Is Social Media For Physicians?

Social media for physicians: What's to gain, what's to lose?

Social media is not overrated. Some professionals may think that the power of social media is overvalued or that their industries will not benefit from online platforms, but I think that is far from the truth. Social media is free for all, and its advantages are available to everyone, but only if they know how to use them efficiently.

Related Article: Social Media Marketing Redefined By Science?

Health Care And The Internet

The internet has given birth to the proliferation and continuous growth of health care in society. Today, there are over 100,000 health and fitness mobiles apps with millions of daily downloads. According to Greatcall, as of 2017, weight loss mobile health apps account for 50 million downloads, while exercise apps have 26.5 million downloads. 85% of those who’ve downloaded these apps also use social media for health.

In the same way, physicians have also been using the internet to learn more about their field as well as share information with patients and clients. As the same source reveals, 80% of physicians use smartphones and medical apps. 30% of mobile health users are caregivers and 93% of physicians also believe that health apps improve health, while 40% say mobile health services — be it via apps or social media — may reduce the number of visits to doctors.

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Physicians have also been using social media for professional research, to share their knowledge and to engage with patients.

According to PM360 Online, the use of social media by physicians is divided into three levels: content production, content commenting and curating, and passive content consumption.

Sadly, of all levels, the one that will benefit the industry the most has the least number of participants. Only 1% of all health care professionals use social media to be content creators — publishing original content via blogs, forums and websites.

What's more, only 9% of physicians engage with patients and other health care providers -- this includes physicians who reply to comments, join group discussions or share helpful information and links on social media platforms.

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The biggest chunk of online users is passive content consumers.

Ninety percent of doctors on social media just read relevant information about their patients and their practice without engaging or sharing their knowledge. These statistics are what health care professionals can take advantage of today.

If you’re a physician, you can start building an online presence by using social media platforms.

Moreover, you can join the 1% of physicians who have used the internet as thought leaders. Here are some of the benefits of social media for physicians:

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What To Gain

Build online presence: Marketing yourself is a lot like marketing a product — you highlight your best asset so that people will prefer your service over others. Today, people turn to the internet for almost everything, including looking for health care information. Social media is one of the best platforms to help you establish your brand.

Having a presence online will help people learn more about you and your service and what makes you stand out from the rest. When patients want to search for the physician nearest them, your profile should pop up on their searches. If your profile has the right content and positive reviews, clients will choose you over other physicians.

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Establish Yourself As A Thought Leader

Patients have spent more time researching health information online than visiting doctors. In a year, the average American visits a doctor three times while spending 52 hours on the internet searching for health information.

Moreover, Health Union (registration required) reports that by 2016, Facebook was the second most used online resource for health information at 65% — a jump from 2009’s 39%. A study by Wego Health also reveals that the site is the top platform used by people who are sharing health information. Eighty-seven percent say they share health information on Facebook via posts.

With social media’s importance in health information dissemination, it would be wise to join the 1% of physicians who provide medical content to users. By publishing in-depth, original content on important and pressing health matters, patients will see you as a source of valuable information. Eventually, they will see as a thought leader and will value the information you publish.

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What To Lose

Hard to monitor return on investment: Monitoring the returns of social media campaigns is not as easy. Over the years, there have been new studies and formulas established to monitor the return on investment of social media campaigns. While tools are available on platforms to monitor post reach and likes, its correlation to sales is complicated. Things get even more complex if you will try to record patient referrals.

However, while concrete figures are hard to produce, seeing yourself as a thought leader that people use as a resource is often enough of a return. As more and more people visit your profiles, they’ll see you as an expert in your medical field, which may lead to more clients for you.

Time: Obviously, handling social media isn’t a walk in the park. It requires a lot of time for planning strategies, writing content and analyzing data. Social media marketing isn’t just about posting articles or photos. Each piece of content should be well thought out and will work around your strategy.

Guest Authored By Irfan Jafrey. Irfan is the CEO and Founder of Roosterly, a social media A.I. and marketing platform that’s changing how executives interact online. Follow Irfan on Twitter.

Related Article: Becoming A Social Media Patient Influencer?

"To reach the most prospect clients, your social media should be carefully calibrated. This will require much of your time.

Sadly, for physicians flushed with patients and meetings, this is something you may not have. However, I think when it comes to social media, the good outweighs the bad. -IrfanJafrey

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  Post Crafted By:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

Social Media Marketing Redefined By Science?

How science redefined social media marketing and recruiting..

When we think about social media, we think about something that we go to at the end of our day to take our mind of things, look at what our friends are doing, maybe read a couple of articles or simply see some beautiful pictures.

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However, social media tool is a powerful tool for capturing audiences and many of companies have realized that. It is prevalent to hire people who are known as 'influencers', who have amassed a large following, to market various products or services to consumers. In the past, I have written that data has steeped into fields that are outside of the STEM space, thus making traditional non-STEM fields more 'STEM' like. The same is true for marketing and social media. Moreover, social media has become a popular tool for recruiting.

