Topic: 8 Ways Social Media Can Help You Reach More Patients and Rock Customer Service

Today’s reality (or virtual reality) means that your patients have access to you around the clock. They want to interact with you online (including on social media) and expect instant gratification from their requests. If you’re not all-in on social media, you’ll have a tough time keeping up with your competitors who are. Having an effective HIPAA-compliant social media strategy takes time, money, a game plan (from a social customer service standpoint), and a staff that is committed to and willing to be social.

Below we’ll break down 8 ways social media can allow you to grab hold of your online reputation and how you can create the optimal HIPAA-compliant social media strategy for your practice. We’ll also share some great tech tools to help you create a social media strategy to skyrocket both patient satisfaction and retention.

1. Social Media Is (Still) Changing Health Care

The world is different than it was just two years ago, and social media has evolved right along with it. Social media continues to impact healthcare in new and dynamic ways; it has become something more transparent, interactive, and collective and forms a key part of your big picture customer service strategy and your marketing plan moving forward.

Simply put, social media is another place where people (your patients) have conversations. People watch silently on social media (because they can). They look at what’s being said in those conversations, how it’s being said, and how others respond.

If someone has a beef, they will go onto Facebook and say it — instant gratification in real time for a 24/7 world mindset. The beautiful thing about social media from a professional standpoint is that you have a tremendous opportunity to tell the stories you want to tell. And your stories are at the core of your marketing strategy.

2. Social Media Matters

We’re probably preaching to the choir here, but if you’re still sitting on the social media fence, here are some stats to help you get off the sidelines and take notice:

• 54.4% of the world’s population uses the internet daily (as opposed to less than 1% in 1995)
• The average person spends about 3 hours a day on their smartphone
• Google processes 3.5 billion searches per day
• Facebook has 2.2 billion users (that’s slightly less than the populations of China and India combined)
• Almost 80% of all searches are for small businesses
• Searching for healthcare information is the 3rd most common activity on the internet

Not only that, but patients have access to your practice all day, every day. They can say and share whatever they want with the world (and they do). Telling your story is the best way to make your voice heard, build your brand, and take control of your reputation.

Topic Discussed: 8 Ways Social Media Can Help You Reach More Patients and Rock Customer Service

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