Six Easy Suggestions for Developing Effective Social Media Content
When you think of running an independent pharmacy, social media probably isn’t high up on your list. However, while social media isn’t as important as maintaining your inventory, or catching up on the latest DIR Fee updates, it can be an incredibly powerful tool for growing and maintaining your business.
Is it worth it?
Screen-time is on the rise in the U.S. and Business Insider states that almost 20 percent of online time in the U.S. – across all access points, desktop and mobile — is spent on social platforms (1). Because this figure has continuously trended upwards, it makes sense for independent pharmacists and pharmacy owners to start building a footprint in the social arena.
Keep in mind, having a presence on social media is generally not enough to engage existing customers, or win new customers to your services. Fortunately, there are many different ways for an independent pharmacy to encourage social media engagement that not only keeps the conversation moving on the social platform, but can also take that conversation back into their establishment.
Getting started
Choose your platform. Start small, with one or two platforms, and work your way up from there. The most popular choices for starting out in social media include Facebook and Twitter, which are the two largest social platforms with the most reach, Instagram, which is more of a visual platform, and LinkedIn, which tends to be more professional and blog-based.
If your pharmacy has considered diving into the social media arena, but is overwhelmed on where to start or how to even build up content, we can help. We’ve put together a few suggestions that may help make that decision, and launch, much easier:
1. Health Tips
You’re a pharmacy, so one of the first things any current – or potential – customer is going to look for will be posts that address a common, seasonal, or local ailment or issue. These posts don’t have to be blog posts, but can consist of a simple post and image that gives a few tips on anything from how to prevent sunburn to how to prevent frostbite. Your local economy, demographics, and geography can help give you more than enough material for a few posts each week.*
2. Product Spotlights
Try to highlight some products that do particularly well in your pharmacy. By making posts about, advertising sales for, and calling attention to these products, you’re opening the door to a conversation. If you stick to items that sell well, these conversations can be overwhelmingly positive. Positive interactions are a great way to ensure repeat visits – both online and in person.
3. Holiday Calendar
A really simple way to keep customers engaged is by wishing them well during any holiday season. This particular tip may not bring in many new customers, but it will be appreciated by existing customers. Word-of-mouth advertising cannot be discounted.
Craft a personal message to your customers. This can include a quick note about how your pharmacy, or family, will be celebrating, as well as images that are bright and interesting. You can also include holiday hours in the message.
4. Staff Recognition
Do you have a staff member that just got married? Had a baby? Achieved a milestone such as obtaining a degree? What about that new hire that you’re particularly proud of winning over to your team? Consider creating posts that put the spotlight on your employees. By taking the time to commemorate these milestones and achievements, you’re not only building employee morale, but you’re also showing your customers that you value your staff. This helps build brand image and speaks to the quality of service that customers may experience in your establishment.
5. Comedy
People love to laugh but, being funny is hard. This may seem counterproductive, but when you hit the mark, it can be an enormous win. Twitter Analytics states that a majority of users select “comedy” as an interest – so much so that it is allotted two slots on their analytics page. Don’t stress over “being funny.” Instead, keep an eye out for anything you can share that is appropriate, and makes you laugh. Odds are, if it makes you laugh, your customers will appreciate the humor as well. Just keep it inoffensive and you should be on your way to creating another draw to your social media presence.
6. National Health Observances
Local pharmacies are generally a first stop for someone who is looking for information or resources on a particular condition. By staying on top of National Health Observances, your pharmacy can provide up-to-date and relevant content to current – and potential customers. You can find a complete list of National Health Observances here.
Take it a step further and find other awareness days that can bring a little levity to the generally serious atmosphere of a pharmacy – say, National Cookie Day, or “Shake Month” (which is right around the corner in September). You can even try to coordinate sales with these days, such as offering discounted pricing on protein shakes or nutritional shake supplements. There’s a lot of room to have fun with this suggestion.
Wrapping it all up
Creating a social media presence doesn’t have to be daunting, it doesn’t have to be difficult, and it doesn’t have to take a lot of time. When done correctly, and by keeping your customers (and goals) in mind, all it takes is a bit of basic information and a small amount of effort to increase your pharmacy’s reach, engagement, and sales.
Be sure to follow this blog for more tips, insights and bulletins that can save you money – all from your partners at AlliantRx.
*Because you’re a pharmacy, anything you post may be construed as misinterpreted as medical advice. Be sure to include a disclaimer when necessary, review any information you post for accuracy, and keep your post as general as possible. By keeping the post general, this can also be a good way to encourage a visit into your pharmacy for additional information.
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