6 Marketing Tips for Facebook for Physical Therapy Practices

Facebook is the Google of social media—it is the most commonly used social media platform in the world with an average of almost 1 billion monthly users per http://ift.tt/StoFaj (almost 3x as many users as Twitter). Facebook is so popular that almost every major consumer brand has a dedicated team devoted just to managing their company’s Facebook accounts. As a PT practice owner, you can search “Facebook marketing tips” and get millions of articles each claiming to have unlocked the secrets of social media success. But how can you sift through the volumes and find marketing tips that work specifically for physical therapy clinics? We have created a short 6 tips list that combines best practices from major brands, physical therapy leaders, and individual clinics to provide you with the tools to become a Facebook rockstar!

1. Post smarter, not harder: one of the biggest social media mistakes is posting too much (or too little) to really see engagement with your followers. Most practices see success by posting 2-3 times per week. Try a combination of post types to see what works for your audience:
   1. Write a short teaser (Our spring newsletter is here! See how PT can help you get back into the swing of warm weather activities) and include a link to your e-newsletter
   2. Promote clinic news or announcements: new staff members (and link to their bio on your website), new service offerings, or incentive programs.
   3. Share! Share a post that you think your followers will like. We love Move Forward PT for Facebook ready physical therapy posts or try using seasonal or holiday messages to stay relevant.
2. Get more Likes: even the best posts will not generate results if no one sees them. Set a monthly target to grow your number of Likes to get more traffic on social media. Encourage patients to Like your Facebook page to stay up to date on clinic happenings and include call-to-action statements in your newsletter and website. Put a flyer up in your waiting room—patients usually are on their phones while they wait (and A LOT of people will probably be checking Facebook) so it’s a win-win of time and place.
3. Use Facebook Insights: many practice owners feel that social media is more of a guessing game than a science. Let’s change that by using analytics to track your social media marketing. All Facebook pages (business pages) have Insights already set up and collecting data behind the scenes. Why not start using these stats to check your progress? Read more on how to get started…
4. Create a CTA (Call to Action): Facebook is working to help its business pages be more than a collection of posts. By adding a CTA to your page, you can actually get new patients right from Facebook. We recommend using the Contact Us CTA since it is the most general and will make it easy for patients to reach you. Create your Facebook CTA today…
5. Start a conversation: Social media is not a one-way street. Your social media marketing plan should always focus on creating a conversation between your brand and your audience. A conversation doesn’t necessarily mean back and forth comments on a post—a Like, Comment, Share, Click all actively engage your followers. Ask open ended questions, “What is your favorite pre-workout stretch?” or be bold and ask for engagement “Like this post if you are running in the local 5K this weekend!”
6. Like other Pages: you want users (people and businesses) to Like your page to keep up to date with the practice’s news, and so do other businesses! Think about your referring doctors’ offices—they might post articles or updates to their Facebook page as a way to communicate with their patients. You can share the articles from your Page (see how) to engage in a “conversation” with both the office and your followers. You can also get updates about the offices, such as new hires, staff changes, and different treatment offerings that can mean big impacts to your practice. For example, a local doctor’s group posts 3x a week: 1) a new referral coordinator is hired, 2) they are no longer offering dry needling, and 3) a new insurance is now accepted. You now know to call and set up a meet and greet with the new coordinator; increase promotion of your dry needling services; and coordinate the new insurance changes that may increase the number of referrals your practice can accept. All of this is great news for your business and you could have missed all the updates by not following the office on Facebook!

Want more info on Facebook or other social media and how it can help grow your physical therapy practice? Check out our blog posts or webpage and look for updates on our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages!

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