5 steps to enliven your clinic’s social media profile
Years ago, you probably started a Facebook page, an Instagram profile and maybe even a LinkedIn Page for your clinic.
Then… it sat there as the digital equivalent of a desert that no one visits, apart – that is – from John Travolta.
Whether you’re running a successful refractive surgery clinic or seeing patients all over the nation, having a social media presence is essential in legitimising your service (and not for the reasons you might think).
Nowadays, typing the name of the clinic into Google is only the first step of a prospective patient’s search. Through a Google search, leads discover you, and they might visit your site.
They think you or your clinic might fit what they are looking for, but the actual connection doesn’t happen until they can see what you’re about.
And how do they do that? Easy, social media.
You can have the most elaborate website design possible, but unless you seem like a natural person, your audience will struggle to connect with you and put their sight in your hands.
It’s a fine line, but in the last 20 years, the doctor-patient relationship has transformed. Nowadays, we no longer look for a surgeon who can pontificate scientific jargon to make us feel like we’re in safe hands.
Instead, we feel safer in the hands of a surgeon who can crack a joke and make us feel like being nervous is part of the experience.
For this reason, social media has become the perfect medium for patients to get to know their doctors on a more informal basis. It’s also great for doctors to share the quirky side we all knew was hiding under their scrubs.
Running a successful social media presence can be both challenging and time-consuming. However, the main reason that most clinics struggle is a lack of planning. That’s why having the right social media system in place from the start is crucial to continue growing your following and engagement.
Step 1: Brand your profiles consistently
Consistent branding across all your platforms and your site is crucial.
It is the number one way that visitors and leads will be able to recognise you. The logo, the colours, the exact brand name, the location and the phone number you display should be consistent. These will be the recognisable factors that leads will be looking for.
For example, here’s how we made Memorial Eye Institute’s website and social media design consistent:
Step 2: Get ratings and reviews to make it look active
VSON Facebook IOS QR Code (note how the code takes you to your Facebook app when you take a picture of it with your phone
Yes, having a slick looking page goes a long way. But, what matters more is patients talking about their experience. Then, leaving rave reviews on your page (and on social media).
The best way to do this is by simply asking a happy patient to leave you a review on their way out. Or you can make it even easier for them by showing them a QR code to scan that immediately directs them to the page on their mobiles. Here’s an example:
Once you’ve got the review, engage with it, show them appreciation and show anyone else who sees the page that once they’ve visited your clinic, they have joined a family for life.
You can even take it a step further and ask for video testimonials from past patients, Check out these great video testimonials that we shot over Zoom. They’re quick and easy to shoot, and they look so much more natural and authentic than professionally produced video testimonials. That’s ideal for social media, where authenticity is the chief currency.
Step 3: Share helpful information (not just pitches)
There is a difference between someone visiting your page versus someone following your page.
Of course, the latter is more valuable because more likes mean more interest and more potential leads.
For this reason, you need to ensure that your page is worth following and is giving these followers a reason to keep following you.
It could become disengaging to only see patient reviews or team photos, but what keeps them there is the nuggets of information that you share with them weekly.
These nuggets of information could be either blog posts discussing a relevant topic or a video blog post that shows the surgeon giving advice directly to viewers and addressing frequently asked questions.
This source of information could be invaluable to anyone, especially leads who have taken the self-test and know their options. Watching a video blog post or reading the most recent blog could be what pushes them to book their initial assessment or, even better, their surgery.
Step 4: Mix it up
Each step I’ve outlined so far will help build your social media following and engagement and keep followers interested.
It is essential to mix it up. Don’t commit to only sharing reviews or sharing photos of the team; have a mix. Celebrate holidays with your followers. Share clinic news and updates: the more content, the better and the more versatile, the more likely followers will remain interested.
An easy way to keep tabs on the mix is by creating a social media calendar. It can be a simple google calendar that you can personalise to notify you on national and international holidays, staff birthdays, anniversaries and events.
And what’s even better is that you could add an event on each of the days you plan to post something. A calendar will not only remind you to share the post, but it will also give you an overview of all past and upcoming posts so that you can assess whether you’ve got the right mix going!
Step 5: Use this checklist to post
Sounds simple enough right? Now’s your time to put it all to practice. Don’t hesitate to push the boundaries and share content that sparks conversation, the ‘social’ aspect in ‘social media’ is something you shouldn’t shy away from. Interact with followers and embrace their interest in what you’re sharing.
Followers don’t want to be ‘sold’ a product constantly, so balance out the selling element by having more fun and informative posts outnumber. The ratio you should aim for is nine fun and informative posts for every one sales-related post.
Here’s a quick checklist to keep in mind when looking for content ideas:
(NOTE: Want to see how your practice marketing measures up against the best in class? Take this 5-minute quiz to see how you stack up in the 9 areas of practice marketing and get specific tips and advice on how you can improve your weak points and better leverage your strengths).
About the author
Ladfah Suwichacherdchu
Marketing and Multimedia Consultant
Hi, I’m Ladfah. I’m the marketing and multimedia consultant at LiveseySolar. My role involves managing projects, creating compelling multimedia content, and coordinating marketing initiatives.
With a 5-year background in video editing, I take charge of projects from concept to completion, ensuring that every clip, edit, and transition serves the story we aim to tell. I oversee video editing, review and edit footage to make our clients look and sound great, and work with our graphics team to support the marketing of our client’s videos.
Meet our Founders
Rod Solar
Founder & Scalable Business Advisor
Rod co-founded LiveseySolar and acts as a Fractional CMO and Scalable Business Advisor for our customers. He’s on a mission to help transform the lives of 10,000 people with vision correction surgery by 2024. To achieve that, he inspires his customers to make confident decisions that will help 50,000 people take the first step towards vision correction.
LiveseySolar completely transformed the way we were approaching this… We’ve gone from having just the dream of having a practice to having a practice up and running with people making inquiries and booking for procedures… It’s extremely pleasing. We feel lucky we connected with LiveseySolar.
— Dr Matthew Russell, MBChB, FRANZCO, specialist ophthalmic surgeon and founder of VSON and OKKO
Laura Livesey
Founder & CEO
Laura Livesey is the co-founder & CEO of LiveseySolar. She has developed powerful refractive surgery marketing systems that increase patient volumes and profits for doctors, clinics, and hospitals, since 1997.
Rod and Laura know as much about marketing surgery to patients as I know about performing it. They are an expert in the field of laser eye surgery marketing. They know this industry inside out. I believe that they could help many companies in a variety of areas including marketing materials, sales training and marketing support for doctors.
— Prof. Dan Reinstein, MD MA FRSC DABO, founder of the London Vision Clinic, UK
