Thursday Tip – Page 4 – Health Care Social Media

#ThursdayTip: Deciding on a Facebook Page Vs a Facebook Group For Your Healthcare Business

Posted on March 18, 2021March 18, 2021 by Editor

Welcome to this week’s social media quick tip. This week I want to show you how to choose whether a Facebook Page or a Facebook Group is better for your healthcare business.

In her post, which sets out to provide the definitive answer to the question of Pages vs Groups, Andrea Vahl describes the difference as follows:

When you post something on your Page, people see that post in their News Feed as coming from your Page. Then your Page can also participate in the comment section of the post. In Groups, you are participating as a personal profile with the Group name also mentioned in the discussion.

4 Reasons To Create A Facebook Page For Your Healthcare Business

Vahl outlines the following 4 reasons in her post.

Facebook Pages have built-in analytics. You can measure what is working.
You can advertise via Facebook Pages.
Facebook Pages are more branded as your business. Groups facilitate discussion but you are participating as your profile.
Facebook Pages allow the installation of Apps that can help you collect e-mail addresses and leads or do things like run contests.

When Should You Use Facebook Groups?

The number #1 reason from a visibility viewpoint to use Facebook’s Groups feature is that you will be much more visible in the News Feed. At the start of 2018, Facebook announced major changes to the Facebook news feed which meant that people see fewer posts from Pages. It appears that Groups aren’t taking the hit that Pages are in the news feed, so using them in tandem with your Page is a good strategy to increase visibility.

Vahl explains, that “Groups can have higher organic growth rate than Pages because of the fact that they are more visible. For a Page to grow organically, you do need to invest time in adding great content and possibly promoting it with ads.”

A Facebook Group is a natural fit for healthcare as it facilitates a stronger sense of community and conversation. However, this can be a disadvantage if you don’t have the time to moderate these discussions.

So, as always factor in the time you will have to engage with Group discussions.

Over to you

Do you use Facebook Pages or Groups in your healthcare communication? Or a combination of both? What have you found works best for you?

You might also like to read 10 Tips To Create More Engaging Content For Your Facebook Page

Thursday Tip

#ThursdayTip: How To Create Live Videos on Twitter

Posted on June 18, 2020June 18, 2020 by Editor

Welcome to this week’s social media quick tip. This week I want to show you how to create live videos on Twitter.

With the announcement of its new live-streaming option, which will enable users to add audio-only guests into their streams, I thought it might be helpful to go through the steps needed to create live videos on Twitter. I’ve also included instructions on how to add a guest to your broadcast and how to share your video with followers.

How to start a live video

Swipe left from the home timeline or tap from the composer.
Tap the live mode at the bottom selector.
To go live with audio but not video, tap the microphone at the top right. This will turn off the camera, and you’ll be heard by viewers, but not seen.
Fill in an optional description that will appear as a Tweet, and a location if desired. Then press Go live.
Your live broadcast, with description and location (if added), will appear in a Tweet in your follower’s timeline and on your profile.

How to end a live video

You can end a live video at any time by pressing the Stop button on the top left and confirming your action in the menu that comes up. Your live videos will automatically be posted as a Tweet when you go live. You can also save your live video right to your device’s camera roll at the end of your live video by tapping Save to camera roll.

How to add a guest to live video

When enabled, viewers of the live broadcast can request to join as a guest. Up to 3 guests can participate in a live broadcast at one time. Broadcasters can choose to turn off the camera, and participate as audio only. Guests will participate with audio, and can be heard by all viewers.

To start a live broadcast with guests:

Open the camera by swiping left from your timeline.
Tap the Live mode at the bottom.
To allow live viewers to request to join your broadcast, tap the icon on the upper right.
Tap Go LIVE to begin your broadcast.
When a viewer has asked to join your broadcast, a notification will appear in the chat. You can also view the call-in list by tapping the icon on the bottom bar and see every viewer who has requested to join the broadcast.
Tap the ± to add them to the broadcast. There will be a 5 second countdown before they join.
To remove a guest from the broadcast, tap the X on the top right of their avatar.

To join a live broadcast as a guest

While watching a live broadcast that has guests enabled, tap the icon, then tap Ask to join.
The broadcaster must approve your request to join as a guest.
Once accepted, a 5-second countdown will appear onscreen before you are added to the broadcast. If you choose not to join, tap Cancel.
Your audio will be heard by all viewers of the broadcast.

To leave the broadcast as a guest

To exit the live broadcast as a guest, tap on the icon on the bottom, and select Hang up, or simply tap the X at the top left of the screen. When you leave the broadcast as a guest, you can continue to watch the live broadcast as a viewer.

