Social Media

Set Up a Social Media Policy: Better Protect and Market Your Practice

By Judith Lee

Social mediaoffers tremendous opportunity to promote your practice by creating touch points with patients. But this new medium also comes with the risk that your practice’s image may be misrepresented. A clearsocial media policywill ensure your practice’sbrand is communicatedthrough social media the way you intend.

The Case for a Social Media Policy

Justin Bazan, O.D., of Brooklyn, NY, knows first-hand why the risks, as well as the advantages of social media, need to be taken seriously.

He was fired from an optometry job in 2008 because of a blog post. At that moment, he grasped the power of social media. “My employer felt patients were getting too attached to me. I realized that with social media, you can build a bond with people that you can’t accomplish any other way. I knew this tool would be helpful in building my own optometric business,” says Dr. Bazan.

Little more than six months later,Dr. Bazanwas seeing patients in his own practice, thanks to marketing through social media. Until just recently, he spent nothing on marketing, just frequent Facebook posts and Tweets. Now he is spending $500 a month to participate in Yelp, a paid social media. Dr. Bazan says it’s well worth it, as the investment is producing about $120,000 a year in new patient revenue.

Create Your Social Media Policy
Your social media policy needs to direct employees in what you consider appropriate communication about your practice, as well as how social media can be used to further your practice goals.

* Establish goals for engaging in social media.

* Designate who has the final say on content of social media posts.

* Encourage staff to use social media, while guiding the tone of messages and interactions.

* State how to handle negative or controversial issues.

* Remind the staff that they are online ambassadors for the practice.

Your Employees, Your Online Ambassadors
Develop a protectivesocial media policy as afirst step to optimizing yourpresence on social networks and blogs. “Thepolicy should communicate that you want your staff to be involved in social media. If you’re managing your business the way you should, your employees will be happy, and they will be your best ambassadors,” saysKen Mueller, a social media consultant who operates Inkling Media.”Encourage them to post pertinent information on your Facebook page, and Tweet or re-Tweet interesting items. Include your staff in the monitoring of social media. People can post comments 24/7, so figure out who will monitor when so it’s not a burden on one person.”

You also should think strategically when developing the policy. Incorporate your practice marketingstrategy into your social media policy, recommends Daniel Rostenne, CEO of Eyecarepro.net.”Define who is responsible for monitoring patient posts and comments, and define the minimum social media activity that you expect from your staff,”he says.

Plan forEmployee Social Media Surprises
Don’t try to control what staff members say on their personal social media accountsbecause you can’t.A recent ruling found against an employer who fired an employee for criticizing her boss on her personal Facebook page.“You’re in murky legal territory here,” admits Mueller, “but anything they say does reflect back on the company, and you need to discuss this. Also, make sure there are clear rules about disclosure and transparency. If the employee talks about your practice in a personal post, they should disclose their employment there.”

Another tip: Plan for crisis management. If an individual posts something unflattering on your Facebook wall, who will respond, and how? Staff members should know how to alert you or another practice leader to respond appropriately. “It’s easy for people to get defensive, and that’s not what you want,” says Mueller.

Resources
To see a sample social media policy written by Judith Lee, click here. To access a tool that will create a social media policy for you, visit http://socialmedia.policytool.net/

To see corporate social media policies, visit http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php

Judith Lee is a social media expert (www.CommunicationWorksNOW.com) and a health care journalist (www.judithlee.net)

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