This week’s cool tool recommendation is Text Optimizer – a tool to help you optimize your content to rank better on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages)
Text Optimizer extracts terms and concepts from search engine results pages (SERPs) and analyzes their semantics to generate a list of questions for inclusion in your articles.
Choose the search engine you wish to optimize for, input the desired search terms, select a target location, and either paste your text or provide a link to your existing content.
And here are just some of my results – the tool returns many more suggestions.
You can use the tool to compare your existing text to the snippets Google returns for that query if you already have a page you want to rank. After scoring your text, it will suggest adding some of those suggested terms to your content.
Why this tool is a valuable addition to your online content strategy
Google generates its search snippets based on which sentences from ranked pages best answer the query. In other words, the search snippets are Google’s best (in its opinion) summary of the topic of the query. The semantic analysis of these snippets and the extraction of related terms and topics will give you a better understanding of what you need to include in your content.
This week’s cool tool recommendation is Snipclip – a versatile browser-based screen recorder.
With Snipclip you get a straightforward and feature-rich recording experience, free of any watermarks and barriers (like sign-up or installation). After the recording is complete, Snipclip saves the recording in the .webm format, which ensures seamless playback across any device and platform you choose to use.
This week’s cool tool recommendation is TinEye – a reverse image search engine primarily used for copyright and plagiarism checks.
Reverse image search is a technique that allows you to find similar images on the web using an existing image as the starting point.
How to Use TinEye
Upload an Image: Click the upload button to select the image from your computer or mobile device that you wish to search for.
Search by URL: Copy and paste an image URL address into the search box.
Drag and Drop: You can also simply drag and drop your images onto the TinEye webpage in your browser.
After you submit your search image (through any method), TinEye will process the image and return any matching results in TinEye’s index. The total number of matches is shown at the top of the page alongside a thumbnail of the search image.
Search Results: The search results are displayed below the search image. Each result includes a thumbnail of the matching image, the URL of the webpage where the image is found, and additional information such as the image resolution and file size.
Sorting and Filtering: You can sort and filter the search results in various ways. For instance, you can sort by best match, most changed, biggest image, newest, and oldest. You can also filter results by domain or collection.
Comparing Images: TinEye allows you to compare your search image with the result images. This can be useful to see how the images match up and to spot any differences.
Additional Features
The TinEye extensions allow you to search for any web image by simply right-clicking on images in a web browser making it convenient to perform reverse image searches directly from your browser.
The TinEye Compare feature lets you quickly switch back and forth between your search and result image. This highlights any differences between the two images. It’s especially useful to see how images have been cropped, resized, skewed, or manipulated.
Note: When you search with TinEye, your image is never saved or indexed. TinEye adds millions of new images from the web every day, but your images belong to you. Searching with TinEye is private, secure, and always improving.
How to use TinEye in Healthcare Marketing
Identify the Original Source: Reverse image search can help you find the original source of an image. This can be useful if you want to credit the original creator or if you want to find the original context in which the image was used.
Check for Misuse: If you are a content creator, you can use reverse image search to check if your images are being used without your permission. By uploading your image to a reverse image search engine, you can find all the places where your image appears online.
Verify Authenticity: If you come across an image online and you suspect that it might be manipulated or taken out of context, you can use reverse image search to find earlier versions of the image. This can help you verify the authenticity of the image.
Fact-Checking: Reverse image search can be a useful tool for fact-checking. For example, if you see an image in a news article, you can use reverse image search to check if the image has been used in other contexts.
This week’s cool tool recommendation is Unpaywall – an open database of 49,950,472 free scholarly articles.
Access to research articles in academia can be costly, as many scholarly publications hide behind paywalls, limiting their availability to a select few. Unpaywall, however, is dedicated to breaking down barriers and increasing access to scholarly knowledge.
Unpaywall locates open-access versions of research articles that would otherwise be locked away using data from multiple sources, including institutional repositories, preprint servers, and partnerships with publishers. By installing the Unpaywall browser extension or visiting the website, users can access an ever-expanding collection of scholarly articles.
Note: It is important to note that Unpaywall serves as a guide to open access resources, ensuring their accuracy and legitimacy. It strives to make as many scholarly articles available as possible, but some restrictions may still exist
The cool tool recommendation this week is Ahrefs’ Keyword Generator – a powerful keyword research tool.
Keyword research is a critical component of any successful SEO strategy, as it helps us to identify the most relevant and valuable keywords to target in our content.
One of the key benefits of the tool is that it provides users with a wide range of keyword suggestions, including long-tail keywords that are often overlooked by other tools. Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific keyword phrases that are less competitive than shorter, more general keywords. By targeting long-tail keywords, you can often achieve higher rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs) and attract more targeted traffic to your website.
Let’s see it in action.
Enter your chosen keyword or phrase. You can choose to search across Google or Bing search engines or if you are making videos instead of written content, YouTube. You can also specify a country-specific search.
Here’s a sample of keyword phrases and questions the tool returned.
Note: Ahrefs is not a free tool, although they do offer a 7-day trial for $7. However, if you are serious about search engine optimisation, it’s considered to be one of the most comprehensive and powerful SEO tools on the market. It offers a variety of features, including keyword research, backlink analysis, content analysis, site audit, and more, making it a valuable tool if you’re looking to improve your online visibility and attract more targeted traffic to your website.
This week’s cool tool recommendation is Design Cap – an easy-to-use online graphic design tool.
At the heart of DesignCap lies its template library, covering a diverse range of design needs and themes, including charts, infographics, and more. Users can embellish their designs with built-in fonts, shapes, and backgrounds, and make use of the extensive library of stock photos and icons.
Whether you’re sharing your design on social media, printing it for physical distribution, or incorporating it into a digital presentation, DesignCap allows you to export your creations in popular formats such as JPG, PNG, and PDF.
As we dive into the second quarter of 2024, the landscape of social media marketing continues to evolve at a rapid pace. With new platforms emerging, algorithms shifting, and consumer behaviours adapting, staying ahead of digital marketing requires a dynamic approach. In this guide, we’ll explore the latest trends, strategies, and tools essential for excelling in social media marketing in 2024.
1. Video-First Content
Video content continues to dominate social media. Its popularity can be attributed to its unparalleled ability to captivate audiences, convey complex messages succinctly, and evoke emotions in a way that static content often falls short.
Creating engaging videos involves a multi-faceted approach. Begin by understanding your target audience and tailoring your content to resonate with their interests, preferences, and behaviours. This might involve storytelling techniques that draw viewers into a narrative, or incorporating elements of humour, emotion, or surprise to establish a memorable connection.
Tools to Use
— Adobe Premiere Rush: An all-in-one, cross-device video editing app by Adobe designed for simple editing and sharing.
— iMovie: Apple’s user-friendly video editing software for macOS and iOS, offering basic to intermediate editing capabilities.
— Filmora: A versatile and easy-to-use video editing software with a range of creative features and effects.
— InShot: A mobile app for quick and easy video editing, including features like trimming, cutting, and adding music.
— Movavi Video Editor: An easy-to-use video editing software with a variety of tools and effects for creative video production.
— Camtasia: A screen recording and video editing software with features suitable for creating educational and tutorial content.
2. Short-Form Video
The popularity of short-form videos can be attributed to their ability to deliver information rapidly, entertain viewers in a matter of seconds, and create a sense of immediacy that resonates with today’s on-the-go audiences. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels have propelled this trend to new heights, captivating audiences with bite-sized, visually appealing content.
Consider using features like duets, stitches, or interactive elements offered by platforms like TikTok to enhance engagement. Encourage user participation by inviting them to respond to your videos, share their own interpretations, or participate in challenges. Short-form videos, when used strategically, can foster a sense of community around your brand, turning passive viewers into active participants.
— TikTok: A leading short-form video platform with a user-friendly interface and a variety of creative tools, including effects, music, and duet features.
— Instagram Reels: Instagram’s short-form video feature, integrated into the platform, offering tools for editing, adding music, and engaging with trends.
— Triller: A video editing app with AI-driven features, making it easy to create professional-looking short-form videos.
— Snapchat Spotlight: Snapchat’s feature for showcasing user-generated short-form videos, providing a platform for creative expression.
— CapCut: A user-friendly video editing app with features for creating short-form videos, including adding music, effects, and transitions.
— Dubsmash: A lip-sync and short-form video app that allows users to create fun and entertaining content with a vast library of sounds and music.
