Social media for medical manufacturers is a strategic way to network with healthcare facilities since nearly every hospital in the U.S. has a social account. In addition, social media is also a way to extend your reach beyond the major players in healthcare, as 223 million people in the U.S. have a social media account.
This many social media users also means there is greater competition to stand out online. That’s why we are bringing you five strategies you never thought would work to reach your audience on social media.
Key Takeaways:
- Social media connects you personally with your target audience.
- LinkedIn is the most popular professional B2B social media platform.
- Quality content, personal interactions, and creative media help raise brand awareness.
Benefits of Social Media for Medical Manufacturers
Social media is your opportunity to build brand awareness and engage with your audience more personally than other marketing techniques. With relationship selling on the rise, about 70% of B2B customers expect a personalized experience.
In addition to personal interaction, here are a few other actions you can do through your medical manufacturing social media account.
- Network with medical professionals
- Learn about your target audience
- Engage with your customers
- Build a relatable and personal brand
- Find prospective customers
- Establish yourself as a leader in your industry
Nearly half of medical professionals are choosing to allocate more of their marketing budget to social media because of these benefits and more.
Challenges of Social Media for Medical Manufacturers
The healthcare industry has more challenges than some other businesses face on social media due to the sensitivity of their field. Knowing these challenges helps you avoid common social media mistakes that reflect poorly on your brand.
- Avoid associating your content and opinions with a specific healthcare facility or the medical industry.
- Avoid sensitive or offensive topics.
- Check your content for quality to avoid spreading false information.
- Don’t make medical statements that readers might accept as an official doctor diagnosis.
- Avoid breaking HIPAA violations by sharing images, stories, and medical histories of customers.
Best Medical Manufacturer Social Media Platforms
Before you begin your social media strategies, you need to find the best sites to reach your target audience. Here are a few of the most popular social media platforms for medical manufacturers.
LinkedIn for Medical Manufacturers
About 82% of B2B marketers see their most significant success through LinkedIn. Out of the nearly 800 members on the platform, 6.2 million are physicians, surgeons, dentists, and nurses, and another 3.3 million are hospital executives.
Facebook for Medical Manufacturers
Facebook is the most popular social media platform in the world, with 2.89 billion users in October 2021. It is ideal for striking up conversations, joining groups, connecting with friends, and posting written and video content.
YouTube for Medical Manufacturers
According to the same report, YouTube follows close behind Facebook with 2.29 billion users. In addition, it allows you to create long-form content, which is ideal for promoting products in more detail than some of the shorter video platforms like TikTok.
Twitter for Medical Manufacturers
Twitter isn’t nearly as popular as other social media platforms, having only 300 million users. However, it’s still a dominant B2B platform that allows companies to share news fast. Today nearly 87% of B2B marketers use Twitter.
5 Social Media Strategies for Medical Manufacturers
Here are five ways you can use social media as a medical manufacturer.
1. Join Relevant Groups and Events
Joining medical groups and attending virtual healthcare events connects you to other healthcare professionals. Additionally, you can gain reputability in your groups through mentions by the group leader, tags in posts, and participation in discussions that establish you as an industry expert.
You can also join in site-wide discussions by using hashtags. Here are some common hashtags used on various social media sites.
- #HCSM (healthcare social media)
- #Healthcareworkers
- #Healthcare
- #Patientexperience
- #Medtech
- #Healthcareinnovation
Another way businesses use hashtags is by participating in social trends and completing challenges that help them gain visibility. For example, one of the most notable social media challenges in healthcare was the 2014 ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. It significantly increased funding of ALS-related research from the NIH. Many celebrities, public figures, and businesses continue to do the challenge today.
2. Follow Other Medical Leaders
As you meet new people through your groups and discussions, be sure to follow them. Your content will appear on their feed and increase your reach. You also improve your chances of your followers sharing that content which opens the door to making new connections.
3. Be Real on your Profile
Don’t be afraid to be human on your website, even though you are a business and not an individual. People respond more to faces and personal stories than images of buildings and logos. You might even consider sharing pictures of your staff enjoying themselves at a Christmas party or interacting with a client (with the client’s permission).
4. Share Visual Media
Your social media content will be more engaging if you use different media types like images and videos.
One of the latest trends on social media is using live streams. It gives the user a more authentic feel than a professionally edited picture or video. Live streams also open the door for interactions with your viewers. For instance, a live stream might be an opportunity to introduce new medical equipment and have a Q&A session with prospective clients.
5. Educate Your Followers
Your followers aren’t interested in wasting their time on social media fluff. Instead, they want quality content that educates them. When you add value to your content, you increase the chances of your followers sharing your posts with their network.
If you have a blog on your website (which you should), then your blog posts are ideal content to share across your social media platforms. You may even want to consider creating companion videos on the same topic to reach your YouTube audience.
Add Social Media to Your Healthcare Marketing Strategy
Are you ready to start your journey on social media?
We have regular blogs posts, training courses, and a team of experts ready to help you succeed.
Contact us to learn more about the best practices for social media for medical manufacturers.