Marketing Quick Hits: Instagram
Instagram: Good for Business. Good for Orthopaedics?
As the sleepy sibling to the social network giant Facebook, Instagram is taking the business world by storm. Visually driven and engagement-focused but intentionally built to keep you within the app by restricting the ability to link out, Instagram has several in the industry asking, “How do you know if one of the top-five most popular social networks is good for orthopaedics?”
Like any social media or awareness strategy, there are no true metrics to monitor Instagram’s ability to send you patients. This is because Instagram is not a direct driver of patient appointments. Its purpose and function are primarily to reaffirm a patient’s prior decision to choose you.
As its name reflects, the network’s initial creation was to be a blend of the ability to post photos from your insta-camera, or mobile phone, and share with your following like a telegram, thus creating Instagram. Through these photos, videos, posts, stories, hashtags, and even ads, Instagram allows an orthopaedic Practice to tap into a world much larger than your immediate geographic area—both a blessing and a curse. So the question isn’t, Is it right for orthopaedics? But instead, Is it right for your orthopaedic Practice?
Instagram’s largest and most engaged demographic skews younger than the average age of an orthopaedic patient, and less than 25 percent of orthopaedic patients surveyed in Venel’s annual study of more than 2,000 patients indicated having an active Instagram. So the decision to pursue a successful Instagram strategy must include a discussion on the time, talent, and dollars it will take, firmly establishing expectations and objectives.
Here are a few points to consider during this decision.
What percentage of your current patients are active on Instagram?
As with any social media marketing initiative, who will gather and post relevant content consistently and always put patient privacy first?
Doctors often drive the desire to implement an Instagram strategy. Are your doctors willing to continuously contribute photos, videos, and other visually related topics?
Does the Practice have a budget to grow an audience? Social media is free, but doing it correctly requires advertising placement.
At Venel, we help our exclusive network of orthopaedic Practices and surgeons navigate discussions such as these by referencing their data, identifying what their market is looking for in an orthopaedic Practice, and determining what is influential to the patients and referrers of their Practices. It has been this strategically minded, data-driven approach for the past 32 years that has offered us the ability to ensure our Practices have a cost-effective and efficient marketing strategy that supports their objectives, influences patients, and documents an average 432 percent return on investment. Our full-service marketing firm is designed to support our client partners and business-minded Practices with the research, team, expertise, and experience to ensure orthopaedic marketing success.
About Venel
Venel is the nation’s exclusive orthopaedic and marketing communications firm, giving orthopaedic surgeons a proven competitive advantage. From traditional marketing to advanced online promotion and patient experience, Venel brings more than 30 years of experience, an exclusive focus in orthopaedics, and the nation's largest source of research in what influences an orthopaedic patient.
Visit www.Venel.com to learn more.
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