MARKETING HEALTHCARE
The Influencer Bug In Healthcare
By Tom Simba
Social media influencers have become an important tool for many marketing managers . Who is an influencer ? As the name suggests , this is a person who normally has a following of individuals whom he or she has sway in their decision making . This can be both negative and positive . The root of this power is the belief they are an authority on the subject matter . Their perceived knowledge and expertise of the products drive believability . There are at least four types of influencers , and each serves a different purpose and market .
Celebrities aka Mega Influencers
These are personalities who through careers and skills have amassed over a million followers . These include footballers , music celebrities , and those who have found fame through the internet , and socialites to name a few . They tend to be expensive and will attract big B2C companies the likes of EABL , Safaricom , and KCB amongst others . Barack Obama is an example of a mega influencer .
Macro Influencers
This type is defined by the number of followers being between a hundred thousand to one million . They have mastered the use of different platforms of social media and will build content that suits the social platforms . They are especially good at building brand awareness and recognition . They are typically expensive but much more affordable than their celebrity counterparts .
Micro-Influencers
These are more targeted influencers with a following of one thousand to a hundred thousand . In most cases , they have turned hobbies into a source of income as they have established themselves as a credible source of information and endorsement . They have a tight-knit community that is highly engaged . Talking percentage-wise , they beat the big brothers . They have better conversion rates typically because they tend to be niche driven .
Other Influencers
There are the kiosk influencers . Please note this is my name for them . These are the influencers with up to one thousand followers . Your WhatsApp group influencer , your colleagues who you follow and cannot wait to see what they post , your golf telegram group , and that individual who influences and plants a seed for a particular brand . In the health space , there are doctors who will influence colleagues on a particular brand of clinical equipment or pharmaceutical products .
In the last few months , we have seen hospitals driving their marketing through various influencers . This has produced varying degrees of success which begs the question , are they relevant in promoting services in the healthcare space ?
Health is taken seriously by most people . Even those who seem not to take it seriously may not be doing so due to a lack of willpower to do what needs to be done to stay healthy . Most smokers I have met want to stop smoking . Less those who take copious amounts of alcohol .
The first thing a healthcare influencer must have is credibility . A medical doctor who has been bitten by the social media bug creates the best healthcare influencer . The medical doctor or nurse takes great pride in their ability to spread health tips . These influencers are like no other .
Survivors of a health journey connect with audiences . These influencers are driven , and believability is on another level . You are likely to believe a cancer survivor because they have been on that journey and came out as warriors . We all love heroes , and when a hero speaks , we believe and connect . How many of us thought we are Jedi , fighting evil with light beam swords made of wood ? Locally , the influencers who have been used by hospitals grew their audiences from anything else other than clinical . This is not necessarily a bad thing , except in some cases the backlash from the public has been brutal . This kills the key ingredient of being a successful healthcare influencer , credibility . There is a belief that the good , bad , and ugly activities that generate awareness are good for the brand , but in healthcare , this does not hold water . Indeed , in many industries , one needs to think twice about embracing this philosophy .
In this era of fake news , social media has democratized the dissemination of information . It , therefore , becomes paramount to have an authentic influencer that will be able to credibly tell your story . Celebrities have therefore little influence on healthcare decision-making . The patient will ask the doctor who they view as a trusted source of information before consuming a clinical service .
In my opinion , there are many advantages of using credible influencers in marketing hospitals if certain rules and regulations have been followed . Sensualising services is certainly not the way to go . Researching the influencer background is paramount . You do not want to have an influencer who has a questionable past touching your hospital brand . Credibility is the golden rule in healthcare influencer marketing . Without it , there will be noise but not traction .
Tom Simba is the head of marketing and patient experience at AAR Hospital . You can commune with him on this or related matters via email at : Tmsimba @ gmail . com .
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