Facebook, much like Google, is constantly evolving, staying ahead of the spammers, the scammers, the cheaters, and the haters. The relentless evolution has purpose – to better the brand experience for Fans, and to make money. These are essentially the same philosophies that drive every business, including healthcare and medical business. With that said, some new News Feed changes should be accounted for, and a fresh look at your healthcare marketing on Facebook needs to be addressed. Let Quaintise walk you though it.
(By the way, for all of your social media healthcare marketing tips and advice, as well as the latest Facebook marketing news and innovations subscribe to our Quaintise RSS feed or follow us on Facebook!)
“Bye, bye SEO?”
InsideFacebook.com, one of the premiere resources for understanding Facebook, published an article yesterday titled “Bye, bye SEO? Make Facebook Optimization Story Bumping and Last Actor Work For Your Today.” Of course, the ‘Bye, bye SEO’ tease got my attention.
The two new concepts that Facebook has released to update it’s News Feed include Story Bumping and Last Actor. InsideFaceboo.com shares with us what these exactly mean:
- Story Bumping – This shows older stories that the user might have missed the last time they perused their News Feed. In other words, the stories are new to the user, although possibly older than the current time they’re viewed. Facebook saw:
- a 5 percent increase on interaction with stories from Friends
- an 8 percent increase in interaction on stories from Pages
- an overall increase in stories read from 57 percent to 70 percent
- Last Actor – This involves real time “signaling,” where Facebook tracks the last 50 interactions a user has done within the social network on a rolling basis, and uses that to rank which stories to show in a feed.
What I want you to notice is the “overall increase in stories read from 57 percent to 70 percent.” This is a big jump, and could mean big things for your social media healthcare marketing campaign.
Do Your Patients See Your Posts?
According to Facebook itself, 16 percent of your Fans will actually see your Page posts. That is a remarkably low number, and yet in 2011 that number was as low as three to 7.5 percent.
Thankfully, Facebook seems to be taking steps to improving that 16 percent, but you, the healthcare marketer, physician or specialist must give Facebook a reason to increase that 16 percent for you specifically. How do you make that happen? Let Quaintise show you:
1. Post Photos –
Don’t just post a photo, post a photo with an engaging description and call to action. Photo posts get 39% more interaction on Facebook then any other form of post. More importantly, photo posts get 84% more click-throughs than traditional link posts. As a physician on Facebook, look to The Cleveland Clinic or Family Practice Specialists for examples on what these photo posts look like, and how they can improve engagement with your Fans. Ultimately, improved engagement means that 16 percent will increase dramatically.
Of course, this is subject to each specific physician Facebook Page. For example, Quaintise client Family Practice Specialist’s Facebook Page receives the greatest amount of engagement through links to the website, while Arizona OBGYN Affiliates receives the greatest amount of engagement from photo posts.
2. Short and Sweet –
There is a practical reason why Twitter initially took off like it did, and why it’s continuing to grow in leaps and bounds – short posts. On Twitter, you’re limited to 140 characters, which is not necessarily a bad thing according to new stats showing that shorter posts actually generate more engagement – 23 percent more to be exact.
3. Perfect Timing –
Every social media marketing agency in the healthcare industry is going to tell you the perfect day of the week and time of the day to post on Facebook when, in fact, it all depends on your target audience. Overall, statistics from Buddy Media show that posts on Thursday and Friday receive higher engagement numbers, but as the social media expert at Quaintise I’ve also seen statistics showing Saturday afternoons and Wednesdays to be the most engaging days and times.
In order to know when the perfect time to post your to reach your patients, you’ll need to analyze your page’s Insights. For example, if we look at Quaintise client Arizona OBGYN Affiliates Facebook Insights, we see that Thursday and Fridays right after lunch is the best time to post. But if we look at Quaintise client Family Practice Specialists, we see that Saturdays right before lunch is the best time to post.
5. Should, Would, Which –
According to Hubspot, there are key words that elicit greater responses than others; should, would and which. By asking a question, you can engage your patients on a different level, literally asking them to engage. Statistics show that question posts get 100% more comments than standard text-based posts. If you’re looking to increase engagement, ultimately increasing that 16 percent number of Fans that see your posts, asking the right question is a great way to accomplish that goal.
The social media experts at Quaintise determine the most effective strategies to increase your physician page engagement and ultimately drive traffic to your website for conversions.