This is the social media world – have no doubt about that. Statista says 3.17 billion people use the internet and 2.3 billion are active social media users. Therefore it is important for any business including medical businesses to utilize social media marketing tactics to attract and retain potential patients and healthcare customers. As physicians go on with their day to day tasks of proving patient care and diagnosing illnesses, maintaining a social media presence on popular platforms such as Facebook or Twitter may seem a difficult task. But medical professionals and healthcare businesses can resort to medical SEO services for optimum social media presence. Effective social media marketing requires strategy, perseverance, time, effort and measurement. It is important that you measure the impact of your social media marketing efforts from time to time to determine which tactics are working.
The following metrics will help you determine which tactics are effective and bring you more ROI.
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- Search volume: Search volume metrics is an important tactic that show many people are searching for your company on search engines. According to Search Engine Land, 85% of consumers use the internet to find a local business. Google offers various tools such as Google Analytics or Google Trends to track search volume that helps you compare your results with your competitors. If there is no increase in searches for your business, your medical social media marketing strategies may not be working.
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- Conversions: Conversions are important for social media marketing and every company wants conversions. It signifies the number of people who took the extra step and entered your sales funnel using your social media page. This can be determined by tracking website traffic, online sales, registration completed, subscription forms submitted etc. Having effective calls-to-action on your website helps to attract and engage your visitors. Tools like Google Analytics enable tracking and monitoring their engagement. It helps to see what type of content attracts more healthcare customers. You can see how many people reached your website through your social media pages, and what kind of social media content is bringing the highest conversions.
- Number of followers and likes: This is one of the easiest methods to keep track of social media marketing. A good number of followers and likes show that your social media campaigns are working. Note the number of likes, favorites, shares, and re-tweets. Increasing number of these vanity metrics shows that people are interested in what you are publishing. Pay attention to the types of content that are bringing the most interaction. You also get to learn what time period has the most activity. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook all offer analytics on their platforms. Third-party tools such as Klout widget, Epoxy app, and Social Blue Book website are also available for analytics purposes.
- Return on Investment: Social media marketing is a cost-efficient marketing tool and you can see excellent ROI over time with the right strategies. You can also use paid ads or hire a social media marketing company to capitalize using your social media strategy. You can monitor ROI using analytics tools provided by social media platforms – Kissmetrics, Google Analytics and other tools. You get information regarding the social media campaigns that are most profitable, the ads that perform best, individuals/groups that convert, and so on.
- Brand Image, presence and engagement: Social media will really work and bring solid results if you connect with customers on a personal level. This helps in building trust and loyalty, and increasing community engagement. But all interactions may not be positive hence it is important to have a strategy to address negative feedback. This can be done using tools that track remarks, comments and status on social media. Facebook Insights, Twitter Analytics, Google’s Me on the Web Tool, and Social Mention all help in monitoring your online reputation.
Social media platforms present a great opportunity to effectively communicate with your healthcare consumers in a relaxed and informal environment. This helps in building a strong relationship with your followers and therefore social media has a prime position when it comes to digital marketing for healthcare.
