Ask  physicians whether they are involved in content marketing and you will typically be greeted with a stare and a blank look as most doctors are not familiar with what content marketing actually is. If they knew the term, they would realize that they are probably involved in it one way or another already.

What is Content Marketing?

Content Marketing is a process that involves the creation and sharing of media and publishing content in order to get prospective patients. Whenever  you update your status, share a photo, or post a blog,  you’re doing  content marketing.

Tips to  Sharing Content

What to Share

Not all social networks are the same.  As a general rule, post personal and visual content on Facebook and Google+. Examples of this include new services and techniques, new staff members, additional hospital affiliation or insurance participation, new business milestones. Consider the health fair that you participate in or the charity event that you are involved with.  Snap a photo and post to Facebook.

Contests like who knows the answer to a medical question or how to take care of a medical condition as a patient, are for  Twitter and Facebook. LinkedIn is for sharing professional mentions  and articles about your practice which serves you for professional referrals.

Also consider short videos which works well as a specific message on Twitter but it also works along with visual content on Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr and Tumblr. If however, you have a lot to say about a topic, create and post a blog. Not only are people and prospective patients drawn  more directly to your website, search engines consider this updated fresh content for your website which boosts your search engine ranking. The more frequent  it gets visited by Google, the more doors are created for you and the more visible you become.

When to share

There are many studies to show optimal times for sharing content and getting more retweets, the best time to post and even myths of social sharing.

Here are the big takeaways:


Facebook posts done later in the week get more engagement so if you only have the time to post once a week, it is more effective Wednesday to Friday. Twitter followers check on weekends.

Blog fans read in the morning and Mondays are the most ideal. Eleven is usually the highest trafficked hour for most blogs. General content posted on Thursdays gets the best engagement.

How to share

Inserting links one quarter into a tweet gets more shares.
Shorten your URLs for Twitter to give you more characters. Sites like  bit.ly enable you to insert your longer URL to get a  shortened version  quickly and easily.

Cross-promote!  Add social sharing buttons to your website, link your social sites in your email signature, and  fill out your social profiles to include links to your other social sites.
Always use a thumbnail on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. Remember photos and videos. Posts with images are more interesting and engaging. If the article you are sharing doesn’t have a relevant image attached, you can upload one on your own.

So, now you can say that you are a content marketer and in doing so, will gain more credibility and visibility for yourself and your practice.

Still need help?

If doing this just isn’t your thing, call 561-325-9664. We can discuss your needs and get you going!