If you?re using Instagram to market your practice, you should be using Instagram stories. More and more people, to include your ideal patients, are using Instagram stories to build deeper relationships with the brands and people that they love to follow and connect with.
And, guess what? You and your practice are a brand! You want your brand to be something that your ideal patients love connecting with on Instagram, and one that they look forward to virtually hanging out with online. You want them to keep you top of mind when they need what you can offer to them as a healthcare professional.
Since social media platforms, including Instagram, are really pushing for video use, you need to hop on the band wagon asap! When people see you on video, they will be more likely to feel connected to you. When your audience feels connected to you, naturally, they will engage with your account even more! And this, my friends, is one way of turning your followers into patients.
Today, I want to share some of my favorite things (5 to be exact) that you can share on Instagram stories and connect even further with your audience and your potential patients for your practice.
Let?s dive in.
1 | Share Behind-The-Scenes
The easiest thing to share on Instagram stories is behind-the-scenes of your day. This could be you getting ready for work, your daily routine, and throughout your workday. You can share videos of things that are going on or photos. Have fun with this one. And, mix things up. Share photos and ask questions and do videos that show your face. Do what feels natural but have a lot of fun with it too!
Now, if you’re shy to be on camera. . .I’ve got some tough love coming your way! Get over it! And you know how you can get over it? By realizing your feed isn’t about you, it’s about your audience. ?They don’t care if your hair is messy, or your eyeliner is smeared across your face because you just got out of a long procedure. ?They want to see what it’s like. . .behind the scenes! So don’t be shy. Remind yourself that your feed is for your potential patients, not about you!
2 | Share Peeks Of Your Work
Throughout the day, you?re hopefully seeing quite a bit of clients and have all sorts of things going on in your day. Share the work that you?re doing in your Instagram stories. You want to make sure that you get permission from your patients first. But, believe it or not, it?s really easy to share what you?re doing, how you do things, and your practice.
If you have some down time in your office, then start showing off some of your equipment, and what you use them for! Talk about a specific product/service/procedure that you have/offer at your office. ?It really is that simple. Once you start, you’ll get into the groove and things will become more natural for you.
3 | Answer Popular Questions
I?m sure that you get a lot of questions from patients, friends, followers, etc. and these make for some great Instagram stories. You can quickly, or not so quickly, answer questions that you know your audience has. These pieces of content can be directly or indirectly related to what you specifically do. This is a great way to get a conversation started with your followers. Use the polls feature and question feature and get their input on the topic.
4 | Share Resources That You Love
There are probably things that you use at work and in your life that you can share with your audience. Genuinely show up and share the things that you use and why you use them. If you want to take it to another level, you can sign up for an Amazon Affiliate Program account and if they have it listed, you can share your affiliate link. So, you show up and tell people why you love and use these particular products and then share the link to get them.
(To get more details on how to monetize your social media account, read this blog)
5 | Motivate and Inspire
The last thing that I think we forget about way too often is just showing up to be a light for people. The people that are in your audience are fighting battles that you will never know about and sometimes they come to you because of your transparency and want to be inspired. They want to see that things get tough but you can push through. They want to be motivated to keep pushing through whatever they?re going through. Really, sometimes they just want an escape and your stories is a great way to help them with that.
I hope that you see a lot of these things are ideas that you can incorporate into your day without it seeming like another job or thing that you have to do. Each of these ideas are things that you can do while you?re working, spending time at home, or if you?re just out and about. Remember that the beauty of social media, and especially Instagram stories, is that you get to bring people along for the ride of your life and your practice. They get to be a part of the journey and they love that. I know that I love connecting with my favorite brands in this way. How can you let down the walls and let more people in?
Below, I’ve created a FREE download that you can use to help you organize your Instagram Stories. Make sure to download it (and use it).
