Social Media as a Referral Source

Direct-to-consumer marketing poses a threat to conventional marketing. I’m not talking about aggressive industry marketing directly to consumers. I’m talking about doctors directly marketing to patients through social media and why it’s important for businesses to know how to use this tool to their advantage. 

The conventional way of marketing, especially with a closed insurance network, was to get a referral from a primary care physician (PCP), also known as the gatekeeper. The idea of going through a gatekeeper is to control expenses for said network, and allow PCPs to manage what they feel is within their scope, while referring out when a specialist is needed. 

Under this system, I’ve observed that it is not uncommon for patients to wait weeks to months to be seen for an appointment. When appointment times are delayed, consumers are going to spend that time researching options for themselves. This is an impatient generation, and we need answers 2 days ago. Consumers are becoming more savvy in trying to solve their own problems and will fervently seek out something more accessible. What’s more accessible than social media nowadays? 

I own a Direct Care podiatry practice, which means I am not contracted with any insurance. I receive referrals from many wonderful health care professionals, and since I’m out of network, I also get self-referrals because I’m actively marketing directly to consumers online. I have patients choosing me despite having insurance for a variety of reasons; some don’t have insurance at all or have a high deductible they’d rather avoid. What I have to share is relevant to all doctors wanting to increase their referral sources. 

Understanding the Pitfalls of Conventional Marketing

We know the best referrals come from another doctor because patients tend to trust their doctor’s referrals. But when it takes weeks to be seen at a traditional insurance-based office, people will go to Google and various social media platforms to ask for recommendations from their social network. I find that word of mouth remains the best investment a business can make, but if you don’t exist online, you don’t really exist for the people who are out there looking for you. It’s time to upgrade our marketing efforts beyond in-network referrals and in my experience, that’s through social media. 

Why use social media for marketing?

1. It’s free at baseline, giving this the best return on investment. It’s very easy to start an Instagram or Facebook account, and chances are you might already have one. If not, start one with just an email address and a photo of your logo or office. 
2. People are hungry for information. As soon as your name gets mentioned in any circle, they are going to look you up because they want to know, are you someone they can trust? Or, are you someone with a sketchy background? People want to connect with a real person and they will feel more connected if you exist on social media. 
3. Connect with other businesses who might have your potential patients. Most other businesses are on social media, which means you should be too. Friends that you reconnect with, they will have people to send you. I have connected with a lot of people, new and old, in real life through social media. This is just the way we socialize in modern society.

Now, What to Post on Social Media and How Often?

Each platform, whether it be Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or something new, all have their own demographic and algorithm. Unfortunately, the content that the platform chooses to push out changes regularly. One day you get a lot of views because hashtags were in vogue, the next it might be a short video that becomes the trend. Based on my experience, the goal for you as a business owner or brand of your own name, is just to start out by being present, searchable and bingeable. You must do this with consistency, so if you’re starting out, I recommend aiming for 3 unique posts per week, and then one per day. Don’t let overwhelm stop you from reaching patients who need you. Once you get the hang of it and what tone you want to set, outsource it to a staff member (preferred) or a professional (I have some reservations about this, it’s just never personal enough, so trial and error is how you'll know if it’s working or not). 

What Do You Actually Post?

This is an evolving art, I’ve found, but I’ll get you started with some basics.
 

1. Answer the top 10 questions your patients are already asking you then recycle the content. That’s 90% of the work! Find inspirations from your existing patients (or curious mentees) and answer them in clear, plain terms. Most people do not want scientific verbiage, they want to feel like you are meeting them where they are at, so speak to them as you would to a nonmedical friend. This is a huge value to people who are just getting to know you and then suddenly they’ll look forward to more of what you have to say.
2. Show off your dance moves (or not)! Not only are we on social media to find things we need, we also want to be entertained. Some doctors are really good at dancing and attract a large following, but you don’t have to do this at all, I promise! What might seem very boring or routine for you is interesting to someone who never went to medical school. Show your audience a little behind the scenes from time to time. Why did you choose one instrument over another? What’s so special about the services you have in your office? 
3. Brag. We are an anti-humble society and we feed on this like a moth to a flame. No one else knows our accomplishments as much as we do, so might as well share that with people who don’t know about us. What do you brag about? Maybe you were featured in a paper or at an event, share it! Don’t overdo it, but get started on getting used to talking about why you are a person of authority, get street cred with patient testimonials and post, post, post.
4. Most important, be social on social media. If someone comments on your post, respond! Like and comment on other people’s stuff, show them you support them so they’ll want to reciprocate. This is how you can build your followers and reach more people to help. 
5. Make sure you give a call to action on each post. It may be subtle such as “if you want more of this content, click on the like button,” alternating it with “if you need a consultation give us a call at ###.”
6. Repurpose and repeat. Not everyone who follows you will see all of your posts so it’s worth repurposing and repeating as often as you desire.

What to Avoid

Social media is a great tool to be present online, but it also has some unspoken rules for doctors. Yet I find myself having to say it, so here goes … the number one cardinal rule about what to avoid posting on social media is … never post content that anyone could perceive as making fun of, or negative towards, patients, even if not directed towards anyone specific. You never want to appear as someone who lacks empathy or makes someone feel unsafe. Patients come to us in their most vulnerable state, so make sure that you tread any humor carefully and never ever, ever talk about patients in a negative way. Ever. If someone makes a negative comment, just delete and block them and leave it at that. If it’s a constructive comment, then pay attention. Just know when to ignore and when to respond tactfully. FYI not all comments are from real people. 

One Trick to Getting Started

This can all seem very daunting, especially if it’s new to you. The one trick I share with my coaching clients is to start with a photo (avoid stock images, use your face or your office space instead) adding some relevant text. Eventually, though, you’ll want to be on video (yes, your face) so practice by recording yourself for 1 minute or less every single day, looking into the camera, answering just one patient question and store it in draft mode on your smartphone. Get through 30 days of practicing and you’ll start to grow your online presence and attract the people who are out there looking for your expertise in no time. 

Dr. Tea Nguyen is the CEO of Pacific Point Podiatry, a Direct Specialty Care practice in Santa Cruz, CA. She is fellowship-trained in wound healing, and board certified in minimally invasive foot surgery by the American Board of Multiple Specialties in Podiatry, and specializes in holistic healing.

She also founded Coaching with Tea, LLC and is the host of The Direct Care Way podcast, helping other specialists walk away from declining insurance reimbursement so they can reclaim their time, energy and peace through Direct Care. Learn more about her at teadpm.com.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Podiatry Today or HMP Global, their employees and affiliates. Any content provided by our bloggers or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, association, organization, company, individual, anyone or anything.