Expert tips for using social media as a PR tool in the Australian healthcare industry

There’s no better time than now for the Australian healthcare industry to harness the power of social media as a public relations tool. Healthcare has a substantial impact on everyone and everything around us, ranging from our DNA that influences our physical and psychological development and behaviour, to transformative breakthroughs in medical treatments, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology that enhance our health and wellbeing in extraordinary ways.  

Follow our top tips for making social media ‘click’ as a PR tool within the healthcare arena.

Be seen

The world of healthcare social media doesn’t need to be intimidating or overwhelming. You can use social media for many purposes – to build your brand, protect your reputation, and celebrate your personal, business or industry-related wins and achievements – and keep your clients, new business prospects and flowers regularly engaged, educated and updated.

Before harnessing the power of social media however, you firstly need to determine your reasons for doing so. Will you be using social media to share or gather information, to educate or grow your audience, or to attract new clientele? Determining why you are on social media will enable your audience to decide how and why ‘you’ can add value to their lives, their businesses, or understanding of the healthcare industry.  

Be on trend

Social media enables you to keep your audience up-to-date on where the healthcare industry is heading. Deloitte predicts wearable tech, mhealth applications and digitised medicine are some of the big-ticket items set to take centre stage within the healthcare arena in 2020 and beyond. No matter what your healthcare specialisation, be sure to position yourself at the forefront of industry trends. To stay even further ahead of the game, be sure to share links to various blogs, articles, infographics or any other content that you or your organisation have written. 

Be social

The current challenge and opportunity to connect with your B2B and B2C clients lies in injecting the social into social media. Start authentic and meaningful conversations with your audience. Be sure to listen to what they are interested in, their dialogue, interactions, and how your specialist healthcare knowledge can enhance their understanding, and/or quality of life. In a post-truth era, people want to be informed about healthcare in a language with which they are familiar. So, cut to the chase and avoid using jargon. 

Be strategic

As the old adage goes, “facts tell, but stories sell”. Social media platforms are a fabulous tool for storytelling. So take the time to carefully craft your ‘engaging’ story from an individual, industry or organisational perspective. Next, strategically select your preferred social media channels to explain the potential social, health, environmental and/or behavioural influence of your new research, products and/or services to your target audience.

To help define your target audience, research and compile a list of social healthcare experts, commentators and enthusiasts within your area of specialty, on the social platforms with which you wish to engage. Defining your audience will allow you to keep abreast of industry trends, identify industry influencers and potential threats and/or barriers to your brand or industry, capture media attention, and proactively respond to a crisis or negative commentary. 

You can measure your social media presence and its effectiveness by tracking some key components:

• Awareness: The number of people who know about your brand on social media
• Reach: The impressions that your content/mentions receive on social channels
• Engagement: The total number of social interactions (likes, comments, and shares)
• Association: How your audience feels about your brand (sentiments such as positive, negative, and neutral, along with specific emotional associations, such as quirky or formal or bold, etc.)

So, let’s #getsocial.

Author: Kirsten Bruce, VIVA! Communications