Instagram is a powerful brand-building tool with more than 1 billion monthly active users globally. This fact shows why the photo-sharing app offers a significant ROI for businesses in every industry. As those of us who use Instagram in our personal lives, we know how easy it is to spend time scrolling through the images! It is for this reason, Instagram is a great solution to grow your healthcare practice and keep patients engaged and informed. In this blog, we will share strategies that can help increase your healthcare practice online visibility and promote patient engagement.
However, having a large audience isn’t sufficient for you to reap the rewards of investing time and money on the platform. You’ll need engagement, which is about the interactions between your viewers and your content.
Followers’ actions, such as comments, likes, shares, and click-throughs, indicate that people are interested in what you’re saying. They’re not only looking at your pictures and videos in their feed. They genuinely like you.
Instagram’s algorithm also boosts posts with high involvement, so it’ll be visible to more users. Check out this list of the top healthcare Instagram accounts. If executed correctly, these five proven strategies will help increase engagement in the healthcare industry.
1. Have an Instagram Content Strategy
If you want to promote and create awareness of your brand, experts suggest that you post daily. While frequency and regularity are essential, what you share matters more.
Relevant content is critical because people will only pay attention to what you have to say if it benefits them. The key is to focus on your audience when curating the type of information.
But first, you’ll need to know to whom you’re reaching out. Analyzing your prospects’ demographics will help you define the type of news to share and your posts’ timing.
Why You Should Have a Strategy
If you try to come up with ideas daily, it’ll become a chore because it’s hard. However, if you have a plan, you’ll have sufficient time to be creative. One way to get inspiration is to check out the other Instagram (and other social media) accounts in the healthcare industry or related. Be sure to tweak them and not use them verbatim.
Ideally, you should have enough content to fill a month’s schedule in advance. Keep in mind that you need to respond to breaking news when necessary. For instance, you should remove a planned post and immediately inform your followers of a breakthrough in the efforts to curb the Covid-19 virus.
Posting consistency is also of prime importance because it’ll let your followers know when to expect more information from you. You may not be able to be as active as the other brands, and that’s alright. Just be sure that you keep to a consistent schedule.
2. Use Instagram Stories
Instagram Stories is fast gaining popularity, with studies showing about half a billion people using it daily. Another valuable statistic is that 62% of those users say they liked a product or brand after seeing it on this segment.
The popularity of this feature allows you to boost your engagement with the right strategy.
The good news is that your stories don’t have to be of the regular feed’s high quality. Many companies are getting away with posting pictures and videos from their iPhones.
You do, however, have to keep your followers interested in interacting with your creatives. An excellent way to do that is to focus on Instagram polls.
Some ways of optimizing this feature include creating quizzes, engaging users in a fun survey, or conducting research. For instance, you could ask if people get an annual check-up.
There are no limits to the fun and exciting content you can produce. However, you need to ensure that whatever you share contributes to your objective.
3. Use Hashtags Effectively
One of the best ways to get new users to find you on Instagram is to use hashtags on your stories and posts. This is similar to using hashtags on Twitter.
Stats show that using at least one tag in your post can generate almost 13% more engagement than if you don’t use any. It’s why building a proper strategy around this idea can earn you more followers, and ultimately additional customers.
As with the type of content you put out, the keywords you use must be relevant and targeted. Don’t overuse them, or people will see you as being “spammy.”
You will need to create a branded hashtag that’s unique to your establishment. It can be your company name or tagline, as long as it reflects your identity. Remind your customers to share it.
Your business can also use hashtags to highlight:
- Your product or service – #medicalexams;
- Your niche in the industry – #geriatriccare;
- Your location – #southbrooklyn; and
- Special events – #nursesday
When you’re organizing an event or launching a new product or service, campaign tags can build lots of engagement within a short period.
4. Employ a “UGC” Strategy
A powerful tool to add to your arsenal is User-Generated Content (UGC), such as photos, videos, and reviews created by individuals and not brands. You’ll save time and effort in attracting new clients because humans trust what other people say more than advertising.
It’s easy to encourage accounts to drive additional traffic to your business. People crave attention, so if you use their material and tag them, they’re very likely to share your mention on their feed, resulting in increased awareness of your brand.
5. Engage With Your Followers
Most people on social media love acknowledgment. Whenever they post, they will wait for likes and comments.
Show interest in others first if you want them to be interested in you. Your Instagram strategy should not focus on what you want to say. Take time to connect with your prospects by following them.
Check out and like their pictures and stories, comment on their posts, and most of all, share their content and acknowledge them for it.
When someone comments on the information you’ve shared, make sure you respond to everyone. This action shows commenters that you want to know what their views are. When they see that you take their feedback seriously, they’ll likely engage with you again.
Whatever you do, be genuine about it. If you try to fake interest when interacting with others, they’ll know it, and you’ll lose the opportunity to gain a loyal follower who’ll help you.
Think Quality First
Instagram offers you the opportunity to present your message creatively. However, you must ensure that you craft quality posts that benefit your viewer.
The truth is that there’s no shortcut to success on Instagram. You’ll get what you put in.
Always keep your goal of connecting and engaging with people at the forefront of everything you do. Do this well, and the results will show.
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