This week’s cool tool recommendation is Image Color Picker– an online tool that allows you to pick colors from an image or create color palettes.
Have you ever wondered how to identify the perfect shade of a color from an image? This tool provides a simple and user-friendly interface where you can upload an image or specify an image URL. Once the image is loaded, you can click on any pixel within the image to extract the color information, including the hexadecimal (hex) code, RGB values, and HSL values.
By using the color picker, you can accurately capture the colors used in an image and use them in your own projects. Additionally, the website often provides additional features like generating color palettes based on the image, allowing you to explore and save multiple colors at once.
The original Mad Man of advertising, David Ogilvy, famously stated, “On average, people read the headline five times more than the body copy.” When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” This reminder highlights the crucial importance of the headline.
Headlines still matter in the digital age. A well-written headline can capture a reader’s attention and make them want to read more. In contrast, a poorly constructed headline can drive readers away. This is particularly true online, where attention spans are short and individuals are constantly inundated with information.
Effective headlines take various factors into account that can affect their success. Tools like CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer can help. The tool analyzes headlines based on several factors, including word choice, length, and emotional impact, providing users with a score that reflects how likely their headline is to be successful. Your headline is then broken down by word balance, sentiment, and commonality, helping you identify areas for improvement and adjust your language.
Here’s the breakdown of a title I entered into the tool:
The tool provides a detailed breakdown of the word balance, sentiment, and commonality of your headline, helping you identify areas for improvement and adjust your language to better resonate with your audience.
The Headline Analyzer tool can also help with SEO optimization. The tool analyzes your headline for relevant keywords and provides suggestions for incorporating them more effectively into your headline. This can help increase the visibility of your content in search results and drive more organic traffic to your website.
This is just a snapshot of the many insights you can gain from using CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer tool. You can use the insights and recommendations provided to create headlines that not only grab readers’ attention but also drive traffic, social shares, and SEO value. This can ultimately lead to more visibility for your content and greater success in achieving your marketing and business goals.
This week’s cool tool recommendation is a free image editor tool – Edit.Photo
Edit.Photo is designed to be a simple, fast, and easy-to-use solution for all your image editing needs.
Key Features
Crop and Resize Tailor your images to perfection with the crop and resize features.
Filter and Fine-Tune Elevate your images with a collection of filters and fine-tuning options. Experiment with different tones, contrasts, and effects to achieve the desired look for your photos.
Redact and Annotate Use the redact feature to blur or block out sensitive information. Additionally, annotate your images with text or shapes for enhanced communication.
Fill and Frame Whether you’re highlighting specific elements or creating unique designs, the fill feature is a versatile addition. Frame your photos elegantly with a variety of framing options to give your images that extra touch.
Rotate and Flip Easily rotate or flip your images to find the perfect orientation for your project.
Edit.Photo’s intuitive features and user-friendly interface make it an excellent tool for various image editing needs. Best of all, it won’t cost you a penny to unlock its full potential!
This week’s cool tool recommendation is Flaticon – a website that offers a large collection of free and premium icons.
Flaticon offers a vast and diverse library of icons, covering numerous categories such as business, technology, nature, and more. The icons on Flaticon are available in different formats such as PNG, SVG, EPS, and more, making them versatile for various design projects. The platform’s robust search and filter options enable users to quickly locate specific icons or narrow down their choices based on styles, colors, and categories.
Pricing
Flaticon provides a mix of free and premium icons. While many icons are available for free with attribution, users can opt for a premium subscription for unlimited access to the entire collection without the need for attribution.
This week’s cool tool recommendation is image editor tool – FotoFlexer
FotoFlexer is a free, easy, and powerful online photo editor. A user-friendly photo editor that offers one-click tweaks, along with some advanced tools on par with desktop-class photo editing software.
Looking for some inspiration for Valentine-themed content?
A compassionate approach is at the heart of healthcare, and it should also be reflected in your marketing efforts. Show empathy towards your audience by addressing their concerns and providing valuable, informative content.
Check out these examples from previous campaigns. I really like the way they’ve incorporated the theme but stayed nicely on brand.
This week’s cool tool recommendation is image editor tool – iPiccy.
iPiccy has many powerful and easy-to-use photo editing tools right in your browser. Auto-adjust photos in one click, crop, rotate, and resize images quickly. Over 100+ photo effects and PRO-level photo enhancements, facial retouching and frames.
This week’s cool tool recommendation is Magic Eraser – a tool that allows you to remove specific objects or elements from any image.
Whether you want to eliminate an unwanted background, erase an object that distracts from the main subject, or simply enhance the overall composition, the Magic Eraser is your go-to solution.
I love learning about new tools to make social media marketing more creative and effective, so I am sharing some of my favourite tools with you at the start of each week.
This week’s cool tool recommendation is Pixlr a photo-editing tool to enhance your social media and content marketing.
Pixlr offers you a combination of two tools – an image editor much like Photoshop, and a simple tool to add effects to your existing files.
Key Features:
Provides access to either a full-blown image editor or a simplified version of it.
Lets you customize your images using advanced features and pre-built graphics.
Enables you to export your images in a range of formats.
This week’s cool tool recommendation is the image resizing tool – Insta Resize.
Why Use Image Resizer Tools?
Optimizing Load Times: One of the primary advantages of using image resizer tools is the ability to optimize load times on websites and digital platforms. Large images can significantly slow down webpage loading, leading to a poor user experience and potential bounce rates. Resizing images allows you to strike a balance between visual appeal and efficient loading times.
Bandwidth Conservation: For those managing websites or applications with limited bandwidth, resizing images is an important strategy for conserving resources. By reducing the file size of images, you save bandwidth and ensure a smoother experience for users with slower internet connections.
Responsive Design: Image resizer tools enable you to create versions of your images that are optimized for different screen sizes. This ensures that your visuals look impeccable on a desktop, tablet, or smartphone, providing a seamless experience across devices.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Search engines consider website speed as a ranking factor. Large image files can negatively impact your site’s loading speed, affecting its SEO performance. By using image resizer tools, you contribute to a faster-loading website, potentially improving your search engine rankings.
Social Media Optimization: Social media platforms have specific size requirements for images. Image resizer tools make it easy to adapt your visuals to meet these guidelines, ensuring that your content looks polished and professional across various social media channels.
Other Popular Image Resizer Tools
Adobe Photoshop: A powerful and widely used tool that offers comprehensive image editing capabilities, including resizing.
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program): An open-source alternative to Photoshop, GIMP provides a range of features, including image resizing.
Canva: Known for its user-friendly interface, Canva allows users to resize images effortlessly, making it an excellent choice for non-designers.
ImageOptim: Specifically designed for compression and optimization, ImageOptim is ideal for those focused on web performance.
Bulk Resize Photos: As the name suggests, this tool is perfect for resizing multiple images simultaneously, streamlining the process.
I love learning about new tools to make social media marketing more creative and effective, so I’ve decided to share some of my favourite tools with you at the start of each week. This week’s cool tool recommendation is photo-editing tool BeFunky.
There is so much you can do with this tool to enhance your visual marketing assets, including creating collages, adding “one-click” photo effects (there are over 300 photo effects and filters to choose from) and an array of graphics (eg speech bubbles). The basic account is free to use and provides users with access to a library of 125 digital effects.
This week’s cool tool recommendation isan image compressor tool from Website Planet.
Why Image Compression Matters
Large image files can significantly slow down page load times, affecting user experience and search engine rankings. That’s where a reliable image compressor becomes essential.
Website Planet’s Image Compressor tool offers a user-friendly interface that simplifies the image compression process. It allows you to compress PNG and JPG files effortlessly while maintaining the quality of your images.
Two other image compression tools worth checking out are: Squoosh, and Picsart.
With the rise of social media platforms and mobile devices, people now have access to vast amounts of information at their fingertips. This has resulted in a shift in online behaviour, as more and more people turn to online platforms for research into health conditions.
1. Harnessing the Power of Social Media
With 31% of consumers actively using social media for health-related queries, and an even more significant 29% preference among Gen Z and Millennials, understanding the dynamics of social search is paramount. Engaging with audiences on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter can provide healthcare marketers with unique opportunities to share credible information, connect with patients, and establish thought leadership.
While social media’s influence is undeniable, search engines remain a cornerstone for healthcare information seekers. A resounding 88% of consumers consider search engines the most effective means of finding healthcare answers. Healthcare marketers must ensure that content aligns with evolving algorithms and ranking factors. Staying at the forefront of SEO trends is essential for maintaining visibility and credibility in the healthcare landscape.
