Implementing a social media presence is a big step towards effectively marketing a medical practice or facility. For many practices, the decision to get started in social media was arduous. Once the presence has been established, practices often find themselves waiting for the phone to start ringing off the hook with new leads. While social media does work at increasing patients, the growth doesn’t happen over night. That is why it is important to measure the efficacy of your social media efforts.
Return on investment (ROI) is a familiar concept to most business owners. It is the measure of the effectiveness of a marketing strategy, represented as a percentage of positive or negative growth. By this definition, it may seem easy to put your medical marketing ROI into concrete figures.
When it comes to social media however, the amount of return your practice realizes can be challenging to determine. The efficacy of a social media campaign often cannot be defined in such substantial terms, because a social media marketing strategy in a healthcare setting involves more than a simple exchange of money.
Is social media ROI the number of Twitter followers you have? Is it the number of likes your Facebook page receives on a consistent basis? Not necessarily. Consider WakeMed, a Raleigh community hospital. It has a little less than four thousand fans on Facebook and around five thousand followers on Twitter. Even when combining those numbers, that’s still a large disparity for a hospital that sees over two hundred thousand patients a year. It is less than three percent of its total patronage.
Social media ROI is not a measure of popularity. It’s a measure of efficacy. If you only have a handful of followers, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve invested too much time or money into your social media campaign. In order to track your ROI, you need to consider the desired end – your social media goal. Are you trying to increase the number of patient visits? Are you trying to fulfill patient needs that are otherwise going unmet? Are you offering a better solution to a prominent problem? You must understand your intent before you can attach a value to it.
Mindstream Creative works with your practice to determine that value. Through healthcare consulting and social media management, we can create a strategic marketing plan that can meet your practice’s needs in the most efficient manner. Driving social media ROI starts with a vision. Come share yours with us!