Instagram, Snapchat—What’s Next for Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing is ever evolving, from new updates and features to entirely new platforms. For most PT practices, it can be challenging to keep up with the latest trends and manage your existing platforms. How do you know where to put your resources and time? What platform is giving you the best return on investment? What is the true value of social media?

Social Media Marketing and the Big 3

Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are the big 3 of social media. With the lion’s share of active users, these platforms have key similarities and differences that make them still one of the most wide spectrum lenses of business’ social media marketing. Twitter continues to grow in followers and increased engagements, quickly becoming the top social media platform for many objectives. Tweets are short, sweet, and to the point. You can send 2-3 tweet per day without risking being too spammy for followers. Twitter also continues to roll out advancements that boost performance. For example, Twitter Cards are simple codes that you have a developer add to your website. Once that code is properly installed, your tweets automatically have added features that increase impressions, clicks, and engagements. If you aren’t already using Twitter or Twitter Cards, learn how to get started today.

LinkedIn also continues to grow in users, though it is decidedly more oriented towards professionals and job seekers. PT practices benefit from using LinkedIn for two main reasons: public relations and recruitment. LinkedIn is a great platform for connecting with doctors, medical representatives, and professional organizations (ie. APTA). Maintaining a business profile and syncing your regular social media posts to go to that account keeps your presence active without adding much additional effort. You can also easily recruit new PTs and staff through LinkedIn and those candidates will often check out your business page to get a feel for the practice. We don’t recommend spending more than 30 minutes or so a week on LinkedIn (unless you are actively recruiting) as the ROI in terms of getting new patients is not really high for this platform.

Facebook continues to be a front-runner for social media, but is starting to see a decline in both users and engagements. Most practices are already active on Facebook and this platform is the bulk of their social media marketing. We definitely recommend continuing to market your practice on Facebook, but monitor the engagements. Also, if you are running monthly paid marketing campaigns—closely watch the quality of the results as compared to your business metrics. Are you seeing a lot of likes, but not necessarily new patients? As more customers leave Facebook in favor of other platforms, you might not be able to attract the same quality leads.

The Future of Social Media Marketing

As the playing field changes, your marketing needs to adapt to the new ground rules. If a new platform gains traction (think Instagram, Snapchat etc.), be sure to set up your business profile to ensure that you protect your brand image. Whether Instagram is the next Facebook (or not), you want to ensure that your practice’s name and  account are secured for future use and marketing.

If you do want to try a new social media marketing tactic- start small and closely monitor the results over time. Its easy to see huge growth in the beginning and have that taper off after a few weeks. Conversely, it might be hard to get the wheels turning with attracting new followers and figuring out what to post and when. The new platforms are not a one to one match to Facebook. They are more specific and require different marketing strategies and content.

Want to learn more about social media marketing for PT practices? Stay tuned for new blogs and tips to help you maximize your results!

The post Instagram, Snapchat—What’s Next for Social Media Marketing? appeared first on Practice Promotions.

from Practice Promotions http://ift.tt/1RP5YRa
via IFTTT