5 creative ways for hospital marketers to use social media

  • Posted by Nigel Edelshain
  • On September 25, 2015
  • Social media

For a while, the mere presence of a hospital on social media was enough to stand out. Now, almost everyone is on Facebook and Twitter, and more and more hospitals are jumping on Instagram, Pinterest, even Periscope. You won’t get noticed if you’re doing the same things as everyone else.

Fortunately, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Here are some creative ways hospitals and health systems are using social media these days that you can use as models at your own hospital.

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Upload your hospital’s portrait and landscape photos and videos to Instagram

  • Posted by Nigel Edelshain
  • On August 31, 2015
  • Industry changes, Social media

Another social app has dropped its signature characteristic in favor of functionality. Not long after Snapchat started letting users tap once to view messages instead of tapping and holding, Instagram rolled out an update that lets users upload portrait and landscape photos to the app.

With nearly 20 percent of all photos uploaded to Instagram having rectangular aspect ratios, the change is a welcome one for the app’s 300 million users. As hospital marketers, it gives you more flexibility with your photos and videos, whether you’re paying for ads or building your reach organically.

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Marketing Local Businesses on Pinterest

  • Posted by Nigel Edelshain
  • On August 24, 2015
  • Social media

Social media marketing can be a great way for marketing local businesses to attract customers and build brand awareness.

Many local businesses already conduct social media marketing campaigns on Facebook. While most business owners are familiar with or have at least heard of Pinterest, many are still in the dark about the details of using it for their marketing.

Pinterest is designed to work as an online cork board for consumers. Users can “pin” photos from practically any website in the world to their online “boards”. These virtual cork boards are then displayed to the user’s followers. Some consumers also share their Pinterest boards publicly, meaning that almost anyone with Internet access can view them.

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Facebook lets users choose who they “See First” and gives your hospital a real opportunity

  • Posted by Nigel Edelshain
  • On July 15, 2015
  • Social media

For Facebook users frustrated with their news feeds, last week’s announcement that they can now choose who they “See First” when they visit the site was a welcome one.

The new feature is only available for iPhone users right now, but it’ll be available for Android and web users soon. It builds upon the “balanced” news feed algorithm that rolled out a few months ago, finally giving users direct control over the people and pages they actually want to see. For hospital marketers, this change could be a real opportunity to reach patients and caregivers in your community with the information they need.

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To pin or not to pin: Should Pinterest be part of your hospital’s marketing plan?

  • Posted by Nigel Edelshain
  • On May 6, 2015
  • Social media

If you’re reading this and you’re not already on Pinterest, you’re probably wondering how on earth you’re supposed to keep track of yet another social network with your busy schedule.

Fortunately, once you’ve gotten the initial setup out of the way, Pinterest is pretty easy to manage, and being an early adopter is a great way to make your hospital stand out from its competition. With 70 million users, Pinterest is far from a new kid on the block—but many brands that are active on Facebook and Twitter have yet to take the leap. That leaves an opportunity for your hospital to open that door and reach an untapped audience in a unique way.

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Social media roundup: What the latest changes to Facebook and Twitter mean for your hospital

  • Posted by Nigel Edelshain
  • On April 22, 2015
  • Industry changes, Social media

If you’ve been keeping up with the social media news scene, you’ve probably noticed a flurry of updates from Facebook and Twitter in recent weeks. If you haven’t been able to find the time to read up on all of them, don’t worry—each one signals good things for your social presence.

Facebook and Twitter didn’t become the biggest names in the game by sitting around, but by listening to their users in order to deliver the best user experience around. Hospital marketers can learn a lot from these changes as they seek to strengthen their brands, outperform their competitors, and attract prospective patients on social media because each one reflects what users really want to see when they go online or open up an app.

Some of the updates are more important to understand than others, so we’ll go through them one at a time. Let’s dive in, shall we?

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Why people unfollow you on Twitter

  • Posted by Nigel Edelshain
  • On April 17, 2015
  • Personal brand management, Social media

These days, it’s hard to find a marketing blog post that doesn’t talk about brands. In the age of inbound marketing, public perception of an organization is often just as important as the products it sells.

There’s also a lot of talk about personal brands. Carving out your online identity and making it as strong as it can be is essential if you want future employers to find you and leave with a favorable impression. Having a killer resume used to be enough, but now you also need to optimize your LinkedIn profile and leverage your other social accounts if you want to maximize your chances of getting that next job.

All of that takes a lot of time, so unless you’ve learned how to live without sleep, there are probably aspects of your personal brand that could stand to be improved. One such aspect for many marketers is their Twitter account.

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How often should you really post on social media?

  • Posted by Nigel Edelshain
  • On April 13, 2015
  • Social media

These days, maintaining your hospital’s social media presence can be a daunting task.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn—they’re all vying for your time, and each one is a useful marketing tool in its own way. So many social networks give you as many opportunities to promote your hospital’s content, but there’s a lot to keep track of if you don’t have a full-time social media person on your team.

One of the most common questions hospital marketers have about social media—much like blogging—is just how often they should post on each social network. Every network has its own best practices, so it’s important to have an individualized plan for each one.

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