Engage and measure: dynamic social media strategies for healthcare & wellness marketing
Introduction
We know intuitively the effectiveness of your social media strategy can make or break the success of your health and wellness brand. What may be less clear is the connection content has to that strategy. So today, we’re going to talk about how to leverage the content you already have (this will help you build efficiency!) and what to do with it once you have it.
A term I want to introduce as we move through this process is called “liquifying content.” I got this from an web-marketing guru on my team when I was the CMO at a late-stage tech startup. Liquified content refers to a method to use content across multiple platforms efficiently. Whereas it’s tempting for business owners or marketers to believe they need net-new content for every single marketing campaign or program, this fast-paced, scrappy approach to leveraging what you have smarter can be equally powerful for healthcare and wellness professionals as tech startups.
Forbes reported earlier this year that “Social media and community-building efforts are where businesses spend most of their content marketing budget.” And, as social media evolves, AI makes content more and more easy to produce, the importance of versatile, engaging content put to good use will become apparent. It’s long been the cornerstone of any successful digital strategy and while the tools and patterns may change, I don’t expect the “content is king” fundamental to change anytime soon.
Crafting and utilizing compelling content
What is "liquifying" content?
To recap, "liquifying" content refers to taking a single piece of content and extending its life across various media forms. To illustrate, let’s let's pretend you’ve written a blog post about pain management and want to get the biggest bang for your buck on what you’ve created across social media. So, rather than simply posting it on your blog and being done, you could amplify its reach by transforming it into several different types of engaging content.
How to leverage a single piece of content
Curious how you could turn a foundational piece of content into other form factors (thereby liquifying it)? Here are a few ideas & a handy flow chart to get you thinking.
Watch one great idea spread across your channels by “liquifying” the content!
Video: Create a short video highlighting the key points of your blog post. This video can be shared on YouTube, embedded in your website, or even cut into smaller clips for social media. In fact, according to Hubspot, 90% of marketers who used short form videos in 2022 planned to increase their investment in 2023, and we can anticipate that trend to continue.
Infographics: Extract data or steps outlined in your blog and convert them into an infographic. This visual format is perfect for sharing on platforms like Pinterest and Instagram, where visual content thrives.
Podcast: Discuss the themes of your blog in a podcast episode. Invite a specialist in pain management to add credibility and depth to your discussion, making it appealing for auditory learners and podcast enthusiasts.
Social media snippets: Break down your blog into actionable tips or quotes and share these snippets across your social media platforms. Each post can drive traffic back to the full blog on your website.
Live Q&A sessions: Host a live session on Facebook or Instagram where you discuss pain management techniques covered in your blog and answer live questions from your audience. This interaction not only boosts engagement but also personalizes your brand.
User-generated content: Encourage your audience to share their own stories and tips related to pain management (or whatever your blog is about). Feature these stories on your channels to build community trust and engagement.
Webinars: Participate in or host webinars that delve deeper into related topics. Whether you join as a guest on someone else's webinar or organize your own, this format allows for in-depth discussion and positions you as a thought leader in your field.
Legal considerations
When expanding your content across different formats, especially if you incorporate user-generated content or content from external contributors, always ensure you have the proper permissions and adhere to privacy laws such as GDPR, particularly if you're collecting and using personal data through your campaigns.
The liquifying content approach maximizes your content's exposure and effectiveness, ensuring that you reach your audience through various touch points, thereby increasing engagement and enhancing your brand’s presence in the digital healthcare market.
Best practices for content distribution
Timing and frequency
Mastering the art of timing can transform your content strategy.
In the last section, we talked about “what” part of effective content distribution - now let’s get into the “when” and “how often.”
Here's a more detailed guideline on how often to engage with your audience across different platforms:
Blogs: Posting 1-2 times a week helps keep your content fresh and maintains high SEO rankings. Regular posting schedules signal to search engines that your site is continually updated with fresh content, which is crucial for maintaining visibility.
Social media: The frequency can vary by platform. For instance:
Instagram: 1-2 posts per day will ensure you stay visible without overwhelming your followers. At least once a week is recommended.
X (formerly Twitter): 3-5 times a day can be ideal due to the fast-paced nature of this platform. Tweets have a short lifespan, so higher frequency can improve your chances of catching the audience’s attention. If that’s too much for you, that’s understandable.
Newsletters: Sending out newsletters monthly helps maintain engagement without overwhelming your subscribers. This frequency ensures your brand stays top-of-mind while respecting the inbox clutter that many experience. Want more details about email marketing? Check out our blog, “Effective email strategies for alternative health practitioners.”
Engaging captions, effective hashtags & best practices
Enjoy delicious social media strategies.
Timing isn’t the only best practice to consider. Other tools and best practices play a significant role in how your content performs on social media, impacting both engagement and discoverability.