With 54% of consumers primarily using their phones for health-related queries, crafting mobile-first experiences becomes a strategic imperative. For healthcare marketers, this means optimizing websites, content, and communications for seamless mobile interactions. As a deeper dive into generational habits reveals, a significant percentage of Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X users favor mobile devices, emphasizing the need for mobile-centric strategies.
5. Tailoring Strategies to Generational Preferences
Understanding the diverse preferences of different generations is key for healthcare marketers. Tailoring strategies to align with the preferences of Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X ensures that healthcare content and experiences resonate effectively. Leveraging social media, optimizing for mobile searches, and tailoring messaging to each generation’s unique characteristics can enhance engagement and foster meaningful connections with patients and healthcare consumers.
Social media caption writing goes beyond words on a screen; it’s about capturing attention, stirring emotions, and delivering a resonant message. Whether you’re aiming to inform, inspire, entertain, or promote, crafting a compelling caption can be impactful.
So, how can you write social media captions that convey a message with impact?
1. Clarity of Purpose
Before you write a caption, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with it. Do you want to inform, persuade, entertain, or inspire your audience? Are you trying to elicit a specific reaction, emotion, or action from them? Depending on your goal, you will need to choose the appropriate tone, style, and length for your caption.
(i) Inform
Goal: Provide factual information, updates, or details.
Tone: Authoritative and straightforward.
Style: Use clear, concise language, avoiding unnecessary details.
Length: Short to medium length, ensuring the information is presented succinctly.
(ii) Persuade
Goal: Encourage the audience to take a particular action or adopt a certain viewpoint.
Tone: Convincing, perhaps slightly emotive.
Style: Utilize persuasive language, storytelling, or testimonials.
Length: Sufficient to explain the benefits or reasons behind the call to action without being overly lengthy.
(iii) Entertain
Goal: Engage the audience, making them smile or laugh.
Tone: Lighthearted, witty, or humorous.
Style: Incorporate jokes, puns, or clever wordplay.
Length: Short and snappy to match the pace of humor.
(iv) Inspire
Goal: Motivate or uplift the audience.
Tone: Positive, empowering, and emotive.
Style: Use quotes, metaphors, or personal anecdotes.
Length: Long enough to express inspirational thoughts, but not too lengthy to lose impact.
(v) Elicit Emotion or Response
Goal: Trigger a specific emotion or prompting a reaction.
Tone: Depends on the desired emotion — could be nostalgic, sentimental, joyful, etc.
Style: Use descriptive language or relatable scenarios.
Length: Varies based on the complexity of the emotion you’re aiming for, but generally, a moderate length can capture nuances effectively.
2. Understand Your Audience
Craft your content in a way that speaks directly to your audience. Use language, humour, or references that they can relate to. Different age groups respond to varying tones and styles. Younger audiences often resonate with casual language, while older audiences might prefer a more refined and formal tone.
While shorter, punchy captions often perform well with younger demographics who tend to prefer quick, easily consumable content, Shorter, punchy captions often perform well with younger demographics who tend to prefer quick, easily consumable content, a more descriptive caption might resonate better with an older audience interested in a deeper understanding of the content.
3. Understand Your Image
It’s important that the caption complements and enhances your image, not repeats or contradicts it. Therefore, you need to know your image well and understand what it shows, implies, and leaves out. Good captions fill in the gaps, provide context, or give your image a new perspective. Your caption should also highlight the most important or interesting parts of your image and draw attention to them.
An effective headline has the power to captivate readers and encourage them to delve deeper into your content. In addition to engaging readers, headlines play a crucial role in search engine optimization (SEO). Search engines rely on headlines to understand the essence of your content, and a well-crafted headline can contribute to increasing your content’s ranking in search results.
How it works
Using the term “social media” the tool provides the following suggested headlines for me. Keep in mind that as it’s an AI tool results are not an exact science, so it’s advisable to disregard clickbait titles. Once you’re logged in as a user, you have the option to filter out clickbait in your search.
Each headline is given a score, and you can click on the option to analyze it, which is a nice feature as it gives you some suggestions on how to improve it.
While these tools aren’t perfect, they can kickstart the creative thinking process when it comes to writing headlines.
This week I’m recommending Statista an online portal for statistics that provides access to a wide range of data from various sources.
One of Statista’s key strengths is its user-friendly interface. Navigating the platform is intuitive, allowing users to quickly find the data they need. The site’s layout is clean and organized, with a focus on presenting information in a visually appealing manner. Users can explore charts, graphs, and infographics that distill complex data into easily digestible visual representations.
Here are some social media usage statistics gleaned from the website.
Cost
While some basic information is available for free, Statista offers additional premium features that require a subscription or one-time payment. Premium access unlocks more in-depth data, advanced search functionalities, and the ability to download statistics in various formats.
This week I’m recommendingRunway – an AI-powered tool that offers user-friendly tools to generate and edit images, videos, text, and even audio, using machine learning techniques.
This week I’m recommending Keyword Surfer – a free Chrome extension that gives you keyword search volume in Google search results.
One of the really cool things about this tool is that it offers tons of SEO tips and advice with a comprehensive knowledge base. It even offers a free SEO Writing Masterclass which can take you from SEO zero to hero.
This week’s cool tool recommendation is FindSounds – a website and search engine to assist in locating specific sounds or audio clips.
With FindSounds, you can elevate your social media posts to the next level by adding background music to your videos, giving them a professional touch and making them more engaging.
Not only that, but FindSounds also provides an extensive library of sound effects that can be incorporated into various types of content. Whether you’re creating animations, presentations, or even podcasts, these sound effects can bring your creations to life and make them more immersive and enjoyable for your audience.
When creating video content for social media platforms, you can search for background music, ambient sounds, or specific audio elements to match the theme of your videos. This can help improve the overall viewer experience and retention.
You can use sound effects from FindSounds to emphasize key points in your videos or to create attention-grabbing transitions. For example, adding a “ding” sound when showcasing a special offer can draw viewers’ attention to the message.
For live streaming or webinars, you can use FindSounds to find intro music, outro music, or background music to make your broadcasts more polished and engaging. You can also use it to add sound effects for interactive elements or notifications.
Remember to consider copyright and licensing when using sounds from FindSounds. Some sounds may be subject to copyright restrictions, so ensure that you have the appropriate permissions or choose sounds with open licenses for your social media content.
Content is the heartbeat of every successful social media strategy. In this article, we’ll explore some of the most popular types of social media content, and examine why they work so well.
1. Educational Posts
One of the central missions of healthcare marketing is to inform and educate the public about a wide range of health-related topics. Creating educational content serves multiple purposes in healthcare marketing, all of which contribute to building a trustworthy and reliable reputation.
Establishing Trust: When patients and the public at large feel that they are being provided with valuable, accurate information, trust in the healthcare provider or organization grows. People are more likely to seek medical advice or services from entities they trust. Educational content helps in establishing this trust by demonstrating a commitment to disseminating accurate, evidence-based information.
Empowering Patients: Informed patients tend to make better healthcare decisions. Educational content equips patients with the knowledge they need to understand their health conditions, treatment options, and preventive measures. This empowers individuals to take a more active role in their own healthcare, which can lead to better health outcomes and increased patient satisfaction.
Filling Information Gaps: In the digital age, people frequently turn to the internet for health information. Unfortunately, not all online health content is accurate or reliable. By providing educational content, healthcare providers help fill the information gap with trustworthy resources. Patients are more likely to rely on the information provided by their healthcare providers, which can help them make well-informed decisions.
Health Promotion and Prevention: Educational content can focus on topics like wellness, disease prevention, and healthy living. This proactive approach to healthcare can have a profound impact on public health.
2. Patient Testimonials
Patient testimonials can be powerful content in healthcare marketing. They offer an authentic, real-world perspective on the quality of care and services provided by healthcare practitioners or organisations.
Building Trust and Credibility: Hearing from those who have experienced positive outcomes creates a sense of reassurance. It validates the effectiveness and quality of your services, instilling confidence in potential patients that they are making the right choice by seeking care from your organisation.
Relatable Experiences: Patient testimonials allow prospective patients to find relatable experiences. These relatable narratives help potential patients envision their own healthcare journey and see the potential for positive outcomes, which can be incredibly encouraging.