How to share a live broadcast or replay

Your live video can go anywhere that a Tweet can go. This means that it’ll be searchable in the Twitter app, on the Twitter website, and it can be embedded on other websites just like any other Tweet. It will also exist and be searchable on Periscope, which powers live videos on Twitter.

From the live video or replay full-screen mode, click or tap the share icon then choose between the following options:

Click or tap Share Live (when live) or Share From Beginning (when in replay mode) to Tweet, Direct Message, or copy the link of a full live video or replay from the beginning.
Click or tap Share from… to Tweet, Direct Message, or copy the link of a live video or replay starting at a point chosen using the selection bar.

How to edit your videos

In the Twitter for iOS and Android apps, you can change the title, thumbnail image, and set a custom starting point after ending a broadcast. To get started, tap on the broadcast you’d like to edit. Tap on the overflow menu, then tap the Edit Broadcast option. Once you make your changes you’ll be prompted to save.

Keep in mind that broadcast titles can only be edited up to three times. Additionally, it will take up to 15 minutes for edits to appear in Twitter, and up to a minute for them to appear in Periscope.

Here’s to your social media success!

#HCSM, Thursday Tip

#ThursdayTip: How To Assign Admin Roles on Facebook

Posted on May 21, 2020May 21, 2020 by Editor

Welcome to this week’s social media tip. Today I want you to show you how to assign admin roles on your Facebook Page.

Facebook allows five different administrator roles: admin, editor, moderator, advertiser and insights analyst. Each role has different capabilities.

Admin can manage all aspects of the Page. They can publish and send Messenger messages as the Page, respond to and delete comments on the Page, post from Instagram to Facebook, create ads, see who created a post or comment, view insights, and assign Page roles. If an Instagram account is connected to the Page, they can respond to and delete comments, send Direct messages, sync business contact info and create ads.

Editor can publish content and send Messenger messages as the Page, respond to and delete comments on the Page, create ads, see who created a post or comment, post from Instagram to Facebook, and view insights. If an Instagram account is connected to the Page, they can respond to and delete comments, send Direct messages, sync business contact info and create ads.

Moderator can send Messenger messages as the Page, respond to and delete comments on the Page, create ads, see who created a post or comment, and view insights. If an Instagram account is connected to the Page, they can respond to Instagram comments, send Direct messages and create ads.

Advertiser can create ads, see who created a post or comment, and view insights. If an Instagram account is connected to the Page, they can create ads.

Analyst can create ads, see who created a post or comment, and view insights. If an Instagram account is connected to the Page, they can create ads.

To assign a role go to Settings on your Page, and click on Page Roles. Scroll down through the options above to choose which roles you wish to assign to your team members.

Here’s to your social media success!

Thursday Tip

#ThursdayTip: How To Post To Social Media At The Best Times

Posted on April 23, 2020 by Editor

Welcome to this week’s social media quick tip. This week I want to show you how to post to social media at the best times.

Content has no value unless it’s amplified. One way to ensure amplification and optimize your social media reach is to post your content at the right so they reach your audience when they are online.

If you search for optimum posting times, you will find many guides online. You can follow these recommendations as a starting point, but I do recommend you do your own testing to see which days and times work best for your own particular audience within your industry.

One of the most comprehensive guides to the best times to post for the major social platforms is this one from Sprout Social.

Some of the top-line stats at a glance are listed below. These are global visualizations — for a more granular and industry-specific focus see the report in full.

Best times to post on Facebook

The best times to post to Facebook are Wednesday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Wednesday is the best day to post on Facebook.
The safest times to post are weekdays from 9 a.m.–3 p.m.
Sunday has the least amount of engagement for Facebook during the week.
Early mornings and evenings, before 7 a.m. and after 5 p.m. have the least amount of engagement per day.

Best times to post on Instagram

The safest times to post are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Another higher engagement time period occurs on Saturday around 10 a.m.
Sunday has the least engagement, as well as every day from 11 p.m–3 a.m.

Best times to post on Twitter

The best times to post on Twitter are Wednesday at 9 a.m. and Friday at 9 a.m.
Tuesday and Wednesday are the best days to post on Twitter.
The safest times to post are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.–4 p.m.
Saturday gets the least engagement.
Times to avoid that get the lowest engagement are every day from 10 p.m–4 a.m.

To sum up

Consistent social sharing can help you stay top of mind with your audience. It’s a common mistake to only post content once and then not again. To get the most engagement, visibility and reach, reshare your content on multiple networks at various times and in different ways. Vary your updates when you do — for example, highlight a different statistic or quote, or ask your audience a question.

These data points are general but they provide a good starting point to start testing your audience engagement. Try them for a month, take note of your findings and see if your engagement shifts at the end of the month.

Here’s to your social media success!