Healthcare Social Media Marketing Basics: How to Engage & Inform Your Patients

Vibrant content on social media is vital for health-related organizations and medical businesses. 

Healthcare marketing teams face unique challenges related to confidentiality (HIPAA), review of medical content, and providing timely information. 

Don’t worry – we’re going to cover the basics in this guide and stoke your creativity to elevate your healthcare social media marketing! 

How is Social Media Marketing Used in Healthcare?

Social media marketing for healthcare is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s essential for engaging current and prospective audiences. 

Social media tools for healthcare include platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Each can extend the reach of your messages to highlight provider or patient success stories or promote an event or partnership. X (formerly Twitter) can connect your news and services to journalists and stakeholders who influence consumer choices and education. Lastly, apps like TikTok and other entertainment-based social media can introduce your brand or organization to a younger generation in need of vetted health information.

Both paid and organic medical social media posts can serve a broad range of marketing needs, including:

• Branding or reputation management 
• Promotion of services and events 
• Building goodwill through public education 
• Highlighting expertise and research 
• Boosting recruitment and employee engagement 
• Informing the public on health concerns 

A comprehensive social media strategy for healthcare marketing requires content planning, establishing policies and procedures, sourcing information and visual assets, and measuring results. 

A calendar with planned content is especially useful for healthcare marketing professionals who will work with legal and medical review teams. The tenets of your marketing strategy should align with the overarching goals or long-range plan of your organization. 

For example, if your organization is launching a partnership with a medical school or research entity, you can build short- and long-term social plans around the news. Sharing developments and details about new and exciting initiatives provides engaging content for social media. 

Or, for instance, if you are introducing new services or technology, social media is a great way to promote your offerings. Planning and producing short videos to run with a paid social campaign can increase awareness and interest among followers. 

Benefits of Social Media Marketing in Healthcare

The role of social media in healthcare includes inspiring better public health, providing important updates and information to those you serve, and promoting loyalty among employees and patients. 

During the global coronavirus pandemic, we saw the use of social media in healthcare take on new importance. Every type of provider, clinic, and service had a role to play – from hospital epidemiologists providing critical public health updates to child health experts offering families guidance to navigate unprecedented upheaval. 

Healthcare is personal for consumers. Seeing and hearing regularly from your organization instills trust and encourages healthy living. 

Social media is a means for quick communication – whether it’s a critical update about safety or public health, or a post announcing new team members or care options. For more in-depth topics, create a short summary post with a link to your website, blog, or another trusted source. 

Building a Social Content Calendar  

Project management tools help to organize, streamline, and execute your social media plan for healthcare content. Many publishing tools like Sprout, Hootsuite, and Hubspot will integrate existing channels and automate much of the process. 

Consider which applications you’ll use for a variety of written and visual content (for example, Canva or Lightroom). 

Choose tools that provide access for anyone in the organization requiring review before posting on social media (like the legal department or a medical review team).

A central content calendar ensures ideas make it out of the brainstorming phase and helps you time your post for optimal results. A calendar with three to six months of planned content allows review partners ample time for signing-off. 

Analyze your calendar to check for diverse social media and healthcare marketing content. Every post should include a visual element – video, photos, or an infographic. Provide a mix of posts aimed at branding, education, and promotion. Highlight the diversity of your people and services. 

Planning social media content ahead of time will illuminate gaps so your accounts avoid dormancy. 

Don’t set it and forget it, however. Regularly refresh your memory of content pre-scheduled to post or go live that week or the Monday following a break. Ensure the content won’t be seen as insensitive or problematic in light of current events or news. Familiarize yourself ahead of time with settings that will automatically turn off scheduled posts or reposting of evergreen content. Avoid unnecessary organization posts or announcements during a crisis. 

Otherwise, aim to publish planned content once per week – or more if you have a large team and plenty of inspiration. Using a calendar will help you plan for a variety of content relevant to seasons, holidays, anniversaries, milestones, and events like open enrollment. 

For example, showcase your experts on national awareness days for relevant health topics. Highlight your healthcare professionals on International Women’s Day or World Autism Month. 

Unplanned events and news can provide timely opportunities for healthcare education and engagement on social media. Staying ahead on the production of your planned content will allow more reaction time when the unforeseen arises. 

For example, healthcare organizations with a connection to alopecia had a great opportunity to join the conversation prominently as Jada Pinkett Smith publicly discussed her journey. Look to social media and news about research and legislation, celebrities, pop culture, and more for potential fodder. When healthcare professionals weigh in on emergent topics, the public benefits from authoritative information and well-timed context. 

Keep track of these posts on your calendar as well. This will help ensure you aren’t over-sharing or posting too often.

Many social media publishing tools will use a calendar-like queue accompanied by metrics. Use these features to target specific times and days of the week where your content has performed best. High-performing content can be recirculated or re-shared automatically from social media management applications. Loading your content days in advance will maximize this automated feature. 

Lastly, streamline your news content and marketing efforts on social media. Make sure all departments with publishing access can see content calendars to ensure organic posts and paid ads are properly spaced. Metrics for each can inform content choices and future campaigns. 

HIPAA Compliance and Social Media

Social media and HIPAA (and other federal laws or regulations protecting personally identifiable information, data, and health records) can be tricky for healthcare marketers. At the heart of every great storytelling opportunity is a person, a journey, and rich details along with personal information and imagery. 

The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) generally safeguards confidential patient information and health records. The law governs how private information is handled and restricts disclosure. Healthcare organizations are responsible for maintaining privacy and security, and are required to report any breaches. 

When you can, obtain appropriate written client or patient consent so that you can share a more unfettered personal story through social media marketing. Work proactively across your organization to strategize on how you can identify opportunities, propose the idea to a patient or member, ensure informed consent, and maintain compliance at every step of content creation.    

In a more restricted setting, you might choose to feature providers, staff, and other partners. 

Work with legal and compliance officers on hybrid content options where a client or patient is not identified but general information can be appropriately shared. Alongside medical and regulatory experts, try to establish a range of approaches for gathering and sharing stories from inside the organization on social media. 

Create a process where potentially sensitive or personally identifying information undergoes thorough review by relevant departments. Stick to a system of handling correspondence, drafts, and review notes. 

Establish protocols for team members responding to direct messages, comments, or reviews on social media. Engage compliance experts to help you write content and marketing policies that spell out the do’s and don’ts for everyone on your team. This should include a rapid response plan in case protected information is shared improperly or by mistake. 

Consult regularly with medical professionals in your organization on news, research, and other topics that could provide value to your followers on social media. You’ll want to ensure your social media content includes sound medical information. Seeking experts to help you brainstorm and develop this content will save time during the review phase. 

How has Social Media Influenced the Marketing of Healthcare?

Watching, reading, and listening to what others post on social media is just as important as marketing content you orchestrate. 

Observing social media trends and topical conversations among consumers/patients can inspire your next campaign. Some enterprise marketing tools provide data showing not only the volume of certain posts but also the sentiments behind language. This type of report can help organizations respond more quickly during a reputation crisis or deploy educational and awareness resources in response to real-time questions or concerns.

Healthcare social media marketing dynamics are fast-moving. Are you ready to elevate your profile? We’re ready to help! Contact Beyond Marketing today.