Social Proof: In the age of social media and online reviews, social proof is essential. Patient testimonials are a form of social proof that can significantly influence the decision-making process of prospective patients. When people see positive feedback and firsthand accounts of successful treatment, they are more likely to choose your healthcare services over others.
Ethical Considerations: While patient testimonials can be powerful, it’s vital to handle them with ethical considerations in mind. Always obtain explicit and informed consent from the patients whose stories you wish to share. Ensure that patients understand how their testimonials will be used and the extent to which their privacy will be protected. It’s essential to respect patient confidentiality and privacy laws, such as HIPAA in the United States and GDPR in Europe.
Diverse Perspectives: Showcase a variety of patient testimonials to demonstrate the diversity of patients you serve and the wide range of conditions you can address. Different voices and experiences can resonate with different potential patients, making them feel seen and understood.
3. Live Q&As
Hosting live question-and-answer (Q&A) sessions on social media platforms not only offers a direct line of communication with the public but also serves as a platform for addressing common health concerns, providing answers to specific questions, and fostering trust and credibility.
Real-Time Engagement: Live Q&A sessions offer the unique advantage of real-time interaction. Healthcare professionals can directly engage with their audience, responding to questions and concerns as they arise. This immediate engagement can enhance the quality of the conversation and build a sense of trust.
Accessibility: Live Q&A sessions are accessible to a wide range of viewers, making them an inclusive medium for disseminating healthcare information. They break down geographical barriers, ensuring that valuable health advice and expertise can reach a global audience.
Information Dissemination: These sessions provide a platform for sharing accurate, evidence-based information on various health topics. Healthcare professionals can use live Q&A to address frequently asked questions, debunk common myths, and provide updates on emerging health concerns, treatments, or preventive measures.
Humanising Healthcare: Healthcare can be perceived as intimidating or distant. Live Q&A sessions allow healthcare professionals to humanise their practice. By appearing in a live video, answering questions, and sharing personal insights, they demonstrate empathy and a commitment to the well-being of their audience.
Trust and Credibility: When healthcare professionals engage in live Q&A sessions and provide expert answers, they establish trust and credibility. The public is more likely to trust and seek medical advice from professionals who are willing to interact directly and transparently, which can translate into increased patient loyalty.
Building an Online Community: Consistent live Q&A sessions can help build a dedicated online community around a healthcare brand. Regular viewers may come to expect and look forward to these interactions, fostering a sense of belonging and loyalty.
4. Behind-the-Scenes Content
People are often curious about what goes on behind the scenes at a healthcare facility. Share glimpses of your team in action, the latest medical equipment, or the inner workings of your practice. This type of content fosters transparency and builds trust with your audience.
Celebrating Milestones and Achievements: Behind-the-scenes (BTS) content can be used to celebrate milestones, achievements, and important moments within the healthcare organization. Whether it’s a new facility, the introduction of a new medical technology, or a healthcare professional’s significant accomplishment, sharing these behind-the-scenes glimpses can be an excellent way to showcase progress and development.
Team Spotlight: Highlighting the dedicated and skilled individuals who make up the healthcare team can boost team morale and reassure patients about the quality of care they can expect.
Quality of Care: Showing the meticulous care, preparation, and dedication that go into healthcare services can reinforce the perception of quality. It’s an opportunity to convey the attention to detail and the commitment to providing the best possible care.
Best Practices
Obtain Consent: Always ensure that you have the proper consent from both healthcare professionals and patients to feature them in BTS content. Respect patient privacy and confidentiality at all times.
5. Health Awareness Campaigns
Health awareness campaigns serve as an educational platform, helping to inform the public about specific health issues. By creating content that explains the causes, symptoms, risk factors, and prevention methods related to the targeted health concern, healthcare organizations empower individuals to make informed decisions about their health.
Best Practices for Participating in Health Awareness Campaigns
Planning and Preparation: Start planning your involvement well in advance. Identify the campaigns that align with your organization’s mission and target audience. Develop a content strategy and calendar that includes the creation of informative, engaging, and shareable content.
Collaboration: Partner with other healthcare organizations, nonprofits, or relevant stakeholders to amplify the campaign’s reach and impact. Collaborations can lead to greater community engagement and a more comprehensive educational effort.
Targeted Content: Tailor your content to meet the specific needs and questions of your audience. Address the unique concerns of your patient population and provide guidance that is practical and relevant.
6. Industry News and Medical Breakthroughs
Sharing this type of content positions you as a thought leader within the field. By curating and commenting on relevant news stories, you can showcase your expertise and your commitment to staying at the forefront of your field. Patients are more likely to trust healthcare providers who are well-informed and can provide insights into the most current and effective healthcare practices.
Types of Industry News and Updates Content in Healthcare Marketing
Medical Breakthroughs: Share news about groundbreaking medical research, innovative treatments, and promising medical technologies that have the potential to impact patient care positively.
Health Policy Updates: Inform your audience about changes in healthcare policy, including updates related to insurance coverage, government regulations, and public health initiatives.
Clinical Guidelines: Provide information about updated clinical guidelines, such as new recommendations for disease prevention, screening, or treatment options.
Healthcare Technology: Share news about cutting-edge healthcare technologies, telemedicine advancements, and the implementation of electronic health records.
Research Studies: Summarize and discuss the findings of significant research studies or clinical trials that are relevant to your target audience.
Best Practices for Sharing Industry News and Updates
Source Credibility: Ensure that the sources of your news and updates are reputable and reliable. This helps maintain your organization’s trustworthiness.
Customization: Tailor the content to your specific target audience. Consider the demographics and healthcare needs of your patients or community when selecting news and updates to share.
Engagement: Encourage engagement with your content by asking for feedback, inviting questions, and creating opportunities for discussion, such as comment sections on social media posts or blog articles.
Timeliness: Share news and updates promptly to ensure that your audience is receiving current, relevant information.
Visual content such as diagrams, charts, and infographics, simplifies complex medical information, making it more accessible and digestible for patients and the general public.
Enhancing Engagement: Visual content is inherently more engaging than text-based content. The use of images, videos, and animations can capture the audience’s attention and encourage them to spend more time on your website or social media platform, increasing the likelihood that they will absorb the information.
Increasing Retention: People tend to remember information better when it is presented visually. Visual content can significantly improve retention rates for healthcare-related information, ensuring that patients and the public retain important medical guidance and advice.
Types of Visual Content in Healthcare Marketing
Infographics: Infographics condense complex medical information into visually appealing, easy-to-understand graphics. They are useful for explaining medical conditions, procedures, and health statistics.
Videos: Healthcare organizations use videos to share patient stories, provide educational content, conduct virtual tours of facilities, and explain medical procedures. Videos can be shared on websites, social media, and video-sharing platforms.
Images: High-quality images can convey a wealth of information. Medical images, patient testimonials, and photographs of facilities and staff can humanize the healthcare provider and their services.
Animations: Animated videos and GIFs are excellent for illustrating medical processes, such as surgical procedures, the mechanism of action of medications, or the progression of diseases.
Social Media Graphics: Healthcare organizations use visually appealing graphics on social media to share health tips, awareness campaign updates, and general health information.
Best Practices for Visual Content in Healthcare Marketing
Accessibility: Make visual content accessible to all by providing alternative text for images and ensuring compatibility with screen readers and other assistive technologies.
Consistency: Maintain a consistent visual identity throughout all your content to build a recognizable brand image.
Patient Privacy: Respect patient privacy and obtain the necessary consent for sharing images or stories.
Quality: Invest in high-quality visuals to convey professionalism and enhance the visual appeal of your content.
Video content is a dynamic and highly effective medium in healthcare marketing that leverages the power of visuals, storytelling, and engagement to communicate with and educate patients, promote services, and build trust.
Engagement and Retention: Video is one of the most engaging content formats. It captivates the audience and keeps them invested in the message. This engagement translates to better retention of the information being presented. In healthcare, where understanding and remembering health advice is critical, video content excels.
Education and Explanation: Complex medical concepts, procedures, and treatment options can be simplified and explained more effectively through video. Animated or live-action videos can provide step-by-step explanations, helping patients understand what to expect during medical procedures or how to manage their health conditions.
Patient Stories and Testimonials: Video is a powerful medium for sharing patient stories and testimonials. Real-life accounts of how individuals have overcome health challenges or experienced positive outcomes can be deeply persuasive. They provide hope and reassurance to other patients facing similar situations.
