Everyone seems to have a Facebook and Twitter account, both personally and for business. In healthcare, how you can measure your social media return on investment (ROI)? Since social media is more about engagement rather then a hard-selling tool, that question can be tough to answer. Here are two ideas your firm may want to try:
- Determine the true value of a patient. This is an extremely important measure, but most physicians don’t know what it is. Beyond simple revenue from patients, social media has a very useful viral component. It’s called the “friend factor.” For example, say a patient makes two appointments per year, worth about $500 total to the physician or hospital. Now, because that same patient follows you on Facebook, reads your blog and shares positive experiences with friends via social media, it nets you two new patients from social media referral. The value of that original patient just tripled. To measure this, always ask your new patients if someone referred them, or where they heard about your office, and then estimate a value number.
- Use website tracking tools. They are free! By using software tools, such as Google Analytics (GA), you can track and determine conversions to your website and track links to see where traffic is coming from. For example, by using GA, you can set a goal of the number of times people fill out an appointment form. Next, post on your social networks at a designated time with a link to your website. You can then see how many people came as a direct result from that social media post. If you don’t see many goals accomplished from that post, you may want to alter your strategy.
Social media is still in its infancy and changes daily. But it is the new way people communicate, and it gives everyone a voice. From an ROI standpoint, like anything else, you need to set goals and try different methods using the various channels to accomplish them. For help with better understanding social media and how to best utilize it for your practice, contact Wax Custom Communications at 305-350-5700 or visit waxcom.com.