Benefits of Using
Facebook for Healthcare Providers

Search

Consumers don’t just use traditional search engines like Google. Four out of five social media users turn to Facebook to search for health information. And nearly half turn to social media when searching for information about a specific doctor or health professional. In fact, there are more than 2 billion searches per day on Facebook.

Local Presence & Direct Connections

When completed correctly, your Facebook business page provides followers with all the information they need to contact you at their fingertips. From the About section, they can link directly to your website, call your phone number or get driving directions for reaching your office.

Mobile Ready

Americans conduct two-thirds of their online activity (and spend 80% of social media time) on mobile devices—either phones or tablets. With Facebook, your page is already optimized for that platform, and can include quick one-click connections for users who visit your Facebook page on their mobile device as mentioned above.

Increased Exposure & Awareness

Facebook’s strength is in the ripple effect: Each time one of your patients “likes” or “follows” your page, “checks in” on Facebook at your office, writes a review on your Facebook page or comments on one of your posts, it shows up in their own newsfeed, potentially reaching hundreds more people (because the average Facebook user has 155 friends in his or her network).

Patient Engagement to Strengthen Relationships

Unlike most marketing platforms, Facebook is designed to be interactive. Engaging content includes inspirational and educational material your patients will want to share, as well as more personal posts asking questions and encouraging an active conversation. According to Pew Research, among the most engaged and active audiences on social media are individuals coping with a disability or a chronic health condition. Your Facebook posts are an ideal way to offer them both useful information and a platform for sharing their own tips with other patients.

You can also use Facebook to personalize and humanize your office, with staff profiles and photos from office events such as holiday celebrations.

Implied Referrals

When your patients follow your Facebook page and interact with your posts, their activity can be seen by members of their social media network, providing an implied recommendation of your practice. And when as many as 80% of new patients for independent healthcare providers are generated through word-of-mouth, those implied referrals matter.

These referrals carry even more weight among young people: Half of social media users under the age of 35 will follow their friends’ product and service recommendations.

Of course, your patients can also offer direct reviews on your Facebook page of why they love your practice.