Telemedicine and Telehealth: With the growth of telemedicine and telehealth services, video content is invaluable. It can be used to explain how these services work, guide patients on how to prepare for virtual visits and demonstrate the technology used in telehealth, ensuring a smooth experience for patients.
Demonstrating Medical Procedures: Videos can offer an inside look into medical procedures, surgeries, and treatment processes. These visuals can be used to show patients what to expect, reducing anxiety and answering common questions. They can also be used for training purposes within the healthcare industry.
Virtual Facility Tours: Patients often feel apprehensive about visiting a healthcare facility for the first time. Video tours of the facility, including examination rooms, surgical suites, and patient areas, can provide a sense of familiarity and comfort. This transparency can help patients feel more at ease during their visits.
Health Education: Educational videos can cover a wide range of health-related topics, from wellness and disease prevention to chronic condition management and healthy lifestyle choices. These videos empower patients to take control of their health.
Best Practices for Creating Video Content in Healthcare Marketing
Patient Consent: When featuring patient stories or testimonials, obtain proper consent and respect patient privacy by following healthcare privacy regulations.
Accessibility: Make your video content accessible to a broad audience by providing closed captions and transcripts. This is particularly important for individuals with hearing impairments.
Professional Production: Invest in professional video production to ensure high-quality visuals and audio. Professionalism enhances the credibility of your content.
Optimize for Mobile: Given the prevalence of mobile device usage, ensure that your videos are mobile-friendly, load quickly, and are easily viewable on smartphones and tablets.
Distribution Strategy: Have a clear distribution strategy. Share your video content on your website, social media platforms, and any relevant healthcare portals. Promote it via email newsletters and other marketing channels to maximize its reach.
Engagement is key on social media. Interactive content encourages active participation and engagement from the audience, allowing individuals to interact with the content rather than passively consuming it. It sustains the audience’s attention far more effectively than static content.
Interactive content can also be a highly effective tool for educating the public about complex health topics. Through quizzes, simulations, or interactive infographics, healthcare professionals can break down intricate medical concepts into digestible, engaging formats. This enhances understanding and retention, making healthcare information more accessible to the general public.
Types of Interactive Content in Healthcare Marketing
Interactive Quizzes: Healthcare organizations can create quizzes on various health topics, allowing users to test their knowledge and learn more about their health.
Interactive Infographics: These animated or clickable infographics provide a deeper dive into medical conditions, treatments, or procedures, allowing users to explore content at their own pace.
Symptom Checkers: These interactive tools can guide users through their symptoms, offering potential diagnoses or suggesting when to seek medical attention.
Health Calculators: Tools such as BMI calculators, calorie counters, and pregnancy due date calculators can be embedded in healthcare websites to help users assess various health-related factors.
Decision Aids: These interactive guides assist patients in making informed decisions about their healthcare choices, such as treatment options or surgery.
Best Practices for Creating Interactive Content in Healthcare Marketing
Accessibility: Ensure that interactive content is accessible to a wide range of users, including those with disabilities, by adhering to accessibility standards.
User-Friendly Design: Make the interactive content easy to navigate and understand, with intuitive interfaces and clear instructions.
Accuracy and Trustworthiness: Verify the accuracy of the medical information presented in the interactive content and provide references or citations where appropriate.
Mobile Optimization: Ensure that interactive content is mobile-friendly, as many users access healthcare information on smartphones and tablets.
Data Privacy: Collect user data only with their consent and in compliance with data privacy regulations. Be transparent about data collection and usage.
10. User Generated Content
User Generated Content (UGC) encompasses a wide range of content, from patient testimonials and stories to reviews, social media posts, images, and videos. Patients often turn to UGC for health information. They seek insights, advice, and shared experiences from others who have faced similar health conditions or undergone similar treatments. UGC can provide practical, relatable guidance for healthcare decision-making.
Authenticity and Trust: UGC is highly authentic and trustworthy. It reflects the real experiences and opinions of patients and individuals who have interacted with healthcare organizations. This authenticity is invaluable in a field where trust is of utmost importance.
Real-World Impact: UGC demonstrates the real-world impact of healthcare services. Patient testimonials, before-and-after photos, and personal stories showcase the transformative power of medical care and treatments, providing hope and inspiration to other patients.
Social Proof: UGC serves as a powerful form of social proof. When potential patients see positive feedback, stories of recovery, and firsthand accounts of successful treatment, they are more likely to choose your healthcare services over others. UGC provides a sense of reassurance and validation.
Types of User-Generated Content in Healthcare Marketing
Patient Testimonials: Written or video testimonials from patients who share their experiences and outcomes after receiving healthcare services.
Social Media Posts: Patients often share their healthcare experiences, recovery journeys, and interactions with healthcare providers on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Online Reviews: Patients provide feedback and reviews on healthcare provider websites, as well as on platforms like Yelp, Google Reviews, and Healthgrades.
Blogs and Articles: Some patients chronicle their healthcare journeys and recovery experiences in blogs and articles, offering valuable insights to others facing similar health challenges.
Videos and Images: Patients may create videos or images to document their healthcare experiences, procedures, and recovery progress.
Conclusion
In healthcare marketing, the type of social media content you create can have a significant impact on your engagement, trust-building, and reputation. A well-rounded content strategy should encompass educational, promotional, and interactive elements, while also maintaining patient privacy and adhering to ethical guidelines. By offering valuable information, sharing personal stories, and actively engaging with your audience, you can leverage the power of social media to create a stronger and healthier online presence in the healthcare sector.
Visually appealing content is crucial for cutting through the noise on social media and capturing target audiences’ attention. Pictures catch people’s attention more readily than text, and in today’s busy online world, images can quickly convey your marketing message through the clutter of online content.
In my latest Medium article, I’m sharing three of my favourite tips for creating eye-catching and engaging visuals.
This week’s cool tool recommendation is Librestock– a website that provides a free search engine for finding high-quality stock photos from various sources across the internet.
It’s essentially a platform that aggregates and indexes images from multiple stock photo websites, making it easier for users to search for and discover images for their creative projects.
Enter keywords or phrases to search for specific types of images, and Librestock will display results from a range of stock photo providers, allowing you to click through to the source website to download or license the images they need.
Sprout Social, a prominent social media management and analytics platform, has been at the forefront of providing valuable insights for social media marketers. Their annual listing of the best times to post on major social media platforms is a good guide for those looking to maximize their online presence. This year, for the first time, Sprout Social has included data on TikTok in its analysis.
In the world of healthcare, we often find ourselves at the crossroads of technology and patient care. Healthcare professionals understand the importance of embracing innovation but also carry a certain degree of skepticism when it comes to adopting new technologies.
It’s a skepticism that has parallels in history.
The “Red Flag Act” of Early Automobiles
The “Red Flag Act” of 1865, enacted in the United Kingdom, mandated that self-propelled vehicles (which included early automobiles) should not exceed a maximum speed of 2 miles per hour (approximately 3.2 kilometers per hour) while traveling in cities or urban areas. One of the most distinctive features of the Red Flag Act was the requirement for a person to walk in front of the vehicle carrying a red flag. This flag bearer, often referred to as a “red flag man” or “flagman,” was meant to serve as a warning to other road users about the presence of the vehicle. The flagman had to walk at a certain distance ahead of the vehicle, further impeding its progress.
The Act was a response to concerns about the safety of early automobiles and their potential impact on pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages. It was a reflection of the skepticism and apprehension surrounding the new technology at the time. Over the years, as automotive technology improved, these restrictions were gradually eased, and eventually, the Red Flag Act was repealed in the late 19th century, making way for more modern traffic regulations.
Parallels to the Rise of Social Media
The skepticism surrounding early automobiles in the 19th century finds a modern-day counterpart in the rise of social media.
Embracing the Unknown
Just as early automobiles were new and unfamiliar, the advent of social media platforms represented a seismic shift in the way we communicate and gather information. The unfamiliarity and rapid adoption of these platforms led to skepticism and questions.
Safety and Ethical Concerns
Much like the Red Flag Act aimed to address concerns about the safety of early automobiles, social media has raised concerns about the safety and well-being of its users. In healthcare, we need to be cautious about the ethical implications of data privacy, misinformation, and maintaining the trust of our patients.
Gradual Acceptance and Adaptation
Over time, society adapted to the presence of automobiles, and they became an integral part of our lives. Similarly, social media is here to stay, and it is essential for healthcare professionals to adapt to this new era of patient engagement and information dissemination.
