Social media is continuously growing. This is how we share information, communicate, create, and network. Many of us may have a love-hate relationship with these platforms. It can be time consuming, even exhausting to keep up with changing trends and the newest platforms. However, social media can be a powerful tool in building your business and should not be pushed to the side. In order to build your following, it will take effort but it does not have to be hard! Consistency is key when it comes to gaining followers. Keep an eye on trends, analytics, and if all else fails hire help!
Consistency is going to give the greatest impact to your growth. Social media is flooded with content so you need to keep your followers engaged. They want to see everything! New treatments you’re offering, new products, before and after results, staff members, and most importantly YOU! Talk to your followers, because these followers will become your patients or even friends. Talking to the camera and sharing your knowledge can build trust with patients before you even meet them in person. They know who they are coming to see and they have seen your work. So talk to the camera like you’d talk to a patient! Being consistent can be time consuming. There are many apps out there that you can use to schedule your posts in advance. Download a few and see what you like best! This will allow you to plan in advance, schedule your posts, write captions, hashtags, etc. Playing of this idea of planning ahead keep in mind all of your posts don’t have to be in real time or day of. We are all human and there will be days you don’t want to be on camera, or just don’t have time. Have a pre-scheduled filming day and knock out your content for the week or even month! This way you will never be rushing for content. If your not in the mindset to make content, then don’t. This keeps your content consistent and quality. If you didn’t want to film, you will be able to tell when you watch it back. You don’t have to be alone in creating content. Have your staff help! Let them have fun with it and be creative. Allow their personalities to shine through as well. This lets your follows not only get to know you, but your staff as well!
When maintaining a social media presence and engaging with your followers it is important to not only post you work, but keep it light and fun at times. People like to be entertained when casually scrolling through their platforms. It is important to show off your skills, but to keep up engagement on your posts throwing in an occasional trend will help. Keeping up with trends will allow your content to be promoted by the social media platforms. This can be sounds/music, dances, challenges, etc. Making social media content does not have to take a lot of time out of your day or be a huge production. Keep it casual! Finding these trends is easy. When you are scrolling through your own feed gather inspiration. Save sounds and play off trends to promote your practice.
If you have your social media platforms set as a business profile, they will give you access to your insights. This allows you to see who is viewing your content and when. Demographics will allow you to see who your target demographic is, in an organized format by age, gender, and location. Knowing who is watching your content will give you a better idea on what content to post. Insights will also keep track of how your content performs at different times of day. For example if your posts get more interaction at 7pm, this is when you should be posting the content you want to promote the most. Posting at a verity of times during a week can help reach different audiences. How often you are posting is up to you. As mentioned earlier consistency is key. Maybe this means 3 days a week for you or even everyday. You have to find what works best for your office.
Finally, if you decide social media is just not your thing… hire help! This can be a full time employee in your office or 3rd party social media company. Interview well for this position. At the end of the day your social media represents YOU and your business. You want your followers/patients to be able to see that is your content. Make sure they understand your goals, values, and needs in your practice. Hiring help can take a lot of stress of of you, or it can add if they are not aligning with your goals. Going back and correcting things will take you longer than just making the content yourself. So find that person and let them help you grow your practice!
At the end of the day, there is no secret formula to social media. Be yourself, post your work, and make sure to have fun. Social media becomes a job when you let it be. You have enough responsibilities in your office, don’t let social media add extra stress. Your patients are coming to see you because of your skills not how many followers you have. Let your work speak for itself and the followers will come. The best piece of advice and can leave you with is just start posting!
