Social Media Marketing for Health Professionals

By Dr.David Enders

A recent Forrester’s survey found that 53% of marketers are increasing their social media marketing budgets. A Nielsen survey recently found that 67% of all internet users were logging on to social networks and blogging sites. This offers health professionals an inexpensive marketing opportunity to benefit from online word-of-mouth marketing.

Another recent study indicated that 80% of the time decision makers (patients) found the vendor (doctor) rather than vice versa. Patients are searching online, not only to find a health practitioner, but to research health issues and treatment options.

It is no longer true that it’s who you know that counts; rather it’s who knows you that counts. If you want to apply this concept to your social marketing you need to be found where your patients are looking online.

You can multiply your marketing results by discovering your patients "watering hole". Where do your patients hang out online? Most likely it is on Twitter, Facebook or on a specific health related blog or forum.

Learn to think like your patients and then develop your value proposition that appeals, on an emotional level, to your patient’s needs and desires. Next you need to determine how to present your message to have the greatest impact.

You may ask your patients what blogs and or forums they visit most often. Maybe having your patients take a short survey to gather this information would be of benefit. You then want to start visiting these blogs and forums to post value based content on them regularly. This allows you to connect with potential patients in the early stages of the "buying process" and provide your relevant value based message.

This technique results in improved social media marketing results.

After 35 years in practice Dr. Enders closed his Chiropractic Clinic to pursue a career in Network Marketing. He soon realized that if your business is not on the Internet, you're not in business. In his search to learn Internet Marketing Dr. Enders discovered Renegade Professional and the principle of attraction marketing.