“Nobody makes healthcare decisions because of Facebook.”

I have heard some variation of this statement from many clients.

There may be some truth to this sentiment. If I am injured and bleeding, I am not likely to head over to Facebook to find the nearest emergency room. If I am relatively healthy, I’m not likely to follow my local hospital on Facebook. I won’t choose a doctor or an EHR provider or billing company based on their Facebook page or lack of one.

So why, then, should entities in the healthcare space invest any resources into building an engaged audience on Facebook? Here are five good reasons…

That’s where your constituents are

Facebook announced this week that it has reached two billion – with a “B” – unique monthly visitors to the platform. So while you may not be a fan, most of your target audience is likely on board.

Facebook creates an online community

Are you a medical care provider? IT company? Advocacy organization? Whatever role your organization plays, you are likely to have constituents who would view your Facebook page as a virtual place to gather, cheer for your successes, and yes, sometimes complain when you miss the mark. More importantly, a Facebook presence provides you with the opportunity to listen and respond to their positive and negative feedback.

It humanizes your organization

People are engaging with one another on Facebook. Their friends, their neighbors, their family members, people they went to high school with, people they met on their first job, etc. They also use the platform to engage with brands, those they do business with, and organizations in their real-life communities. That includes you.

It will help you build employee morale

Your employees are looking for opportunities to feel pride in their place of work. They want to share your home runs with their networks. They want to know about the good things their colleagues are doing. Even if you are convinced that you will never, ever get new business because you have a Facebook page, know with certainty that having a page is good for staff morale.

Misinformation fills a void

If you don’t claim and maintain your Facebook page, you leave yourself open to the possibility that somebody else will.

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