Social network sites to promote my practice
Your practice is your business and whether you like it or not… you have to make yourself known to the outside world. In the past you could do that by being in the Gouden Gids (the Belgian yellow pages), by introducing yourself in the neighbourhood, by handing out leaflets… all at a relatively high cost. These days you promote yourself mainly online. Although word of mouth of course stays VERY important.
Facebook needs no introduction. It is one of the biggest and best known social network sites of the past decade. So as a practice it is a must to have a page here.
But why? Why is Facebook so important for promoting your practice? The parents of your patients, or your patients themselves, like your page. Each of your patients or their parents has a group of friends on Facebook. Those friends will in turn see posts from you appear on their timeline. When they in turn need a speech therapist, they will be quicker to knock on your door. Visibility matters here.
That is why it is also important that you make good quality posts. You can always post something nice on public holidays, for example. Are you organising a workshop? Then do announce it on your page. Try to always add a photo to a post as well. People are more inclined to click on a post or read it when a photo has been added. Videos are of course even better, but a bit harder to make. Because always bear in mind that you want to come across as professional.
Instagram is coming up enormously and is currently used mainly by the younger generations. The same applies here as with Facebook. But since Instagram has a different angle, you will have to tackle things differently here. Instagram is a bit more personal because you also create stories. With those, your followers can follow the goings-on of the practice a little. That does not have to be every day of course, but now and then you do have to let people hear from you.
Always take nice photos too. The many filters are handy, so that your result always looks professional. You can sometimes also share nice, funny quotes from children in the practice. Always watch of course that you do not share patient information. Also never post videos or photos of patients without permission.
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