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7. Speak in the plural first person You’re promoting your business, and your business is more than just you. When you speak on behalf of your practice, you’re speaking for many people. This includes yourself, your associates, your employees, and even your patients—all of whom make up the community that is your practice. Communities don’t refer to themselves in singular terms like “I” and “me.” Instead, they use terms like “we” and “us.” By using these terms, you’re subtly suggesting to the reader that they can also be part of that community, and ultimately, that’s what you want them to become.


6. Respond; don’t react Social media necessitates engagement. When your audience is interacting with you, you need to respond. More importantly, you need to respond in a timely manner. Questions and comments on a business’ social media channels should be addressed as soon as is reasonably possible. The medium is a fluid one and it demands your attention. Still, it’s important to remember that your initial reactions—especially to internet trolls—may not be good for publication. Respond to your audience. Respond to them quickly and diplomatically. But don’t react to them or their comments.


5. Don’t solicit comments/likes/shares


This should go without saying, but asking your audience to interact with your posts is, well, kind of pathetic. If you have to prompt people to engage with your content, then your content just isn’t that good. Post quality content and the comments, likes, and shares will naturally follow. The one exception to this rule is if you are polling your audience. It’s okay to solicit comments if you’re asking a specific question; but it’s counterproductive to ask for likes and shares on an article you post.


4. Keep your wits about you


That is, only manage your social media channels when you’re in the right state of mind to do so. Maybe you like a glass of wine or a little scotch after work. That’s great; nobody’s judging you. But if you drunk-post (especially on your business channels), they certainly will. It seems intuitive, but surprisingly, many people make this mistake. You wouldn’t treat a patient or get behind the wheel after kicking back a few, so don’t similarly play with your business’ reputation.


3. Cross-promote


This goes hand-in-hand with speaking in a plural, first person voice. If social media is about community, don’t be afraid to promote others. When your peers are doing something particularly great, or when there’s a product or service out there you think your audience can benefit from, share it. It dispels the appearance of self-interest and grows your community. More practically, it generates goodwill with others who may have access to an audience you want to reach.


2. Be mindful of who you post/tag As a healthcare provider, you have to be cautious of your patients’ privacy. But even when the subject of a post or photo is not a patient, you should be extra mindful of whether you have their permission to share it and/or tag them. This is just a basic courtesy that everyone should follow, but especially you, given your heightened responsibility to those you treat. And lastly . . .


1. Remember the Golden Rule Do unto others . . . wait, no. Not that one. The other Golden Rule: “If you wouldn’t want your mom reading it, you shouldn’t post it.” Once something is on the internet, it’s there forever, and no matter how well you think you’ve restricted access to it, it always has the potential to come back. The best way to avoid social media content having a negative effect on your business’ reputation is to be conservative about what you post. The aforementioned Golden Rule, or “Mom Rule,” is a quick and easy test of what does and does not belong on your channel.


There are no guarantees with new media, and as opinions and public sentiment evolve, we’ll undoubtedly create new best practices for engaging the world through technology. These strategies are fairly timeless, though, and at least for now, they’re a good guide for staying between the lines.


Respond to your audience. Respond to them


quickly and diplomatically. But don’t react to


them or their comments.


Plexus


September 2017 13


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