Social media is a good way to advertise your business, as most people are active online. The first thing most people do as soon as the alarm goes off is to check their social media accounts.
As Facebook seems to be a little bit old-fashioned now, Instagram is rocking it with over 800 million monthly users(and we’ve expected this to happen). What’s more important, 25% of these users show interest in business pages every day.
That’s why you need to know how to use your business page properly in order to attract as many patients to your practice. Research shows that Instagram is a useful platform for physical therapists to connect with their patients. We will tell you step by step how to do it.
To start with, you need to open a new account for your PT practice. It’s not advisable to use your personal account. A business account provides more tools that might be helpful.
Make sure to craft your bio, write a small description about your practice, and the services you offer. Don’t forget that you are allowed to use only 150 characters, use them cleverly. It takes only a few seconds for someone to form an opinion about your page.
So, it’s very important to make a good first impression with the content of your bio. It’s the first thing people see when they click your profile.
Also, use a profile picture so people recognize you and what you do, a logo for example. Think about what will help people to recognize you the quickest when they see your profile. Do not put your children’s picture as one. Add a phone number, so you make it easier for people to contact you. Not everyone has the time to wait for a reply while you might be busy.
As the word count in your bio is limited, what you can do is add the link of your website to it. This way, new potential clients are given the opportunity to read more about your services and get all the information they need to create a clear idea about what you offer.
Make sure to give a detailed explanation about your previous experience and don’t forget to talk about the cost of your services. You don’t want the client to guess about it. Update the website regularly and share the latest pieces of content on your feed through stories and posts.
No one wants to check your posts while they are about to sleep. They won’t do that in the early morning either. Not without having their coffee first. So, don’t crash Instagram with posts without experimenting and finding the best time to post.
Try different times during the day and see which one gets more audience engaged. It’s impossible to find a time that fits everyone, as there are different time zones but at least try to find one that ”catches” the most fish.
Instagram insights are a good tool to use to track your success. It gives you information about content views, follower activity saves, shares etc. Use this information to your benefit to expand your audience, and plan upcoming content that promotes your practice.
You need to see what’s working and what’s not. Point out what’s the content that’s most commented on or the posts that get the most likes. It’s a great way to tell what your audience wants to see, and what services they might need to be offered.
Not only the time when you post matters, but also the number of your posts is also important. People will forget about you if you post once a week. You need to be in their feed so they remember you. Do not let your clients lagging for a new post.
A study by Union Metrics found that most brands post to Instagram on average 1.5 posts per day. Don’t be afraid to post twice a day though, it won’t bring any damage. Create a regular schedule on posting so the clients will know when to expect new content. The more posts you have in your page , the more content you provide for the readers.
I promise using hashtags will do miracles to grow your audience. Hashtags are literally leverage tools. Users may search a hashtag you have used and come across your account. So, do not forget to use them with each post.
Try to use more than 11 as research from Track Maven found that posts with more than 11 hashtags tend to get more engagement from the audience. The only rule you have to remember is to use hashtags related to the content you are posting. You can’t put a hashtag for babysitting while posting about PT services.
When you go and buy in a shop, you want the shop assistant to answer your questions and help you, right? The same rule applies while selling online. Do not let your clients age while waiting for an answer. Read the comments and reply.
Pay them attention, create a bond. Make them feel comfortable communicating with you, so they won’t stay only in your DMs. You want those prospects to become your clients tomorrow. Be polite and patient, just like you want others to talk to you.
A great way to keep people engaged to your page is giveaways. Anyone loves free products/services. Giveaways are like the word of mouth of social media. Run one that will grow the audience the most.
For example, ask the participants to tag their friends and tell them they can comment more than one and tag new people each time. Yes, that will work. They want to increase their chances of winning, and you want more people to check your page.
Meanwhile, they will recognize your page better. There is no limit for giveaways, so you can run a new one once in a while to keep your patients active and attract new prospects. And don’t forget to share the winner. Of course, you need to pick one first. You can use the random giveaway picker, but we suggest doing it live so people may join the process.
Using promo codes seems to be a smart way to boost sales. Even a small discount makes a great impact on sales. Both the client and you benefit from it. Some clients expect services at the lowest price. So they will choose your service and you win the competition with other service providers.
However, using a promo code without a strategy won’t make you any good. You need to have a target audience in mind. Also, try using different promo codes for different services. For example, do not give a big discount on a massage that has been selling well. That’s so not clever. You should direct the clients to the least sold services.
The content you post should be attractive to the reader. Write something that will make them stop and read, not scroll down. You could tell the story of a client and the great change therapy made to them. You can also add a video showing the progress or before/after pictures. You might want to add subtitles to the videos for the clients that can’t watch it with sound on.
The pictures you post must look real. Try using faces and tagging your clients so it creates credibility. Pictures with faces tend to get more likes and comments. Do not post blurry or low-light pictures. Be sure they are eye-catching, not eye painful. If you want to post multiple images, you could use Instagram stories.
But keep in mind that this feature keeps your images visible only for 24 hours. This also means that you don’t have to worry about them being perfect. Still, try to be a little creative with stories. Create quizzes or polls to see how the audience interacts with them. Keep up with the latest features. Might be a good idea to add the stories to highlights, another feature that allows the clients to have a look at the old stories you posted.
You can also go live with your followers and communicate with them. Answer their questions, give them pieces of advice. This will create a closer bond with the clients. Promoting an active lifestyle is important to make your patients go out which reflects on your values positively because you help them change.
This is when influencers come into play. They’ve been proven to be successful at raising brands awareness in different niches (PT makes no exception) because of the targeted loyal audience they accumulate. The first step here is to contact an influencer privately. Go for a popular one related to fitness or sports niche. Make sure their following engages with their content.
Discuss the details and the payment method. It could either be money or free service, depending on the influencer’s choice. Do not think of the payment as a big deal. Influencers are knowledgeable on such processes, and they will help you craft the post too, if you’re unsure of it. As soon as you work the details out, you should set up the branded sponsorship in your account.
Go to Settings, then tap Business. Go to “Brand Content”, and then to “Approved Business Partners” to add the influencer as a partner. Another suggestion would be to manually accept tags for brand safety purposes. This allows you to accept/decline the sponsored tag before it displays. This way, you can check the content and make sure it’s the one you want.
Instagram is a great way to market your business if you are consistent with posting and leverage the right tactics by collaborating with reputable influencers that suit your niche, or even by running paid ads.
As I mentioned above, set your goals, post regularly, engage with your audience and you will see success. Don’t wait for immediate results. Success comes with work and progress. Be optimistic and analyze the data. Don’t forget we’re here to save you time, while you focus on bettering your services.
Do you want to supercharge your physical therapy marketing? Download our Free Evergreen Marketing Blueprint for Physical Therapists and start creating long-term assets that generate new patient bookings for years to come.