When it comes to using social media to grow your practice, there are so many different platforms that you can use to get in front of your ideal patient. And the thought of having to be on all of these social media platforms, create content for them, and be engaging on all of these different social media platforms probably makes you feel as though you?re signing up for a second job, am I right? And, if your practice and life is anything like mine, you really don?t have the time to take on a second job, right? Great, we?re on the same page.
Today, I want to talk about how you can figure out which social media platforms are going to best for attracting your ideal patients online. While there is success for your practice to be had on any social media platform, that doesn?t mean that you have to be on them all. If you take any social media platform out there, there will be someone who 100% believes that that particular social media platform is the way to go and that it’s the platform that they will see results from.?
For example, I 100% believe in Instagram for growing your practice. ?Because it has worked so well for me and my business. I also help other healthcare professionals grow their businesses using Instagram. . .and IT WORKS. I know how to use the platform, it?s where I have the largest amount of followers, and it?s where I get most of (and by most of I mean 99.9%) my online marketing results. So, when I teach here on my blog and other avenues, it?s the platform that I recommend. I believe in it so much, and I have helped so many healthcare professionals use it for their business, that I created an online course called Grow With The Gram.?
Ok, with all of that said, here?s how I recommend you go about choosing the best platform, of all social media platforms, to attract your ideal patients online.
1 | Do Your Research
The first thing that you want to do is to simply do your research. Find other practices that are similar to yours and see what they?re currently doing online and which social media platforms they have a presence on.
Now, I want to say this before you do this part, you can?t really tell what success anyone is having from any of their marketing strategies from the outside looking in. But, you can see if a particular platform may be worth the time and effort on your end. If you notice that they have a decent amount of followers and get engagement from people who could fit your business as well then it may be worth giving it a shot.
Also keep in mind that some social media platforms are visual: such as Instagram. ?Some are not, such as twitter. ?Some social media platforms are video driven, such as youtube. ?You many want to incorporate videos and photos, so in that case, Instagram and Facebook may be better for you!
2 | Figure Out What?s Working
Once you?ve sort of decided which social media platforms you want to narrow your options down to, you can start to see what?s working on those different platforms. Once you get a general idea about what’s working on these different platforms you can decide which one you?re willing to put the effort in to make that platform work for you.
For example, you may look at Twitter and think that it requires too much real-time activity and that?s not something that you want to do right now. So, that would be a platform that you let go of and move on to another choice.
3 | Decide and Start Marketing
The final step to choose which social media platform is going to be best to attract your ideal patients is to just decide on ONE platform to get started with. Remember that while every platform may work you don?t need to be on all of them to get the results that you want to have from your marketing. So, choose a platform that you want to be active on and use to grow your practice and just stick with that particular platform.
I’d like to say that you also need to make sure it’s a platform that you will actually want to use. Because if it’s not something you would want to use and you wouldn’t enjoy, then it’s never going to work for you! I personally LOVE being on Instagram. I love the connections I have made with people on there, I look forward to being on the platform. . .so I’m on it often. But twitter–I’m not such a big fan of so I don’t really spend time on that platform.
I hope that this was helpful and you?re able to breathe a sigh of relief. While yes you can see results on every social media platform you don?t have to be on them all. In fact, it’s better that you aren’t on all of them. . .it’s best to choose one and put ALL of your efforts into that one specific platform. Choose the one that will get you the best results and put your energy into that particular platform and leave the rest of them for later. ?You can always hop onto another one once you feel you have mastered one!
Now that you have picked your one platform, I want to help you get your content organized. So make sure to download my weekly content planning guide.
