Get Your Staff on Board With Social

December 26, 2017

We talk a lot about what makes for a successful social media marketing program in terms of patients it puts in chairs or the trust that it builds in future clients. But, behind the scenes of every great Facebook business account, is a dedicated staff who cares. The truth is that no one can do it all. To help jump start a new campaign, a social media manager must rely on co-workers to help out. It’s not as easy as it seems. Rallying the troops to post, repost, comment and like can become a daily grind so here are three tips on how to get your staff onboard with social media. Pick a good leader If you’re an orthodontist who has just launched a social media account or wants to ramp up the action on an existing account, the secret is to pick an enthusiastic person who can lead by example. You probably don’t have the time to do it yourself, so anointing a staff member as your social media manager is an important decision. Look for personality traits that go along with success on social. Find a staff member who is a good organizer, possibly has been bitten by the writing bug and isn’t afraid to ask others to chip in when needed. You also need to have this person be computer savvy with the ability to do some light photo editing like cropping pictures. They should have access to a computer at work and at home too (although a lot of social media can be done on a smartphone.) Once you empower the right person with the keys to your office’s social media accounts, make sure they know how important the job is. If you’ve hired a marketing company like People & Practice, that person also has to manage that relationship. Lastly, the doctor has to lead by example. Make sure you show your support so the rest of the office knows how important social media is to the success of your practice. Offer to help Not everyone in the office is “good” at social media so help them succeed by giving regular tips. Make it a part of the work week to explain any campaigns or big post ideas that are coming up. Then offer ways they can help promote the posts even if it’s as simple as saying, “please like this post and share it with your network.” Make social media marketing more interesting by offering facts like best times and days of the week to post. This will help boost engagement with their own accounts as well (who doesn’t like getting 50 likes on a pic they post?) While you don’t want an office full of people staring at their phones all day, it helps to give the OK for staff to post during business hours once in awhile. Making people feel like they are a part of the success goes a long way to increasing participation. Make it a point to report on the effectiveness of a campaign or post, what it means to the practice and how their involvement has helped contribute to that success. Make it fun There are plenty of ways to make it fun to get staff involved in social media. Encourage them to come up with ideas and then involve them with making it happen. Include staff members in posts and highlight their accomplishments on the job and outside of work. If someone in your office has an interest like fundraising for a charity or running marathons, make sure you share that too. Remember your office is about more than just braces. It’s also about the people who interact every single day with patients. Shine a spotlight on them. You can also encourage participation with regular contests to reward your most active social media stars. Want to learn more about how you can supercharge your social media? Our work builds trust in your practice online to help you get new patients in a digital era by convincing them (before even meeting you) that you’re the practice to choose. For more information, or a free marketing analysis, you can contact People & Practice today at 888.866.DOCS, or by email at [email protected].
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