Social Media for Healthcare: Why Should I Use LinkedIn?

24 Feb Social Media for Healthcare: Why Should I Use LinkedIn?

Here’s an important statistic in social media for healthcare: Based on the Pew Research Center’s most recent social media update, LinkedIn has seen significant increases over the past year in user engagement and its number of adult users. The share of users with college educations on LinkedIn reached 50%, and its chief audience — professionals and college graduates — has continued to grow.

What does this mean for your marketing strategy? Long story short: If you and your medical practice are not already on LinkedIn, now is the time to get started. Here, we’ll list the ways you can use the website to your marketing plan’s advantage.

Build your profiles — and fill everything out.

Think of it this way: Part of the reason why social media for healthcare is so important is its ability to pop up on search results when prospective patients search for your practice’s name. You want your audience to be able to find the most relevant information about your practice, including the essentials — like contact information and services — and the factors that leave people with a positive first impression.

If your patients see a professional and thoughtfully complete LinkedIn company page for your medical practice, it will give them a better idea of your brand. And, not only that, but what happens if they search for a specific medical professional within your office? Will they find nothing, or will they find a wealth of information packed with a professional photo of their prospective doctor, credentials, and educational background? It’s easy to see which result will be more beneficial for you — so, set aside an hour to create a social media for healthcare profile on LinkedIn that accurately captures your office’s appeal.

Start with relevant contact information, but also create a company mission statement, and upload a cover photo and profile picture that echo your brand’s image. The Mayo Clinic and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital are prime examples of branding done right.

Get involved with professionals, clients, and social media.

LinkedIn allows you to join up to 50 groups, which not only gives you an opportunity to engage with other professionals, but also provides additional forums to engage with other users. Share content with your networks, not only within your groups but also to your profile; cross-post blogs articles that appeal to your peers, and begin conversations with users to build your credibility.

This amount of social media for healthcare activity translates into a few different levels of positive feedback. Not only will it potentially increase the amount of clicks you receive to your homepage (which can translate into the ever-wonderful increases in organic search rankings we all want to see), but it can also turn into two of LinkedIn’s best features: testimonials and recommendations

Testimonials and recommendations allow other professionals (or even clients, if they’re also on LinkedIn) to leave reviews on your individual profile page for everyone else to see. These steps can translate into a serious amount of credibility, which can motivate prospective patients to take their first few steps through your practice’s doors — and if that’s not a huge ROI, we’re not sure what is. Invest some time, build your relationships, and give users a chance to see what you and your practice are doing to share and build your practice online — it’s a smart move in social media for healthcare, and a smart move for your marketing plan overall.

For more information about ways to effectively use LinkedIn, contact HealthCare Marketing Group today!