Navigating the Digital Era
Just like any tool, social media has its share of risks and consequences, especially when integrated into healthcare practice. Just as you would take time to understand how a new medical device or software works, it’s important to gain a deep understanding of the social media platforms you intend to use. Understanding their features, capabilities, and limitations is the first step in using them effectively and safely.
Training your staff on how to use social media platforms correctly is as important as training them on any other medical equipment or protocol. Understand and communicate the potential risks and consequences of social media use to your staff and patients. This includes the potential for misinformation, privacy breaches, online harassment, and reputational risks.
Finally, just as healthcare professionals engage in ongoing education and professional development, staying current with best practices and evolving trends in social media is vital. The digital landscape is continually changing, and staying informed is a part of responsible use.
The “Red Flag Act” of the past reminds us that change can be met with hesitation, but it is our responsibility to adapt and ensure that these technologies are harnessed for the betterment of patient care. Embracing social media with the same mindset as adopting new technology in practice ensures that its benefits are harnessed while minimizing the risks and consequences associated with its use.
This week’s cool tool recommendation is LunaPic – an online image editing website that allows users to edit and enhance their photos and images.
LunaPic provides a multitude of features, enabling users to enhance, modify, and transform images. The platform offers a wide range of editing options, including cropping, resizing, and rotating images.
Additionally, it provides filters and effects, including animating images, that can enhance the overall look and feel of your images, adding that extra touch of creativity. One of its main advantages is its user-friendly interface, which makes it accessible to both beginners and advanced users.
The home page of your website serves as the digital front door to your practice or organization. It’s the first impression potential patients or clients have of your services, and it can significantly impact their decision to explore further or look elsewhere. It’s apt that we use the word “home” to refer to the main page of a website because “home” invokes warmth and belonging. That’s exactly the mindset you need when you are writing and designing your website’s home page.
The Personal Touch
The healthcare industry is inherently personal. Patients and clients come to you seeking solutions to their health concerns or wellness goals, and they want to feel heard, understood, and valued. Using the word “You” on your home page can create an instant connection by making visitors feel like the focus is on their individual needs.
Begin by addressing your website visitor directly. Use statements like “Welcome to Your Healthcare Hub” or “Your Path to Wellness Starts Here.” This approach immediately makes the visitor feel like they are in the right place to find solutions to their health-related questions or concerns.
Show that you understand your audience’s unique needs by using “You” to introduce relevant content. For example, “Discover How We Can Help You Manage Chronic Pain” speaks directly to individuals seeking pain management solutions. Tailor your homepage content to address various health concerns or services you offer.
Invite your visitors to take action with “You” statements. For instance, “Schedule Your Appointment Today” or “Tell Us About Your Health Goals.” Encouraging interaction and engagement shows that you are interested in their well-being and actively want to assist them.
Building Trust and Reliability
In healthcare, trust is paramount. Patients and clients need to feel confident in your expertise and services. The strategic use of “You” on your home page can contribute to building this trust.
Express your commitment to the visitor’s well-being. Phrases like “We’re here for you” or “Your health is our priority” convey a sense of dedication, reassuring visitors that you are genuinely concerned about their health.
Explain how your services or expertise can benefit the visitor personally. For example, “Our Experienced Team Will Help You Achieve Optimal Health” emphasizes the value you bring to the visitor’s life. Showcase your accomplishments and success stories to further instill confidence.
Consider incorporating personalization features on your home page. Tailored content based on a visitor’s location, interests, or previous interactions can make them feel like you are attuned to their unique needs, reinforcing trust.
Creating a User-Centric Experience
A user-centric approach to website design is crucial in healthcare. Using “You” on your home page is a fundamental part of this approach, as it puts the visitor’s experience at the forefront.
Organize your website’s navigation with the visitor in mind. Use “You” to label categories or services, making it clear how each section relates to the visitor’s needs. For example, “Explore How We Can Help You” or “Your Guide to Our Services.”
Ensure your website is accessible to all visitors, regardless of their abilities. “You” can be a powerful tool for promoting inclusivity by signaling that your services are available and accessible to everyone.
Encourage ongoing engagement beyond the home page. Incorporate “You” into calls-to-action that lead visitors to relevant blog posts, FAQs, or appointment booking forms, helping them find the information they need.
Conclusion
Crafting a welcoming home page with the power of “You” is more than just semantics; it’s about making your healthcare website visitor-centered. By addressing their needs, building trust, and creating a user-centric experience, you can create a digital front door that not only attracts visitors but also invites them to explore the valuable healthcare solutions and expertise you have to offer. Remember, in healthcare, it’s all about “You.”
Social media are treasure troves of data that, when harnessed effectively, can revolutionize your healthcare marketing strategy. From patient feedback to industry trends, social media holds a wealth of information that can be harnessed to create content that resonates with your target audience.
Understanding Your Audience
Effective healthcare communication is a multifaceted process that hinges on a deep understanding of your audience. Healthcare organizations often serve diverse populations with varying needs, concerns, and interests. This is where the power of social media data comes into play, enabling you to gain profound insights into your followers and consequently tailor your content strategy to meet their specific requirements.
You can discover their age, gender, location, education level, and more. Understanding these demographics allows you to personalize your content. For instance, if your audience comprises mostly young adults, you can create content that resonates with their life stage and priorities.
Beyond demographics, social media data helps uncover your audience’s interests and concerns. By examining the types of content they engage with and the topics they discuss, you can identify their areas of interest. For example, if you find that your followers frequently engage with posts related to mental health, it indicates a genuine interest in this topic. This insight allows you to develop content that directly addresses mental health issues, such as articles, infographics, or video content, offering valuable information and support.
Social media data not only informs what topics to cover but also how to approach them. For instance, if your analysis reveals that your audience responds positively to a compassionate and empathetic tone when discussing mental health, you can adapt your messaging accordingly. This approach ensures that your content not only aligns with their interests but also resonates emotionally, fostering a deeper connection.
Monitoring Trends and Conversations
Healthcare is a dynamic and rapidly changing field. New treatments, technologies, regulations, and public health concerns constantly emerge. Social media provides a real-time pulse of the industry. By actively monitoring relevant conversations, trending hashtags, and discussions, healthcare organizations can gain immediate insights into the most pressing issues and emerging trends. These insights can help you create content that directly addresses these issues, providing valuable solutions, guidance, and support. For example, during a flu outbreak or a public health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, social media data can help you tailor your messaging to provide accurate information and alleviate concerns.
Furthermore, by actively participating in discussions and sharing informed opinions on emerging healthcare topics, your organization can establish itself as a thought leader in the field. Sharing evidence-based insights, research findings, and expert opinions can position your healthcare organization as a trusted source of information. This not only enhances your credibility but also fosters engagement and trust among your followers.
Monitoring social media trends allows you to create content that is both timely and relevant. For instance, if there’s a surge in interest in a specific medical procedure or treatment due to a celebrity endorsement or recent research breakthrough, your organization can respond promptly by producing content that educates your audience about the procedure’s benefits, risks, and availability. This agility in content creation demonstrates your organization’s commitment to staying up-to-date and meeting your audience’s immediate needs.
And social media is a critical platform for crisis management in healthcare. By monitoring conversations and detecting potential crises early, healthcare organizations can take proactive steps to address issues, clarify misinformation, and manage public relations effectively. Quick and transparent communication can help mitigate the impact of crises and maintain trust with your audience.
Enhancing Patient Engagement
One of the significant advantages of social media data is its immediacy. When patients voice concerns or complaints on social media, it presents an opportunity for healthcare organizations to address these issues promptly. Timely responses and resolution of patient concerns demonstrate a commitment to patient-centric care and can turn a potentially negative experience into a positive one. Publicly acknowledging and addressing concerns also showcases transparency and accountability.
Social media data can reveal the topics and healthcare information patients are actively seeking. By identifying the questions and interests expressed by patients on social media, healthcare organizations can develop educational content that directly addresses these topics. Providing accurate and accessible information fosters patient empowerment and engagement, enabling patients to make informed decisions about their health.
Actively listening to patients and responding to their feedback on social media platforms demonstrates a commitment to patient-centric care. This commitment builds trust and fosters loyalty among patients. Patients are more likely to engage with and recommend healthcare organizations that prioritize their concerns and actively seek to improve their experiences.
