Cross-posting can be enticing when you are building your medical practice. It is a way to be more regularly active on your social media platforms without exerting extra effort, saving you valuable time. However, because most social media sites run on different formats with different goals, cross-posting is not always a sound strategy. Posting an identical message on both Facebook and Twitter can have negative effects on your medical content marketing; such duplication simply does not work in today’s buzzing world of social media.
When to cross-post
Marketing over social media for doctors is no different than marketing for any other business. You need to take the time to determine how each media platform’s audience scans and digests information and how to optimize your posts so they reach the most people. Understanding how to effectively cross-post between platforms is as essential as knowing when you simply need new content among your accounts.
The harm of posting identical content
Every social media platform provides a different experience for users and usually caters to different audiences. For example, statista.com reports that males between the ages of 25 and 34 make up the largest demographic on Facebook, but users above the age of 40 are the largest group on LinkedIn. A message posted on Facebook aimed at younger users is not going to have the same impact with users on LinkedIn, and the same goes for Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest. In fact, slapping identical content across all of your accounts can lose current patients instead of gaining more.
The benefit of cross-promoting
Though cross-posting can negatively impact your image on social media, you can still promote identical content from your website — you only need to change how the information is presented across the platforms. Every time you have a new blog post or new page you want to share with patients and online followers, create a separate promotion for each media account that fits the audience and format. To post on Twitter, make sure your message is concise and under 280 characters. On Instagram, include a high-quality image and a fun or insightful story to go with it. Changing up similar content can lead more users back to your website from every social site.
How to effectively cross-promote
When you are ready to promote new content, sit down and write a brief summary (a few sentences should do) of what you want current and potential patients to know about the content. Then incorporate that summary into a different post for each platform, making sure to abide by character limits, audience constraints, and general guidelines. If you find that one type of post works particularly well on a certain site, continue using it as a template for future posts on that site. Once you get a feel for what posts work better on each site, writing promotions becomes much easier and takes less time.
Discover effective ways to promote on social media
Doctor Genius can work with you to create effective promotions and posts that engage your audience and reach more patients. Contact us to discover the latest trends in social media marketing.
Doctor Genius, located at 16800 Aston Street, Suite 270, Irvine, CA 92606, provides a range of services for practice success. We seek to meet our clients’ needs by providing a variety of marketing, SEO, practice optimization tools, and coaching to transform the healthcare experience. Though we work to provide the most accurate information, the content found on this website is solely intended for entertainment purposes. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that the information provided is entirely correct. You may not use the information on this site to cure, prevent, or diagnose a perceived medical issue. If you have healthcare-related needs, please speak directly to a healthcare professional. Never self-perform medical treatments discussed on this website. All images displayed are also for entertainment purposes only, and personal experiences may differ. Please note that the business tactics mentioned on this site might not be applicable to your industry or practice.
