6 ways to engage your patients on Facebook

Do you have a Facebook page for your dermatology practice? Are you looking for fresh ideas to quickly ramp up engagement and participation from your fans?

There are tens of millions of business pages on Facebook. There are also those notorious, complex algorithms that mysteriously determine what fans can see or not see on their news feed.

Both these factors make it incredibly difficult for page owners like you to maintain engagement on Facebook. But as a dermatologist and a business owner you know that Facebook is extremely valuable to your practice.

Here are six ways to create better engagement on your page:

1. Post news articles, stories and current events

As of December 2013, Facebook updated its Newsfeed algorithm with a requirement of “high-quality content.” What this means is that Facebook will start to give more visibility to interesting news articles, story links and current events than ever before.

Your response should be to start posting attention-grabbing skincare-related articles from news publishers, or compelling stories from your own blog. The goal of course is to create conversation among your fans and clients.

If you can achieve that, your Facebook posts will be bumped higher up on your fans’ news feed and engagement will increase significantly.

2. Host video events

A fun way to increase engagement with fans is by bringing live video events to your Facebook page. You can do this easily by installing a free app such as Livestream, (go to https://apps.facebook.com/livestream/).

The chat feature on Livestream makes it more interactive with your audience. So let’s say you want to introduce a new skincare system. Using the app, you can host an event on your Facebook page to show fans how the program works. They can see you, ask questions, and interact with you right there on your Facebook page!

Next: Try some giveaways

3. Offer contests and giveaways

Promotions of any kind are fantastic way to increase engagement on Facebook. That’s because everyone loves the opportunity of winning something special.

Consider a photo contest where you ask fans to submit pictures of themselves, “before and after” receiving treatment from your dermatology practice. Use a photo contest app such as Strutta that allows fans to upload their pictures. Then encourage them to tell their friends about the contest and open the voting up to everyone who has submitted a photo.

A few things to watch out for when it comes to Facebook contests - follow the rules; keep the contest requirements simple; and offer a special prize that’s relevant to your practice.

4. Games

If you want to improve engagement on your page without spending a ton of money, then social games are one way to go. Social games on Facebook can spur comments, likes and shares and also help to build a community around your page.

The important thing is to choose a game that is consistent with your brand and that your fans will enjoy. For example the “Tell a Story” game is a good one for dermatology pages. The game is similar to those books you read that let you choose what happens next. It is also appropriate since you can co-create a story with your Facebook fans, thus making them the “stars of the show.” Here’s one version of the game.

Simply create a graphic that shares the first sentence of a story like this: “Once upon a time a young lady called Celia woke up on her wedding day to find a huge zit on her face!”

Then right below the story opener, write down the instructions for participating in the game as follows:

• What happens next?

• To participate, simply write the next sentence in a comment below.

• Make sure you read the comments above yours so you know where the story is leading.

• Share the story thread with your friends to keep things moving.

• Let’s see where this goes!

Next: Stay connected with your audience

5. Recognize your fans

Your Facebook fans like to know that you appreciate them. Every so often get into the habit of recognizing them for various reasons, e.g., birthdays, “fan of the week,” and so on.

If you want to be a little creative you might even consider posting a fan’s picture on your page (with permission, of course!) and featuring them for a week. During that time, you can highlight something new about them, or let them give tips and advice about skincare.

6. Be personal

Last but not least, people like to know that they’re interacting with a person, not a business. So when you post an update on Facebook, sign off with your first name so your fans and clients know to whom they’re talking. That way, the next time they stop by your office they’ll know exactly how to carry on the conversation with that person. In the same way, address them individually as “you” and “your” rather than using a plural salutation.

Creating engagement on your Facebook page doesn’t have to be time-consuming or expensive. With some imagination you can use any one of these ideas (or come up with your own) to encourage participation from your fans so they’ll see more of your posts on their news feed.

What do you think? Have you tried any of these ideas on your page? What other ideas have worked for you?