Posts

How to Leverage Facebook Groups for Your Medical Practice

You probably belong to at least 3 Facebook groups, right? But have you ever considered creating one for your practice? If not, then you should.

In this blog post, we’ll show you how to leverage Facebook groups for your medical practice. Read on to discover how to use Facebook groups to support and grow your practice.

Build a community

Your practice or organization most likely has a Facebook Business Page. We highly recommend that you create a Facebook group in addition to your page as a way to engage with your audience on a more personal level.

People who will join your group are likely your most loyal patients and followers. They’re spending their free time reading your posts and sharing them with their family and friends. With Facebook groups, you have an opportunity to engage with them directly and show them that you care.

Establish authority as a thought leader

If you want to build authority as a thought leader, a Facebook group is a great way to get serious.

The key to building thought leadership is to blog regularly. Make sure, though, that your blogs are relevant to the industry and add value to the reader’s lives. Your Facebook group is an excellent place to share your blog posts as well as articles on trends and issues that impact your industry.

Thought leadership also requires staying up-to-date on the latest news and trends. Is there a newsworthy topic or a new law affecting the industry? Feel free to share your thoughts and opinion within the group.

Beat Facebook algorithm

It’s no secret that Facebook rewards engagement. In fact, Facebook pushes the post back up to the top every time someone reacts or comments on the post. The more people in your group are posting and interacting, the further your reach in the newsfeed will be.

To keep the flow of content going, regularly post things that will spark interaction among group members. Another idea is to ask open-ended questions. If they’re a really chatty bunch, let them dictate where the conversation is going. Ideally, you’re a benevolent leader who chimes in with support or wisdom when needed.

Provide value to the community

Most people turn to the internet for medical information. Some would visit health sites, while others would go around asking people for advice.

Suppose someone in your group asks specific questions about their condition and treatment, the best thing to do is to send this person a private message and invite him/her to your practice to discuss their question in person. This will help keep their information safe and ensure that you do not violate HIPAA.

Of course, you can still answer to the best of your understanding without sharing or asking for additional private information. You can also share some health tips, advice, as well as some helpful articles to further educate them.

It is a good idea to have rules in place about what is and isn’t appropriate to post. You want to keep the patient’s information private, while still fostering a sense of community and belongingness.

Create a sense of exclusiveness

Everyone wants to feel special, right? Private Facebook groups can provide just that. You have the option to keep the group private and hidden to emphasize exclusivity, keep the community tight-knit, and to keep the quality of discussions high.

You can create a group that is dedicated to your email subscribers. Each subscriber gets a link once they opt-in, so they can join the group. And since it’s a private group, only those who are inside the group can see who’s in the group, the posts, etc.

People can request to join, but you’ll have to screen them first before they can enter. Having some sort of fo qualification for admittance to the group naturally builds a stronger community. People feel like they’re a part of a special club.

Patient support group

People who are dealing with chronic illness, mental health issues, and other conditions can benefit from a support group.

By meeting and talking to people with the same condition as them, they will realize that they are not alone. That they aren’t the only person in the world who is experiencing the same problem. Plus, it gives them hope, seeing others in the group who are further along their road to recovery.

A support group can be their safe haven. Here, they are free to share their feelings and life circumstances within a safe and supportive environment.

As a healthcare professional, you are free to offer tips and advice to help patients deal with certain issues. You can also recommend some books and other resources that will further educate them.

How to Leverage Facebook Groups for Your Medical Practice

How to Leverage Facebook Groups for Your Family Medicine Practice

How to Leverage Facebook Groups for Your Yoga Practice

How to Leverage Facebook Groups for Your Acupuncture Practice

RulesofFacebookforAdmins

Many of you have probably forgotten about Facebook groups, but it’s actually one of the best tools for engaging with your audience. It is also a great way to invite people with the same interest with you and get them to converse about the same topic.

How do you get the people in your group to become more engaged? Here are 4 ways to increase social engagement in your Facebook group.

Be active

As the administrator of the group, it is your responsibility to get the conversation cracking. Ask question that will encourage members to chime in and join in the discussion. If you’re not active in the group, then they won’t either. Also, make sure you post the type of content your members want to see.

Welcome new members

Much like a tourist visiting a new city, people would spend some time on your group, exploring what it has to offer. Unless they know they felt at home, they won’t want to stick around or engage with you and other members.

Create a welcome message for every 10 or more members who have joined your group. Include details like why the group exists and who the group is for. Let them know that they are welcome to post and share within the group.

Make it fun

If you want to keep people active in your community, then you need to give them a reason to keep coming back. You can ask members to share something that they like. Invite them to tap into a part of their lives that excites them and lightens them up. Another way is to host an exclusive giveaway to reward loyal customers.

Do not advertise your business on the group

Use your group as a platform to engage with your target audience and get to know them well. People don’t want to hear about your products. Rather, they want to participate in discussions that are related to a topic they are interested in. You want them to see your group as a place where they can learn, share and collaborate.

FacebookGroups_1.13.15

Since business owners have discovered that they could make fans through their Facebook page and market through a broader group of consumers, many of them have slowly abandoned the Facebook groups and focused their time on managing their page.

With so many changes taking place on the said platform, business owners have assumed that groups are no longer effective. But as soon as they abandoned the groups, they seem to forget about the “social” in social media. They focused on paid advertisement, limiting the interaction between the company and it audience.

So how do you use Facebook groups for your business? Here are 4 ways.

Exchange ideas with group members

When thinking of creating a group, one of the main reasons should be to keep in touch with your audience.

While a business page allows a company to broadcast new products, services or content, Facebook groups is a good place to ask questions or start a conversation with actual customers without posting a sales pitch.

Gather people of like interest

We do like to converse with people with the same interest as ours, right?

Through Facebook groups, you can gather people of like interest together. Here, you can ask questions, tell stories and offer advice to others. As the conversation evolves and as you start building a relationship with the group members, they might consider inviting some of their friends to the group.

Provide customer support

For small businesses that are still not capable of hiring people and offer customer support round-the-clock, having an active Facebook group is advantageous as it gives customers a place to share, collaborate and connect with others. Here, people can offer support and advice to fellow customers, even if you’re not online.

Create a secret group

A secret group provides you the chance to interact with your loyal customers. Here, you can give them exclusive updates to your newest products or services. Plus, it gives an incentive to customers who have supported your company through the years.