Increase Visibility and Perform Market Research via Physical Therapy Social Media Marketing

It appears to be more useful on a personal level but physical therapy social media marketing can help greatly in increasing the visibility of your business.  By promoting interaction with your patients, it can also help you to perform market research.

The Aura of Authenticity About Facebook “Likes”

Since Facebook is largely an informal space, people feel free to comment on it, either positively or negatively.  And a positive Facebook comment counts for a lot more than an advertisement, because those who read it know that there was no coercion involved.  If someone “likes” a post, it’s generally because they genuinely like it, and not because they were paid to say so.  So there’s an aura of genuineness and authenticity about physical therapy references you might get via Facebook or Twitter.

Celebrity Endorsements vs. Reviews from Friends

The skeptics among us might point out that celebrities are often paid to endorse products or services online.  This is true but most of us are more likely to be swayed by what our Facebook friends tell us rather than what a celebrity might say.  This is because there are many similarities between us and our friends.  We perceive them as being at the same or only a slightly different level of attractiveness, economic class and intellectual understanding.  We pay more attention to their “likes” because they’re like us!

Coming up with a Social Media Marketing Plan

If you’re unconvinced about the role of social media marketing companies, keep in mind that you can come up with a social media marketing plan, as suggested by this Hootsuite article.  Depending on your business objectives, your social media marketing plan may include an evaluation of what your current social media accounts are doing for you, the creation of new accounts, the development of accounts you already have and the addition of new, relevant content.  Checking out what your competitors are up to can also help you to figure out where your business is going and how social media can help you to get there.

Interacting with Prospects via Social Media

Social media helps you to stay in touch with your audience.  It’s an interactive space from which you can learn what your patient prospects are looking for.  For example, if you put up an update regarding a new type of physical therapy you’re offering, it’s possible that you’ll get a number of positive or negative comments with regard to it.  Depending on what your patients are saying, you can decide whether you want to make any changes to your service.

Staying Alert to Figure Out The Tipping Point

If you stay alert on social media, you can also figure out which way the wind is blowing, before it actually gets there.  In his book, The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell talks about Hush Puppies, a type of shoe that had slowly been declining in popularity.  The makers of Hush Puppies had almost decided to stop producing them when there was a sudden upswing in their sales.  Although the middle-aged, conservative demographic had stopped wearing them, they had suddenly become popular with hipsters.

Using Social Media for Market Research of “Niche” Services

What happened with Hush Puppies came as a surprise to many people.  But this is the kind of change that soon becomes noticeable via comments or likes on social media.  Although a number of people might feel the same way about a certain product or service, there might be undiscovered market segments/audiences that feel differently.  If it’s possible for your niche service to start appealing to a new demographic, social media is a great way to find this out first.  In this sense, social media is not just a marketing platform to increase sales; it’s also a great place to perform a bit of market research and change direction if need be.

Experiment with the marketing of niche services – sports performance, vestibular rehab, women’s health, tmj treatment, and more.  Run an ad, point the viewers to a page on your website about that niche service, give them something of value (this is called a lead magnet or a trust trigger product) in exchange for their name and email address, and see what happens.

Contact us for more great ideas to come up with your own social media marketing plan.