How to create the ultimate social media package for your hospital marketing campaign

4 tips to remember when utilizing social

Social media has become so much a part of our daily lives that we’ve forgotten about the basics of social media marketing. We’re too busy calculating Click Through Rates and impressions that we’ve forgotten what social media marketing started with: organic -unsponsored content.

Consistency is key with any brand, and reinforcing who you are on social media through branded icons, “about” blurbs, and a consistent voice is one of the best ways to engage audiences in an impactful way. Facebook reported that in 2016, users spent 50 minutes a day on average on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger platforms. Not only are the audiences using these platforms, but they are also interacting with brands. Brand engagement on Instagram is high at 4.21 percent — that’s 58 times greater than Facebook and 120 times higher than Twitter.

Beyond brand reinforcement, social media presents the opportunity to stretch your hospital’s campaign reach even further through a smart spend that utilizes organic content.

Here’s a start to what I would consider an ideal social media package*:

Paid Facebook Advertising

Paid newsfeed posts and carousel ads are easily targetable to the audience you are trying to reach, and they generate impressions/clicks.

Organic Facebook Page posts

It may seem obvious and/or easiest to copy and paste your promoted content into organic posts. Not so fast. Facebook will penalize you for doing this, and your posts will get seen less often. The organic content needs to be its own take.

Organic Facebook video posts, using Facebook uploader:

Uploading a video to Vimeo or YouTube is often necessary to embed it on websites, but Facebook, well, it loves itself. Your posts are more likely to appear, and will autoplay if you upload utilizing the Facebook video uploader. (Make sure that videos include captions, as autoplay won’t play audio.)

Organic Instagram photo + video posts:

Facebook’s ownership of Instagram means the platform is slowly converting into a moneymaker, but unless you work for a powerhouse brand, it isn’t yet feasible to utilize paid Instagram advertising (in other words, it’s expensive). That said, the platform is a beautiful space to share elements of your campaign through photos and videos.

Although you should reinforce your brand across all social media outlets, concentrating your efforts on specific platforms for specific campaigns is probably in your best interest. Twitter hashtag campaign? Don’t waste your time Pinterest? Maybe, depends on your audience. Other outlets exist, and maybe they are the right fit, but I think broadly speaking Facebook, and Instagram are the sweet spot.

To learn more about how to create the ultimate social media marketing plan for your organization, click here to download our latest social media calendar tool.