Question: Should organizations in the healthcare industry place advertisements on social media?
Answer: Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWdOuAzlgP3/
Shivani and our newest friends over at vybe know this. Obviously.
Hear me out. The Blasters realize healthcare isn’t always the sexiest or flashiest topic like trendy shoes, but on the backend of each social platform, advertising is a must.
Just like the fashion, gaming, entertainment and food industries, social ads will help those in the healthcare industry gain the results they need. Whether it’s higher website traffic or brand awareness, social advertising can easily lend a hand.
Most importantly, the targeting capabilities are endless. There is nothing more important than knowing your audience’s true demographics to gain the right ad results. You must become a subject matter expert. (Adding that to my resume, brb.)
A few of our clients have learned this through various successful campaigns. Before we talk about how amazing and creative they are, let’s discuss our options. We promise not to target you like Ramsay Bolton.
Targeted audiences: ah, pure gold. Customization is key here. You wouldn’t want to target the all of the United States when you only service patients in Philadelphia right? Let’s think about who your core audience is. Who are you really trying to reach?
Most or all social advertising platforms allow businesses to target by locations, demographics, interests and behaviors. For an example, you could target the following social media users: Male or Females, ages 28 to 46, who are Physician Assistants, that attended Thomas Jefferson University and are interested in cardiac care.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXYaC38DMiW/
Hello. Congrats on the white coats. But did we target any of you?
Targeting by demographics and interests are very useful, but there are even more strategic options through contact information. For an example, within your patients and clients, you may have contact information. Loading in email addresses, phone numbers and more would allow you to target those people on social media directly. While directly targeting these people, you could also flip the switch and create a lookalike audience.
Alright, things are about to get a little creepy. Fasten your seat belts.
Platforms like Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram have the capability to use any type of contact list to increase the probability of reaching the audience you want. (K. What does that mean?)
No, really. Each social media users put personal information about themselves on their personal profile. Each platform is then able to translate that insight into demographics. You’re probably thinking, “Wait, [favorite social media platform] is able to match my personal information up with someone else’s contact information?”
Mmmhm. Essentially, they’re marrying contact databases with each platform’s targeting data.
That may be a lot to chew on right now. Let’s shift gears and meet some of our healthcare clients.
[Editor’s Note: We’re going to dial down the details. Can’t give away the secret sauce.]
Crossroads Hospice
(YTD: 27,120 page views on the blog, more than 10k Facebook users reached.)
Advertising Goals: Increase website traffic, awareness of services and overall social presence.
Targeting: Healthcare providers and/or consumers located 25 miles within each location with specific likeminded interests and behaviors.
Results: In 2017, we’ve seen 640,997 impressions and 18,359 ad results. #Winning.
Bragging Rights: Healthline crowned Crossroads Hospice as one of “The Best Palliative Care Blogs of the Year.” (Raise the roof. The kids still say that, right?)
Einstein Healthcare Network
https://www.facebook.com/EinsteinHealth/videos/vb.112992061496/10154495901131497/
(YTD: More than 42k video views, 95k Facebook users reached. Wow.)
Advertising Goals: Promote healthy and delicious recipes surrounding cardiovascular health through compelling time lapse videos.
Targeting: Facebook and Instagram users surrounding each Einstein location with interest and behaviors surrounding heart health, food and eating habits.
Results: 228,024 engagements and 946,701 impressions, which resulted in 24.09% result rate. Hungry? So are we with an industry standard of 4–5 percent.
Main Line Health – Cruisin’ Smart®
Advertising Goals: Utilize Snapchat’s geofilters to raise awareness about distracted driving and driving under the influence during 4th of July fireworks.
Targeting: Snapchat users in the location of four specific fireworks locations.
Results: 355 engagements and 1,917 impressions within a three-hour window. #Kaboom.
vybe
https://www.facebook.com/vybecare/videos/vb.237044950064589/339353936500356/
vybe urgent care is on the scene, y’all.
Advertising Goals: As our newest healthcare client, we will focus on one of vybe’s #goals.
Some people do not know how to differentiate when to visit the emergency room or an urgent care center. vybe wants to educate the public and grow awareness on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Above is one of the branded videos boosted for awareness and engagement.
Targeting: All vybe locations are currently in Philadelphia. We did not target outside the city for this reason. We also wanted to reach parents, young professionals and those with likeminded interests and behaviors.
Results: From the video above, we received more than 2.4k video views and reached more than 6k people. Spreading the wealth and knowledge of staying healthy, one day at a time.
That was fun, right? Targeting can be tricky, but that’s no excuse, healthcare industry. Your audience is on social media. Who you gonna call? The AdBlasters. Dunnanananana.
