For most people, Pinterest is nothing but a big visual search engine. It is a platform users turn to when looking for DIY projects to tackle, put-together outfits to wear, or recipes to make. But a lot of people fail to realize that Pinterest also provides a great opportunity, not only for businesses but also for healthcare providers and organizations.
Pinterest isn’t the first platform you’d think of when promoting your practice, but it can introduce your practice to a whole new audience. Plus, it can help you drive traffic to your website, generate leads, and even attract new patients.
So if you’re still not using Pinterest for your healthcare practice, now is the best time to get started. Here are 6 ways to use Pinterest for your healthcare marketing plan.
Create pin-worthy images
Pinterest is an image-sharing platform. It is filled with appealing eye candy. So if you want to get gain some traction on the platform, then you need to create eye-catching and attractive images.
Unlike other social media platforms, Pinterest’s images are tall and vertically-oriented. The ideal image size is 1,000 x 1,500px and an aspect ratio of 2:3. Also, including texts in your images can make a difference. Not only will it make your pins more enticing, it will also help users know exactly what your pin is about at a glance.
Educate your audience
According to Hootsuite, two-thirds of Pinterest users are women, and the majority of them are mothers. As moms, they are always looking for new ways to keep their kids healthy. If you’re a pediatrician, you can use the platform to educate them and promote healthy eating. You can share kid-friendly recipes, suggestions for making living a healthy lifestyle fun, or help moms identify health concerns in kids.
If you’re an OB/GYN, you can promote good breast health with pictures of what to expect during a mammogram. Or if you’re a cardiologist, you can create a pin on the importance of a stress test, and how to prepare for the said test. Simple pins like these can help take some of the anxiety out of such tests and would help your audience understand the importance of these tests.
Create boards centered around your specialty
Pinterest isn’t just about sharing your content and images. It’s an excellent platform where you can expand the idea of what your brand is.
Create boards that are centered around your specialty and make sure that it resonates with your audience. If you’re an OB/GYN, you could pin educational resources related to prenatal care, fertility tips, and gynecology information. If you’re a yoga instructor, you can create boards about yoga poses, yoga outfits, meditation, and healthy recipes.
The key is to create boards that interest your target audience. The more users engage with your content, the more likely will Pinterest see you as a great pinner. As a result, your content will be more visible in searches. Win-win.
Drive more traffic to your blog
Do you have an updated blog that you post content to? Pin your posts! Doing so can help drive traffic to your blog.
To capture the attention of your audience, the visuals need to stand out. It’s a great way to entice readers to click through your blog post. Keep in mind, though, that you don’t need to pin every blog post on Pinterest. Consider pinning blogs on topics that already have an audience on Pinterest.
To really maximize your pin’s potential, you also have to focus on your copy description. Provide enough information to entice a pinner to click through your blog.
The main goal is to draw people’s attention to your boards, get people to share your posts, and attract clients who are looking for your services. Keep these tips in mind when creating content for Pinterest. It won’t be long before you start seeing them coming to your website to find out more about what you offer.
See what topics are trending
One of the best things about Pinterest is that it gives you an opportunity to see and understand topics that are trending at the moment.
Pinterest acts as a search engine all on its own. Simply type in the keywords on the search bar to see what’s showing up on Pinterest already. Before you start creating pins and driving traffic to your website, it’s a good idea to look around on the platform to see what shows up. You can also check what your competitors are doing in the space.
According to Entrepreneur.com, pins related to trending topics see an average of 94% increase in click-throughs. Use the platform to find trending topics and use the information you gathered to position your products and services.
Promote your event
Pinterest might not get as much attention as compared to other social media channels. However, it remains to be a powerful platform for getting your content discovered and connecting with your audience. That said, this image-centric platform would be a great place for promoting upcoming events.
You can do this by creating boards specifically for your event. Make sure to include all relevant information, including the venue, behind-the-scenes photos, freebies, etc. Also, keep in mind that pinners are planners. In fact, 75% of pins are saved 1 to 2 months before an event. So make sure that you start pinning your event-related content months before the big day.