By analyzing social media data, healthcare organizations can identify innovative ideas and solutions suggested by patients themselves. Patient input can be a valuable source of inspiration for improving services, designing patient-centric initiatives, and developing new programs that meet the evolving needs of the community.
Conclusion
Social media data is a treasure trove of information that can revolutionize your healthcare content strategy. By harnessing the power of this data, you can gain a deeper understanding of your audience, stay informed about industry trends, enhance patient engagement, and measure the impact of your efforts. In an ever-evolving healthcare landscape, leveraging social media data is not just an option but a necessity to maximize your online presence and make a lasting impact in the healthcare sector.
This week’s cool tool recommendation is Thumbnail.Ai – a handy tool to generate thumbnails for your social media channels.
A thumbnail is a small, reduced-size image or preview of a larger picture, video, or document. Thumbnails are commonly used in various digital media contexts, including:
Image Galleries: In image galleries or photo viewing applications, thumbnails are often used to display a grid of small preview images. When users click on a thumbnail, they can view the full-sized image.
Video Sharing Platforms: On video-sharing websites like YouTube, each video typically has a thumbnail image that represents the content of the video. These thumbnails give viewers a glimpse of what the video is about before they decide to click and watch it.
File Browsers: In file browsers and operating systems, thumbnails are often generated for images, videos, and documents. This allows users to quickly preview the content of files without opening them.
Web Search Results: Search engines may display thumbnails alongside search results to provide visual context for the webpages or images linked in the results.
The primary purpose of thumbnails is to provide a visual preview and assist users in quickly identifying and selecting content of interest without the need to open or load the full-sized version. Thumbnails are typically much smaller in size compared to the original content, making them easily manageable and loadable, even on devices with limited screen space or slower internet connections.
How to use this tool
Select from a range of background templates, tailor text options, and incorporate images to make your thumbnail distinct and attention-grabbing.
I love learning about new tools to make social media marketing more creative and effective, so I am sharing some of my favourite tools with you at the start of each week.
This week’s cool tool recommendation is SnapWidget – a tool that allows you to display your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram photos in collage format on your website or blog.
When you post photos and videos to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube, the widget on your website or blog automatically updates with new content.
Pricing
You can start with a free plan and if you find you need more features, you can try out a paid plan for free for 14 days.
This week I’m recommending Fotor, a free image editing tool and design maker for PC and mobile.
You can use it to create a variety of images, including photo collages for social media, making as many edits as you need from an extensive menu of edits. Fotor even provides an area where you can experiment to the side of your canvas. It includes ready-to-go graphics, icons, and studio-quality video templates. One of my favorite Fotor features is the LinkedIn banner design and the logo maker.
A paid version is available that contains more features and is ad-free.
This week I’m recommending UberSuggest – a free keyword research tool that lets you see which keywords are performing best for your competitors/peers.
This truly is a super helpful tool when it comes to Search Engine Optimisation. It generates a list of keywords for you based on what is working for your competitors and based on what people are typing into Google, allowing you to see volume, competition, and even seasonal trends for each of your chosen keywords.
Let’s see it in action.
Type in your chosen keyword (or a domain of a competitor) to see which keywords are ranking for them). In this example, I’ll use the keyword ‘social media’.
The first thing I get is an overview of keyword search volume (the number of searches this keyword has per month) SEO difficulty (estimated competition in organic search – the higher the number the more competitive) paid difficulty (estimated competition in organic search – the higher the number the more competitive) and cost per click (if you are using paid Google ads).
Keyword Ideas
Now I can start to drill down into keyword ideas based on my head keyword.
As you can see from the screenshot above, you can do a lot more, such as identify how popular the keyword is based on its search volume over the last 12 months.
Content Ideas
Now let’s look at what we can do with these keywords. Ubersuggest shows you the highest performing content for your chosen keywords.
Backlink Data
Backlinks are one of the most important components of Google’s ranking algorithm. However, there is a problem. They are difficult to build. Ubersuggest lets you see exactly what content people are linking to in your space. You then approach each of these sites and ask them to link to you.
Pricing
You get three free daily searches with the free version. Before you decide to upgrade, you can try out a paid version for free for 7 days.
This week’s cool tool recommendation is photo and video editing tool, VSCO.
VSCO is a photo editing and sharing tool that offers both free and paid versions. In the free version, users can access basic editing tools like white balance, exposure, and contrast, along with a selection of preset filters. They can try out different presets themselves or use the “for this photo” feature to get recommended presets for specific pictures. The free version also lets users explore others’ photos and curated portfolios, finding inspiration in themes like “humankind,” “editorial,” and “summer.”
Imagine your audience as a group of busy commuters at a bustling train station. They’re not looking to settle in for an immersive journey; instead, they’re glancing around, seeking information that piques their interest in a matter of seconds.
The reason behind this reading pattern is rooted in both cognitive and ergonomic factors. Psychologically, the F-pattern aligns with our natural tendency to prioritize information that stands out or is visually prominent. As a result, headings, subheadings, bullet points, and the first few words of sentences tend to capture our attention more effectively.
For content creators and website designers, understanding the F-pattern can be beneficial when creating more engaging and accessible content. By structuring your content in a way that aligns with this reading pattern, you can make it easier for readers to quickly grasp essential information and navigate through your content more efficiently. To capitalize on the F-pattern, it is important to structure content in a way that aligns with readers’ scanning behavior.
While scrolling through your Instagram feed, you swipe up to see the next picture or video.
Then suddenly, you see a stunning landscape, a captivating video clip, or a humorous meme. In that instant, you pause mid-scroll, your thumb hesitates, and your attention is wholly drawn to the content.
This momentary interruption is the essence of thumb-stopping content.
What sets thumb-stopping content apart is its ability to evoke an emotional response, spark curiosity, or provide immediate value. It could be an image that stands out in a sea of mundane images, a video that elicits laughter, or a thought-provoking quote.
But what is it that makes content truly “thumb-stopping”?
This week’s cool tool recommendation isAnswer the Public – a free keyword research tool.
Answer the Public is a fantastic resource for anyone looking to optimize their website or create compelling content. This powerful tool provides you with valuable insights and data to help you understand what people are searching for online. It offers a unique visual representation of keyword search suggestions, presenting them in an appealing and interactive manner.
When you enter a keyword or phrase into Answer the Public, it generates a range of content ideas based on real searches made by users. It presents these ideas as a web of questions, prepositions, and comparisons related to your chosen keyword. This gives you a clear overview of the most common queries and concerns people have about the topic, allowing you to tailor your content to precisely match their needs and interests.
Answer the Public is particularly valuable for generating long-tail keywords – specific phrases that may have lower search volumes but can be highly relevant to a particular niche or audience. These long-tail keywords can help websites rank better in search results and attract more targeted traffic.
Not only does the tool provide you with a wealth of content ideas, but it also helps you understand the intent behind these searches. By analyzing the different types of questions that arise, you can determine whether people are looking for information, solutions, or opinions. This invaluable insight enables you to create content that addresses these intentions effectively, increasing the relevance and usefulness of your website.
Additionally, Answer the Public allows you to download the generated keyword suggestions as a CSV file (paid feature) making it easier to organize and analyze the data. With this information at your fingertips, you can optimize your website’s SEO by strategically incorporating the most relevant keywords into your content.
Pricing
You get 3 free searches per day; paid subscriptions start at $9 per month
This week’s cool tool recommendation is StoryLab.ai- an AI copy generator that helps you generate copy ideas, hooks, outlines and ready-made copy for marketing purposes.
Whether you’re looking to create an Instagram caption, a blog title, or ad copy, this tool is designed to inspire you.
Here’s How To Use StoryLab
Begin by selecting the type of content you want to create.
In the example below, I’ve inputted “social media marketing strategy” as a blog topic and the tool has generated some ideas for headlines.
Here’s what happens when I input the same term into the email subject line generator.
And here’s what is returned when I ask for ideas for a social media post. I have to say this is by far the most impressive result.
I’ve only recently been introduced to this tool, but I can already see I am going to save some time testing out its features over the coming week.
Pricing
You get 25 “runs” per month for free with StoryLab. Upgrade to a basic package to get 250 runs or unlimited runs with the top-tier package.
“Social Media” is more than just a marketing buzzword; as the Internet increasingly becomes the medium of choice for researching health information social media has become a valuable channel for improving the patient experience.
In addition to looking for health information online, patients are also using social media to discuss their doctors, medications, treatment plans, insurance, and medical devices, as well as track and share symptoms. In many cases, social media even influences the choice of a doctor, hospital, or medical treatment.
