OPTICAL PRISM | FEATURE
WIN
1 . Your target patient ; 2 . Your key services .
Again , if you ’ re focusing on family eye exams , then highlight that on your social media . But regardless of your target patient and key services , you need to provide value . Just like you educate patients in person , use your social media as a tool to educate and engage your patients .
WHERE ? Next , let ’ s figure out where you ’ re posting . Bring it back to your target patient . Depending on their age , you ’ ll probably want to focus on certain social media platforms .
Here are the biggest age groups for each major social media platform :
• Facebook : Ages 25-34 , 55-75 ;
• Instagram : Ages 25-35 ;
• Twitter : Ages 30-49 ;
• TikTok : Ages 18-24 ;
• YouTube : Ages 15-25 .
You should also think about what content you ’ re posting . Long-form video lends itself best to YouTube , whereas shorter , off-the-cuff videos are better for TikTok or Instagram Stories . If you want to share links to other websites , Facebook or Twitter are usually best . We find the top social channels for eye care practices are Facebook , Instagram and YouTube . posting a photo that isn ’ t perfect is better than not posting anything at all .
Another thing to consider is the time of day you ’ re posting . For the most part , the best time to publish posts is in the evening as this is when most people are using social media . If you ’ re using a social media scheduler , you can schedule your posts for the evening , so you ’ re not making posts after-hours .
Other Quick Tips
Once you have your plan in place , don ’ t forget to :
Be authentic : Social media is the place to humanize your practice ;
Embrace emojis : Emojis / emoticons help you convey the right tone ;
Use hashtags wisely : Don ’ t overdo it by picking 2-3 meaningful hashtags per post ;
Engage with users : Reply , like , and share posts from others .
Sticking to Your Plan
All this to say , there ’ s no one right way to do social media . In fact , you ’ ll probably want to use multiple platforms and tailor your content to each one . But no matter where you ’ re posting , always keep your patients in mind . OP
WHEN ? Once you ’ ve figured out where you ’ re posting , you need to stick to a consistent posting schedule . You don ’ t have to post every single day , but you probably want to post something at least once a week .
When it comes to social media , quantity can be better than quality . In a perfect world you ’ d have both , but in the real world ,
As a senior SEO specialist at Marketing4ECPs , Brynn spends her days creating content that ranks for eye care practices all over North America .
34 OPTICAL PRISM | July 2021