The success of a business page on social media in healthcare depends, among other things, on creating a concise, effective strategy. In addition to formulating objectives and choosing the right social media channel, other elements are important in a social media strategy. Read more about these elements in this blog.
Define a clear tone of voice
If ten people describe the same story, you will most likely get ten different versions. This is also how it works when creating social media posts. To have similar brand recognition in your posts, it is necessary to formulate a tone of voice in advance.
Especially if multiple content creators of the organisation are involved in the business page. The tone of voice is not what you say but how you say it. Defining a clear tone of voice offers several advantages, such as:
- It gives your brand a personality.
- It differentiates your brand from the competition.
- It inspires trust among your target audience.
- It creates consistency in your messages.
A tone-of-voice consists of several aspects, for example:
- Does the language used need to be formal? We advise you not to be too formal. This fits better with the standards of social media.
- The use of technical terms. Should the content be understandable for everyone or only for medical specialists? Are the messages serious and businesslike, or is there also room for humour?
- Emojis can be used to enhance a piece of text in a fun way.
A tone of voice can differ per channel. For example, a company page on LinkedIn often radiates a formal corporate identity. The tone of voice on this channel is usually businesslike and serious. This is in contrast to Instagram, where communication is often more light-hearted.
Create a recognisable visual style
Millions of people post a message on social media every day. This flood of content makes it increasingly difficult for companies to be visible. In order to stand out and create recognition, it is important for a company to develop a visual style. There are numerous ways you can develop your visual style.
Image use
The use of images is very important on social networks. Posts with only text communication score significantly less. They are seen less and receive fewer likes and comments. With the right images, you can create a brand experience that matches your company.
Provide a professional look by taking photos with a good camera. Of course, you can also use (free) stock photos. With stock photos, you risk that other organisations use the same material. Each social media platform has different image size specifications, so pay attention to this when creating social media posts.
Colours
Many companies have a corporate identity with one or a few colours that are reflected in all communications. By adding colour elements, such as accents or filters, to social media posts, you make the visuals match the corporate identity.
Logo
Make sure your logo is visible when you post a message. This is the element that is recognisable for your target audience. Your followers will see at a glance that the content comes from you.
A logo can be visualised in several ways. Many companies set their logo as a profile picture. This way, the logo is always visible when a message is posted. The logo can also be added to visuals. For example, see figure 1.
Text
Often the visual elements of a social media post are the first element followers watch. Some people even skip the text of posts when scrolling through their news feeds. You can therefore choose to also add text in the image.
For example, Novartis has designed a visual style where there is room for text in the visual. This increases the chance that the posts’ message will come across well to the target audience.
To ensure consistency, always use the same font. Most companies have a standard font that is used in all communications.
Create content themes and ensure consistency
A content theme is the umbrella name for social media posts that fall within a specific theme. The development of different content themes ensures variety, consistency and recognisability in the content. In addition, it provides a framework for creating social media messages. Examples of content themes are:
- History of the organisation.
- Information about products or projects.
- Stories behind employees.
- Atmospheric impressions on the work floor.
- Breaking in with news and current topics.
Social media is no science. It’s not that you will find the formula one day and suddenly see a lot of results. You will only see results if you post content on a consistent and regular basis.
Set goals for how often you post content and how you will connect the target audience to your channel. Creating a content calendar is a very popular way to organise which content you will post in a certain period of time.
Stay in control with a social media protocol
What makes social media unique compared to other channels is its interactivity. As a company, you are not only sending information. Followers have the option to respond to messages or ask questions.
In some cases, this is a reason for Life Sciences & Health companies not to use social media. Because they’re unsure of how to answer difficult questions and possible reports of adverse events? We understand that there is uncertainty about this.
At Medical Digitals, we have experience in drawing up, implementing and optimising social media strategies for pharmaceutical companies that take a step to use social media. An important success factor for such a strategy is a clear, extensive and well-deployed protocol. A social media protocol describes how to act in certain situations. It guarantees that everything in these situations will go according to the agreed rules.
For example, a social media protocol for the pharmaceutical sector describes how to respond to comments on their social media channels and how the report of an adverse event should be approached.
In short: a social media protocol virtually removes all uncertainty when using social media. Everything is drawn up in advance so that a community manager is not faced with any surprises. Do you want to know more about a social media protocol and what it can do for your company? Do not hesitate to contact us.
Instantly generate a large reach with advertising
It takes a long time for an organisation to build an online community with many followers. That is why we advise promoting messages on social media consistently. Advertising is a way to reach a large part of your target group in the short term. In addition to a large reach, advertising ensures faster growth of the business page.
Medical Digitals uses a technique that makes it possible to target even more specifically than the regular options on, for example, Twitter or LinkedIn. We call this technique hyper-segmentation.
Twitter hyper-segmentation
Many healthcare professionals are active on Twitter. They like to use this channel to obtain information within their own field. They often follow Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) in their industry to keep up with new developments.
Medical Digitals uses a technique in which we map out which KOLs, companies and news media are followed by an HCP on Twitter. With this method, it is possible to determine the person’s profession with great certainty. The technique is separate from the segmentation possibilities that social media channels offer themselves. An example in oncology:
- One person follows FDA Oncology, Society of Surgical Oncology and Oncology Advance; three news sites about oncology.
- This person follows two pharmaceutical companies active in the field of oncology.
- This person also follows Gordon Freeman and Paolo Ascierto, two prominent oncologists.
- Finally, this person follows other people with a similar area of interest.
Based on this data, we conclude that this person is not only interested in oncology but is most likely active in this sector. In this way, Medical Digitals creates lists of relevant persons that we manually integrate in the “advertising interface” of Twitter or LinkedIn. This way, we reach very specific HCP target groups on the channels where they are active.
Medical Digitals has extensive experience setting up business pages for Life Sciences & Health organisations. Do you have questions about this blog, or do you need help setting up or optimising a business page on social media? Don’t hesitate to contact us!
