By: Melody Gandy-Bohr

The power of social media cannot be disputed! It’s the gift that keeps on giving, and it’s evolving all the time. It’s now more important than ever that your practice has a stellar social media presence to connect with patients, but it can be hard to keep track of the changes in social, from the rise of video to the ever-changing Facebook Business Pages.

A fully-formed social media presence can be the difference between a patient choosing your practice or your competitor’s practice. It’s important to stay on top of the latest trends to keep your pages from appearing outdated.

Twitter Emojis

Emojis are more than just smiley faces, they’re a marketing tool — according to Twitter, at least. The social networking service recently announced it was rolling out emoji targeting, which will let advertisers target users that tweet emojis. This means if a user tweets, retweets, likes or replies to a tweet that includes the grin emoji, it could trigger an ad for a dentist.

As strange as it may seem, emojis have quickly become a popular way to communicate, with more than 110 billion emojis used in tweets since 2014. That’s a lot of winky faces!

How Emojis Can Benefit Your Practice

If your patients have smartphones and thumbs, chances are they have used emojis at some point in their lives. Using emojis in your social media posts will show your patients that your healthcare practice is a little more outgoing and fun than your competitors. Choosing between a dull practice and a cheerful one is a no-brainer right? Emojis can help potential patients relate with your social media profile, connect with your practice’s website and bring more patients into your office.

Live Video Streaming

Twitter and Facebook, the top two social media titans, are making waves with live video streaming. While video marketing has been on the rise for some time now, the introduction of Twitter’s Periscope and Facebook Live is changing the way users view content. On average, people are watching about 5 hours and 31 minutes of video on digital devices every day! In a world where instant gratification is the new normal, users are demanding content as it’s happening. In a move to promote their newest feature, Facebook ranks live videos higher in user’s news feeds.

What Does Live Video Streaming Mean for Your Practice?

A recent survey shows that 44% of polled businesses lived streamed one or more videos in the last year, with 20% planning to live stream in the next year. In order to compete with other practices in your field, you need to adopt live videos as a part of your marketing strategy. They allow you to engage with users in real-time and get immediate results. Host a Q & A event or showcase your expertise on a given topic. This helps increase patient engagement and lets your posts populate higher on user’s feeds. You will also have a  greater chance of converting likes and comments into real-life patients.

Times They Are a Trendin’

Your healthcare practice’s social media profiles definitely affect your online presence. Staying abreast of the changing trends is a must in the online marketing world. Whether or not you choose to embrace these trends can make a difference in your practice’s patient growth. The only thing worse than being late to the game, is not showing up at all. Don’t risk falling behind your competitors, Officite’s social media marketing specialists are here to ensure your practice’s profiles never goes out of style!