While social media can have a direct impact on the ability of health organizations to attract and retain new patients, it can also deliver a human touch to the patient experience at scale. Healthcare professionals can connect more meaningfully with patients through social media at every stage of their health journey.
The social media revolution has changed the face of health care, and professionals cannot afford to remain reactive to it. Nevertheless, while it’s tempting to jump straight into social media, a more thoughtful and planned approach is ]called for. There is more to social media marketing than just creating accounts and posting updates occasionally. Nor is it merely a digital tool to broadcast updates. A strategic approach is crucial to making social media an effective means of reaching patients.
Sharpening Your Digital Axe
Abraham Lincoln once said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I’ll spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
To help you sharpen your digital axe, this article guides you through ten questions that you should ask – and answer – to assist you in developing a social media plan. Whether you are a beginner, or you have been using social media for some time, answering these key questions will help drive your strategy towards success.
#1 What Do You Want To Achieve With Social Media?
Answering this question is a critical first step. Without a clear goal in mind, your social media marketing will remain unfocused.
Would you like to attract more patients? Improve communication with existing patients? Create and maintain an online reputation? There is a good chance that you’d like to accomplish all of these things, but it’s better to focus first on the two to three goals that are most important to you.
Regardless of the goal you wish to achieve, be as detailed and specific as you can. The more trackable your goal is, the easier it will be to see if it has been achieved in a few months.
Take Action: Set S.M.A.R.T. social media goals, i.e. goals that are specific, measurable, and achievable within a defined timeframe. For example, instead of saying you want to grow your number of Twitter followers, set a numerical value and a deadline, such as “grow our Twitter followers by 25 percent by the end of the first quarter.”
It is crucial to understand the people you’re interacting with online so that you can tailor an experience that is relevant to them. Identify your audience, where they go online for research, what issues they care about, and which communities inform or influence them.
Take Action: Start by finding data on your existing audience. Use the Demographics and Interests sections of Google Analytics and the audience analytics features contained within Facebook Insights and Twitter to help you.
#3 Which Social Media Sites Should You Use?
The short answer to this question is to go where your patients already are. While the trifecta of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are extremely popular, newer platforms such as Pinterest, Snapchat and Instagram have gained enormously in popularity in recent times. This doesn’t mean that you have to be everywhere at once. Not all platforms will serve your particular goals and target audience. This is why it’s essential you answer questions #1 and #2 before you decide to invest your time in a particular social platform.
The perception that social media is free is misguided. The days you could make an impact with a few tweets or Facebook posts are long gone. Running a social presence now requires an investment of resources. You may need to buy-in services such as SEO (search engine optimization), analytics software, content or creative support.
Time is also a cost factor. Look at what takes you the most time to do. Can you spend money to make these processes more efficient? You will also need to budget for paid advertising, particularly if you want to make an impact on Facebook, where organic reach has steadily declined over the past few years.
Take Action: Set a realistic budget and create a digital marketing strategy that works within it. Whatever you decide to spend money or time on, be sure to track how your content performs on social media relative to the amount of time and money you put against it. This is your social media return of investment (ROI) and it is closely linked to the goals you set at step #1.
#5 What Style and Tone of Voice Should You Use?
How do you wish to communicate on social media? Do you wish to be seen as authoritative, inspiring, friendly, approachable, or helpful? What values does your organization stand for? What unique qualities make you stand out? Answering these questions will help you develop your own identifiable style and tone of voice.
Take Action:Be human and relatable. Use social media to communicate the “who” and “why” of your practice. Authentic communication and engagement are highly valued traits online as much as offline. Look to build and strengthen trust and credibility in all your online interactions.
#6 What Kind of Content Should You Create?
If patients are searching for health information online you need to be creating and sharing what they are searching for. Tune into the health stories patients are reading about and be ready to provide context, counter misinformation and dispel myths with medically factual information. Keep in mind the content that works best on the social platforms you have chosen to use. Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest require high quality visuals to stand out. A blog on the other hand is better suited to long-form thought pieces. Think about how you can vary your message delivery to complement how people like to consume online information. Alternate between written content, video, infographics, and podcasts to match your audience’s preferences.
Take Action: Create content that truly resonates with your patients. Generally speaking, patients are less interested in your brand, your physicians or your technology, than they are in how you can help them solve their problems. Great content is not about you, but about what you can do for your patients to improve their quality of life.
You can learn a lot by observing what your peers are doing online. Which social platforms do they use? What type of content do they share? How often do they share it? How does their audience respond to them? How have they chosen to use images and videos?
You may wish to take full responsibility for maintaining your social media presence, but if you are giving the task to someone in your organization, or hiring outside help, you need to ensure they are the right person for the job.
Take Action: There are many different roles which make up a social media marketing job (for example content creation, e-mail marketing, social media management, etc.). Clearly define the roles and outline the responsibilities of this position for your ideal candidate.
#9 How Will You Monitor Social Media?
It’s important to monitor social media on a regular basis to keep on top of what people are saying about you, your organization, or topical health issues. From a marketing perspective, social media monitoring will help you determine the impact you are making, and if required, make adjustments to your strategy.
Take Action: One of the main keys to social media success is listening and responding in a timely way. Responding in real time strengthens public perception that your focus is strongly centered on patient satisfaction.
There are many free and paid monitoring tools which vary in scope and range across a number of sites, real-time or delayed searching, sophistication of analytics, flexibility of data presentation, integration with other applications, and cost. Which one you choose will depend on your budget and the level of analytics you wish to achieve. Even setting up a simple Google Alert (email updates of the latest relevant Google results based on your queries) with relevant keywords is a good place to start.
#10 How Will You Measure Results?
How do you know if all the time you’re investing in social media is paying off? A “spray and pray” approach will not help you determine your return on investment. By tying your social media goals to your metrics you will be able to track and measure your activities more strategically. A good way to think about ROI is to measure desired outcomes. For example, if your goal is to attract new patients, think about how you will track the conversion rate from social media.
Take Action: Go beyond vanity metrics such as likes, shares, or retweets to measure reach, audience engagement, sign-ups and conversions. Use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixels (a piece of code that placed on your website that allows you to track conversions from Facebook ads), and UTM parameters (short text codes added to a URL to track important data about website visitors and traffic sources) to track website traffic, conversions, and sign-ups from social media activity.
Conclusion
Social media is a dynamic environment in which new networks emerge, old networks evolve, and user bases continue to grow exponentially. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by this rapidly moving landscape and unsure of your progress. By building your social media strategy on a solid foundation you are less likely to become distracted by shiny new tools, and more likely to see results over the long-term. Your strategy starts with answering these ten questions; your answers will provide focus for your efforts, grow the reputation of your health experts, attract prospective patients, and ultimately improve the patient experience.
The benefits of planning your social media content in advance can dramatically improve your online presence and help you reach your marketing goals.
Here are six compelling reasons why you should consider adopting this strategy.
1. Consistency
Consistency is a cornerstone of successful social media marketing. Providing valuable and relevant posts consistently establishes your online presence as well as sets expectations for your audience. You demonstrate your expertise and commitment to their needs. Over time, this consistency positions you as a reliable source of information. Your audience is more likely to engage with your content, share it with others, and become loyal customers or followers as trust grows.
2. Trust and Credibility
Building trust with your audience is a fundamental element of any successful social media strategy. Planning ahead will not only help you build trust with them but also grow your online presence. You can establish yourself as a thought leader by providing valuable and informative content, making it more likely that people will seek out your expertise. Additionally, you can build trust and credibility beyond your immediate audience. The more people who share and recommend your content, the more people you reach.
3. Algorithm Visibility
Content that consistently engages users is favored by social media algorithms. Keeping a consistent publishing schedule and planning your posts in advance increases the opportunity to gain more visibility from the algorithms. Another aspect of improving algorithm visibility is engaging your audience. Responding to comments and messages shows you value your followers’ input and encourages them to interact with your posts more often. This engagement signals to the algorithms that your content is valuable and deserving of higher visibility.
This week I’m recommending Videoshop a free stand-alone video recorder and editing app.
Because the app enables you to record and edit video in one place, you don’t have to use several different apps to create your video. Features include the ability to integrate your favorite songs to your video, add subtitles and noises like applause sounds. You can also adjust video speed to slow or fast, merge multiple clips into one and choose transitions to animate between video clips.
Health Care Social Media 