As a matter of fact, 41% of the Gen Z talent, which is the next group to go out in the workforce, say they like seeing ads from prospective employers on social media. Many recruiters in the space, do use social media as a means of recruiting talent. A survey found that 92% of recruiters use social media for their searches. Although various platforms provide a different feel and attract different content, almost all social media sites provide analytical tools for content. These analytical tools have made the space very scientific like. Based on the various data about the posted content, employers can understand whether their content is resonating with the audience they are trying to reach. Thereby this gives them an opportunity to better understand the talent in advance.

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Additionally, data allows for better strategy both for employers using social media to attract talent, as well as for the 'influencers' who work with companies to do social media marketing. This is because various platforms give slightly different metrics about engagement with an audience. Of course, many platforms charge for posting ads, which means that employers can better understand the return on their investment and tailor content that more directly resonates with a certain audience. As many platforms allow one to chose an audience range, this gives employers a targeted way to bring their message to their prospective audience. The same is true for marketing campaigns by using influencers, where companies can directly see how their marketing dollars are being put to use. This, of course, was not available in the past where such data could not be collected due to the absence of the technological advances that exist today.

Related Article: Marketing Strategies To Transcend YOUR Industry?

Thus, this means areas that previously have lacked such prevalent and real-time data such as marketing or recruitment, have now become transformed and revolutionized by it. The prevalence of data allows companies to use science to come up with more optimized, defined and targeted campaigns, and ultimately gives them better insights into their audience. Thus, we see that with our world is becoming more and more shaped by STEM, thereby making STEM-related skills ever more important non-STEM professionals.

Guest Authored By Dr. Anna Powers. Dr. Anna Powers is an advisor, consultant and an award winning scientist, lecturer and scholar. As the first woman to be awarded the Global STEM Leadership Prize for her work in Global Education, she uses her talent to help more women gain access to the fields that drive innovation. Her passion is sharing the beauty of science and encouraging women to enter STEM fields. Follow Dr. Anna Powell on Twitter.

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"Areas that previously have lacked such prevalent and real-time data such as marketing or recruitment, have now become transformed and revolutionized by it.

The prevalence of data allows companies to use science to come up with more optimized, defined and targeted campaigns, and ultimately gives them better insights into their audience.." -DrAnnaPowers

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  Post Crafted By:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

Building An Engaging Social Media Presence?

The one thing you can do to build an engaging social media presence..

The secret behind an engaging social media presence does not need to be complicated.

In this video, Alex Wehrley, as interviewed by Entrepreneur Network partner Business Rockstars, explains' there are a few select tips you can use to increase your business's social media engagement. Most of which boil down to being more engaging overall.

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You can begin by responding to people's comments on social media.

These people are essentially saying that they are interested in your product or service, so try your very best to interact with them.

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On the other side, you should also look to interact with others' posts. By offering up a like or a comment to fans, you are instilling goodwill throughout.

To hear all the tips from Business Rockstars and Wehrley, click on the video above.

Guest Authored By Business Rockstars. Business Rockstars is the first integrated, multi-platform media company featuring entrepreneurs, startups and CEOs. With award-winning content creators and influencers, they are connecting and growing a community of entrepreneurs via radio, TV, podcast and social media. Business Rockstars shows are produced from their Burbank studios, with remote video broadcast facilities in San Francisco through their strategic partner, NASDAQ Private Market. Business Rockstars airs nationally in 150 radio markets, podcasting on Play.it, digitally on iTunes, Tune In, Stitcher and iHeart Radio. Business Rockstars video is featured in 40 million households with HDTV and cable through BizTV. Follow Business Rockstars on Twitter.

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"Consider video as another prong to your social media strategy.

Video's many formats, from native to live to story, offer a terrific way to personalize your content and build a narrative around your business.. -Business Rockstars

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  Post Crafted By:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)

YOUR Social Media Customer Service Strategy?

Try these new customer service social media strategies..

If you want better customer service -- and who doesn't? -- there are strategies, and there are social media strategies.

Related Article: YOUR Social Media Empathy Technology?

Like many consumers, Ryan James, has discovered the latter lately. When he needed to arrange a wheelchair for a recent flight from Budapest to Montreal, he skipped the phone just tweeted to Air Canada.

"They were so responsive," says a James, college professor from Budapest. Problem solved.

Trouble with his virtual private network company, NordVPN? After sending a tweet, the company fixed it "within minutes." When he needed a list of Panera locations, he contacted the company via social media. It filled his order quickly.

But you'd be surprised at what's happening behind the scenes. Companies are responding to customers through social media channels like never before. Research suggests more consumers are turning to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, to contact companies -- whether the companies are they're ready or not. There are important takeaways, both for companies and customers.

"Social media is the future of customer service," says Anna Yates, a content marketer for The Social Reach, a digital marketing agency. "Not only are consumers turning to social media more and more to learn about products and services, but new tools are available to make customer service faster, easier, and smarter."

