By now, there’s a good chance you’re one of the 1.73 billion people considered “daily active users” on Facebook. Your pharmacy might even be one of the 90 million small businesses that use Facebook to communicate with customers and promote their offerings. But we don’t need an assortment of stats touting the number of users to illustrate social media’s popularity. What is far more important for pharmacists and small business owners like you to comprehend is how to get the most out of your time there.
As a pharmacy consultant, ATRIUM24 often talks to our members about the value of having a social media presence — some of our membership tiers even include our team crafting posts for your pages on your behalf. And so, to take that a step further, we wanted to write a quick two-part series on social media marketing that covers the essentials: where, how, what and when. Today’s post will be on where and how to post on social media as a pharmacy.
Where to post on social media as a pharmacy
The answer for where to post, or which platforms make sense for your participation, is a bit like telling you what kind of car you should buy next. Those of you with a family might prefer a minivan, SUV or a large sedan with room to tote the kids’ gear. Meanwhile, empty nesters might be happier with a smaller (or sportier) coupe. The point is that social media marketing, like car shopping, is entirely dependent on your individual circumstances.
Before you can decide where to post, you’ll need to identify the goals you hope to accomplish through social media. Is it to announce weekly sales? Do you want to connect and interact with local prescribers in the area? Or are you just trying to cast as wide of a net as you can? The reason this exploration is so critical is because social media platforms all have unique audiences, demographics and user habits.
The most popular demographic among Facebook users is those 25-34, followed by 35-44 and 45-54, respectively. It’s noteworthy to mention that users 65+ is still a substantial segment on Facebook and one that will continue to grow as the population ages. Meanwhile, younger people are much more prone to use platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
From our position as a pharmacy consultant, our recommendation is to focus on Facebook for a variety of reasons. First, your ideal customer is already there (and more are coming with time). Facebook also allows you to create and publish a variety of media types, from written content to photos, videos and even live broadcasts. Lastly, Facebook has a built-in analytics module that supplies page owners with tons of valuable data on the users interacting with their page. You can also choose local competitors and elect to receive pertinent details on those pages as well.
How to post on social media as a pharmacy
The nice thing about using Facebook for business promotion is that many of us are already familiar with the mechanics of posting to the site. There are some specific nuances to posting as a business page that you’ll have to become accustomed to, but we’ve found that most people pick up on those pretty easily.
Facebook features intuitive publishing tools that make posting directly within the platform a snap. For instance, you can easily save drafts of posts or even create and schedule posts in advance. For a lot of busy pharmacists, the idea of sitting down to draft a week’s worth of posts and scheduling when to go live seems more realistic than posting them in real-time each day.
If you choose to expand your social media presence beyond just Facebook, you might consider a service like HootSuite, which allows you to upload multiple feeds into one single platform. For a nominal fee per month, you can have unlimited scheduling for up to 10 social profiles without having to log in separately to each one. HootSuite also offers advanced analytics and reporting that can shed some light on the types of content that resonates most with your audience.
Stay tuned for next week’s continuation in our social media marketing series as we focus on what and when to post on social media as a pharmacy. If you have questions or are interested in a pharmacy consultant like ATRIUM24 assisting with your social media marketing, reach out to us today.