than going to the only ophthalmologist in town. Knowing this, it’s important that your business has a strong online brand to regularly connect with your current and future patient base. While you may not typically think of a medical practice as needing to create a social media presence, your marketing strategy must include social to stay relevant in the modern patient’s mind.

Whether your practice is new to social media or you simply need to ramp up your approach, it’s an investment that will allow you to build the next generation of patients while deepening current patients’ loyalty and trust. Although results are not instantaneous, committing just a few hours a week can help you grow your customer base and engage with existing clients. Below are some tips to help you get started.

Choose your social media platforms

An important piece of the puzzle is choosing social media platforms that align with your practice’s strategy. You’ll want to choose platforms that can help you reach target audience(s) who find your content valuable. A recent Hootsuite blog found that Facebook and Instagram boast valuable users, with Facebook’s typical audience being females aged 35-54 and males aged 25-44. Meanwhile, Instagram’s audience is comprised of females aged 16-34 and males aged 16-24. Something else to consider: According to Statistica, of the 233 million-plus Facebook users in the United States, 22% are ages 55 and older. (For additional data, see “Social media numbers to consider,” below.)

Given these age groups, it’s safe to say your target audience is using one or both platforms on a daily basis — whether it’s a prospective cataract patient, a son or daughter researching cataract surgeons for their parents, or a 30-year-old looking to undergo LASIK. This makes Facebook and Instagram great starting points if you are just stepping into the social media space.

Utilize each platform’s features

Facebook and Instagram have various features to elevate your social strategy. For example, both platforms allow you to set up a business profile, which can provide valuable insights such as demographics on engagement and followers. This data informs you how well your content is performing and where your opportunities lie, which can ultimately help you refine your social media strategy.

A business account also allows you to add your practice’s contact information and create ads, and on Facebook users can even leave reviews. Facebook and Instagram also provide various content-creation options such as photos, videos, reels, stories, live streams, and more, so you can have fun and be creative with the content for your pages.

Post quality content

Your online presence is often the first impression a potential patient forms of your practice, so you want to ensure your content aligns with how you want your practice to be perceived. Since other practices in your area are also trying to build a strong online presence, your content should also help your business stand out with your audience. According to the Wisconsin Healthcare Public Relations & Marketing Society, 60% of people who use social media trust posts by their doctors. The more relatable, personable, and informative your content is, the more it can impact new and existing patients by providing indirect emotional reassurance that they are choosing the right practice/provider.

For example, your team of experts could create infographics on how to manage things such as dry eye symptoms at home or bring awareness to certain eye diseases. You can also post patient testimonials and community events your practice participates in (i.e., a run/walk for a cause, ways your practice gives back to the community, charitable eye exams or surgeries, etc.) to show the impact your practice is making not only to your patients, but also your community. Your patients also look for content, including images, that is authentic. So, if your social pages are full of promotional and stock imagery — versus your providers, staff, and patient outcomes — you could be missing a huge opportunity to credential your practice and providers.

Involve your entire team

Regardless of the size of your practice, location, and services, your people are what differentiate your practice from the competition, so capitalize on this! A great way to create personal content is to obtain buy-in from your team and providers to actively participate in content creation. Staff involvement can come in the form of Q&A sessions, how-to videos, patient testimonials, infographics, and staff/provider highlights. What’s more, participating providers can use your social media platforms to further credential themselves by educating the public on important eye-related topics and/or technological advances. This content builds trust between your practice and its audience, increasing the likelihood they will feel comfortable choosing you for their eye care needs.

Develop a content library

The more you post, the more opportunities your followers have to see and engage with your content. One way to stay on schedule and ensure you have content readily available is by creating a content library where you store pre-made images, videos, and other content. On top of creating a reserve of posts that can be used on slower days, your content library can also be used to post valuable content on days when your practice has a packed patient schedule. It is important that you continue to update and maintain this resource to ensure that it is relevant. The general rule of thumb is that 80% of the content you post should offer some value to your audience, while the remaining 20% can be promotional (i.e., running ads and/or promotions for LASIK), so make sure you work that ratio in to your reserve content.

Use a content calendar to post regularly

Once you have established your online presence and begun posting content, it is essential to keep up that momentum by creating a reliable posting schedule. Developing a realistic monthly content calendar to help organize and plan social posts is a great way to ensure your practice remains consistent across platforms. A content calendar can also give you a better idea of what is needed in terms of content creation, allowing you to make posts for your library in advance.

To avoid sacrificing quality for quantity, don’t over-commit to an unrealistic posting schedule for your personnel and staff capacity. It’s better to post quality content less frequently than spamming your followers with unnecessary content that may lead them to perceive your posts as not worthwhile. You might also consider establishing a point person to manage the content calendar and posting schedule to ensure consistency.

Build trust with your audience

By continually evolving your practice’s social media efforts and posting quality content, you can build trust with existing patients while attracting new ones. Once you have your social media plan in place, track your insights to see what is working and what isn’t so you can adjust your strategy accordingly. From there, you can continue to measure the effectiveness of your social media efforts and use this knowledge to build an even better relationship with your audience. OP