Related Article: A Customer Experience Solution For YOUR Brand?

The Customer Service Social Media Tactics I See

As a consumer advocate, I've seen my social media channels go from busy to bubbling over with activity in just a few short months. Customers are looking for help, and they want to contact a company in a way that's convenient for them. They expect a fast response time. I know because they're either contacting me directly for helpor copying me on the angry tweets sent to companies.

I've covered some of the trends, including the rise of Facebook Messenger for customer service purposes, in my weekly Washington Post column.

Companies know customers expect a response. And now, they're answering.

Take Red Oxx, a small luggage manufacturer in Billings, Mont. Jenna Shanahan, the company's customer care consultant, uses Helpscout, a help-desk software system that integrates into its social channels and allows her to do social media monitoring, to answer incoming messages from its site. Red Oxx also deployed Smooch, a program that connects business software to all messaging channels, to link the Facebook messages to Helpscout.

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"We often receive customer inquiries through these channels," she says.

At an airline conference a few months ago, everyone seemed to be talking about social media strategies and customer support.

Some carriers confided that they had assigned their most senior customer service representative to staff Facebook and Twitter channels.

In other words, if you want to deal with someone who has a lot of experience handling complaints, you may be better off sending a Facebook message or a tweet.

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Ready Or Not, Here Come The Customers

There's another angle to this social network story. Companies are as interested in helping customers as they are preventing negative publicity.

There it is, the "D" word -- damage control.

Steve Pritchard, a digital marketing consultant at Cuuver, an insurance website, is quite open about the need to manage the critics.

"It is important that you set up a process to deal with disgruntled customers on social media, as many take to social media first when they encounter an issue," he says. Answer that criticism quickly, he says.

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"Generally, the best way to deal with these complaints is to show that you understand their frustration and sympathize with them, before referring them to your customer service team," he adds.

Put differently, social media customer service is not the same thing as customer service. Soon, many companies will integrate their social media response teams with their customer service teams.

But for now, they are mostly separate -- at least, internally. But it's important to note that people don't care about internal structures. Consumers expect a quick response online. When they see a tweet, it might as well be coming directly from the CEO.

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Don't Be So Corporate

Which brings us to the other issue regarding damage control on a social platform. It's being done in such a corporate way that it makes users wonder: "Do they really get it?"

Jay Perkins, the co-founder of Kettle Bell Kings, a health and fitness site, says companies often forget that social media allows them to defend themselves "and show what you have done right." You can push back in other ways to any negative reviews.

"Show off a bit," suggests Perkins, who manages the company's social media support department. "One of the ways we have built a great social community is by sharing customer reviews and experiences of our products by re-sharing their candid posts on social media. This would include photos or videos of them using the product directly with a quote for them and thanking them for their share in the caption. When others see this, it creates more great opportunities like this for your brand."

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These Social Media Strategies Will Help You Give -- And Get -- Better Customer Service

The takeaway for customers is clear. Companies are paying closer attention to their Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms, than ever. Despite what corporate America says, you might find a quick resolution to any service problem online with the right social media strategies.

The trick for getting better service through social media is equally apparent. Instead of hammering Twitter with angry comments, try what I like to call the three Ps -- be patient, persistent, and polite. Companies tend to flip into "crisis" mode when you send angry messages that threaten lawsuits, bodily harm, or the end of civilization. You might find a very receptive, senior customer service agent on the other side, ready to assist.

And how about companies who want to serve those customers? Well, most brands are still using social media to engage consumers in product and service discussions, says Jonas Sickler, marketing director at ReputationManagement. "But savvy companies are building customer care into their social media teams. This involves hiring and training a customer experience professional to work with your social marketing team," he says.

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That just may be the future of customer service.

And one more thing. Don't throw money into a Zendesk or Helpscout plan if your customer service reputation is already circling the drain. Social media won't improve customer service. In fact, it may do just the opposite.

"If brands have a poor customer service process, migrating that onto social media will amplify your imperfections," adds Sickler. "You'll essentially be airing your own dirty laundry."

Guest Authored By Christopher Elliott. Christopher is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers consumers to solve their problems and helps those who can't. He's the author of numerous books on consumer advocacy and writes weekly columns for King Features Syndicate, USA Today, and the Washington Post. If you have a consumer problem you can't solve, contact him directly through his advocacy website. Follow Christopher on Twitter.

Related Article: YOUR Audience Response Social Media?

"The takeaway for customers is clear.

Companies are paying closer attention to their Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms, than ever. Despite what corporate America says, you might find a quick resolution to any service problem online with the right social media strategies.." -ChristopherElliot

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  Post Crafted By:

  Fred Hansen Pied Piper of Social Media Marketing at YourWorldBrand.com & CEO of Millennium 7 Publishing Co. in Loveland, Colorado. I work deep in the trenches of social media strategy, community management and trends.  My interests include; online business educator, social media marketing, new marketing technology, skiing, hunting, fishing and The Rolling Stones..-Not necessarily in that order ;)