Captions
They should provide context to the image or video, invite engagement, and include a call to action. A compelling caption can enhance the scannability of your posts and improve their performance in terms of engagement and reach.
Hashtags
These serve as a tool for categorizing content and helping users find posts relevant to their interests. For example, a post for a massage therapist about the benefits of Swedish massage might include hashtags like #SwedishMassage, #Relaxation, and #HealthBenefits.
Calls to action
Not all social platforms are created equal in terms of allowing you to share a solid call to action to an outside link, but where possible, don’t forget to ask your audience to do something with you as a part of the post or follow up marketing. Or more, check out our blog, “What are CTAs? The Do's and Don'ts of CTA Design.”
Incorporating these detailed practices into your digital healthcare marketing and healthcare marketing plan can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your social media efforts, ensuring that your health and wellness content not only reaches a wider audience but also engages them effectively.
Developing a content calendar
We can’t talk about managing content on social media without discussing a content calendar - this is a best practice worth considering. A content calendar organizes when and where you publish your content. There are a ton of tools that can help you organize your content. Many of these are great, but most of them require paid subscriptions to get the most benefit. I’ve used a number of them in previous roles, but for what it’s worth, for this blog, I organize my thoughts in a spreadsheet because my business at this time simply isn’t complex enough to warrant a more robust tool. That said, if you’re interested in tools, by all means, check them out.
Understanding virality in social media
What does it mean to go viral?
To go viral means that a piece of content rapidly spreads across social media platforms and other channels, reaching a large audience far beyond the original target. Viral content typically engages viewers through humor, emotional appeal, novelty, or relatability, prompting them to share with their networks. Sprout Social, a social posting tool I’ve used with some success in the past, posted a great blog about recent social media trends.
Examples of viral content
Strategy over volume: Amplify your message with precision, not just noise
Recent examples include the "#InMyFeelings" challenge, which took off after celebrities and influencers participated, and the rapid spread of the "Dalgona Coffee" recipe during early pandemic lockdowns. These instances show how combining timely themes with engaging, easy-to-participate formats can capture the public's imagination.
How to encourage virality
Engage emotions: Content that strikes an emotional chord, whether it’s joy, nostalgia, or even outrage, tends to be shared more.
Encourage participation: Challenges or prompts that invite user participation can gain momentum quickly.
Time it right: Content related to current events or trending topics is more likely to become viral.
Be authentic: People resonate with authenticity. Think about your audience and how your unique brand voice will jive with them with our free guide, “Crafting your unique brand voice in healthcare: a practical guide.”
Why you shouldn't bank on going viral
Years ago, as I weighed a compensation package a startup was offering me, a mentor advised optimizing more for a steady paycheck than over-rotating on too many speculative stock options. After all, sure, the startup could blow up in a good way, but chances were it wouldn’t, so may as well have a steady flow of income one way or another. I still kept some stake in the game with the stock, but I didn’t compromise on the paycheck I needed.
The same goes for focusing your healthcare marketing strategy solely on virality – it’s just really risky to put all your eggs in the “let’s hope this one thing works” basket because more often than not, the strategy doesn’t work. And chances are you’ll need a solid, steady social content calendar either way.
In other words, most content, no matter how well-crafted, does not go viral. The algorithms governing visibility on social media platforms are complex and constantly changing, making virality a moving target that is difficult to hit consistently.
Building a robust social media strategy
Instead of relying on virality, health and wellness brands should focus on building a strong foundation of consistent, quality content that engages their specific audience. This involves what we’ve already discussed: awesome content built for a variety of mediums, regular posting and maybe, just maybe, a little luck.
Setting goals and measuring success
Key performance indicators
Numbers guide our journey: Start right and stay the course with precise KPI tracking.
By tracking the right KPIs (engagement rates, click-throughs, conversions), you can gauge what resonates with your audience and refine your strategies for better results. We aren’t going to dive too deep into the metrics here because we recently wrote a blog post all about marketing metrics. Check it out, “Navigating the numbers: essential marketing metrics for wellness businesses”
Tools for tracking performance
Google Analytics and Hootsuite are excellent tools for monitoring online engagement, with both offering free versions to get you started. Also, all social platforms themselves will offer analytics baked in, you just won’t be able to see a full picture of your social strategy (for example, Facebook will never offer analytics on how your YouTube videos are performing, and all of them will have limited visibility about what social engagers do with your website after they aren’t on the social platform anymore).
Conclusion
Social media strategy is an ongoing process of adaptation and learning to build a solid content foundation. By "liquifying" your content, you can efficiently craft engaging posts and measure their impact. This approach ensures your social media efforts are both effective and sustainable, helping your health and wellness brand thrive in a competitive digital landscape.
Here's to your success in building a social media presence that truly resonates with your audience!