It’s overwhelming how many social media platforms there are and how each one serves a different purpose for you and your business. Some of the main platforms include Facebook (of course), LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. Below we discuss how social media platforms can help your business and the best way to use each of the platforms.
LinkedIn gives professionals the opportunity to connect with other professionals in their industry. It gives you the chance to understand your competitors, but also follow your influencers for inspiration and education. LinkedIn also allows you to identify trends in your industry, as well as other industries (for example, new marketing ideas for allied health professionals!).
LinkedIn allows you to connect with potential new employees or past employees – there are over 8 million Australians with a LinkedIn profile! It’s also a great platform post articles about your business to get engagement and loyalty. And LinkedIn advertising is ideal for those with clinics in business districts, or areas with a specific industry leader!
LinkedIn is also where you want to be if you want to improve your professional profile. Are you interested in coaching other clinic owners, or maybe you want to become THE physio known for hand physiotherapy techniques and research? LinkedIn is a great way to grow your professional image.
Instagram is a great platform to connect with your customers and is a place where the line between personal life and professionalism is somewhat distorted. The Instagram community love to see the whole story and it is a great place to highlight work culture and what you get up to “behind the scenes” at work. Employees become the image of the business so it’s important that you highlight who these people are on Instagram. It helps build a sense of belonging, therefore building trust between the customer and the business.
Utilising hashtags can increase your interactions with followers as well as making your business easily discoverable. Hashtags that may be relevant to AHP could include #sportsinjury #osteo #chiropractor or #physiotherapy for example. These hashtags will help create visibility and awareness of your business and the services you provide. There are millions of hashtags out there so do some googling or searching on Insta to find out the best hashtags for your post! Check out www.ritetag.com for help finding the most popular hashtags for your industry or topic.
Whilst Twitter doesn’t seem like the best place or the most relevant platform for AHP businesses, with over 300 million followers it can be a great platform to use if you want to get noticed and start conversations with potential customers or industry professionals. It is also a great platform if you aim to be a leader in your field or want to extend your business into coaching or education for example. On Twitter, you want to have an opinion, comment with people, or engage with conversation.
This platform is a great place to push followers to engage with your posts, through posting content that triggers emotions. This could be success stories, videos of clients progress (within AHPRA guidelines, and with clients’ permission) or blog posts that can help your clients out.
Perhaps the most-used platform out of the four, Facebook (in our opinion) is also the most cost-effective social platform for businesses. While they all provide advertising, we find Facebook ads for clinics and studios most effective. Facebook allows business owners to run ads and promote your posts at a budget of your choosing, giving you the power to determine the success and reach of your ads. Ads can also help increase traffic to your website by giving them a glimpse of what is on offer, whether it be a special on at the time or a discount.
Facebook is a great platform to engage with current and potential clients. When a potential client is checking you out, they need to see that you are posting regularly with content that shows you’re professional and knowledgeable. Facebook is also a platform for you to build trust and engagement with current clients. Post content that will entertain or help them, engage with comments and let current patients get to know you and your business.
When juggling a business, and life, it’s hard to be on all platforms, so start small, with one or two channels. Figure out your goals – is it attracting new clients, or is it building your personal brand for example? Whilst all these platforms require individual tailoring to a certain extent, they all have the ability to link people with people and businesses.
Short on time?
You can also link some of these platforms together (so posting on Facebook will post on Insta automatically). Or use one of the many many scheduling apps available! Linking your profiles may seem like a task but if you’re pushed for time it is a great way to maintain your presence on all platforms without the tedious task of posting different photos to each of the channels.
Of course, finding content to keep your channels consistent is time consuming, but if you need help with this, there are options out there. We offer a budget content subscription, and also custom content, so you don’t have to do anything! And scheduling posts is a life-saver as well. Spend 20 minutes at the end of each month scheduling, and then you’re set for the month ahead – all you’ll need to do is reply to comments.
So, what platform should you be on? My advice, in a nutshell, is know your goals and then choose. But if you want a guiding hand, then my opinion is if you want to grow your clients and reputation, Facebook is number one, followed by Instagram. If it’s your professional image, then LinkedIn. If your clients are mainly under 30, Instagram.
So whether you want more clients, or want to grow your professional image, jump online, find your platform and get posting! And as always, if you want any advice or need help with anything, send us a message, email, call or post online!