Why social media should be part of every practice's toolkit

The way that people interact with the world around them has changed dramatically as a result of social media. While the internet has allowed people to receive new information faster than ever before, social media has given them an intimate connection with the world using new ways to engage and vastly increasing their exposure to new products, services and expertise.

Instant online access as well as the vast reach of digital word-of-mouth recommendations has put businesses under the spotlight and enabled consumers to drive demands for higher levels of customer service and more personal interactions with businesses that they frequent. Even the most professional businesses are finding it harder to compete in a marketplace with internet savvy clients resulting in pressure to provide innovative ways to connect online. In terms of social media marketing within human and animal health care, there has been a shift to social connectivity becoming the norm, rather than the exception. Whether people like it or not, social media has changed the face of business and is fast becoming an essential part of the business toolkit for providing intimate connections that consumers now expect.

What is social media?

Social media is a term that most of people are familiar with and often the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of social media is Facebook, and rightly so for Facebook has vastly more users than any other social networking platform (Table 1). However, social media is more than just Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin; social media is any type of platform that allows a person to connect with others and share information. There are thousands, of programs, applications, and services available today which allow people to interact with each other in multiple different ways. Responding to email, posting to forums, commenting on news websites, liking videos on YouTube or participating in online photo-sharing are all part of the social media connectedness that the majority of people in developed countries are getting involved with on a daily basis.

The sheer number of people now using social media means that its effects are global. In 2013, one in four people worldwide used some type of social network and within the next 4 years, that figure is expected to rise by over 32% to approximately 2.5 billion people (eMarketer, 2013a). Facebook alone boasts one of the largest communities on the planet; in fact, if Facebook were a country, it would be the second largest country in the world with a population nearly four times that of the USA. Facebook has the highest usage by people in developed countries like the USA, Canada, UK and Australia where at least one out of every 2–3 people uses it daily for an average of 20 minutes at a time (Table 2).

While Facebook remains an industry leader carving out a unique niche as a relationship builder, other credible social media heavyweights include Twitter and Google+, both with an increasingly large number of users. What all of these networks have in common is that they allow users to consume content that is important to them, from whom they want, when they want it, and how they want it.

The way that users utilise social media is diverse with innumerable combinations of networking, sharing, publishing and discussion forums being employed (Figure 1). The accessibility and affordability of internet access has resulted in people having a group of friends and acquaintances at their fingertips any moment of the day and while this means greater interaction with more people, it also means communication can be limited to written emails, text messaging, chats, forums, and commentary. Online etiquette is becoming as important as body language and oral communication skills; however, what is being lost in physical interaction, is being gained in accessibility, immediacy and choice.

While some may lament the advent of online communication, it is also true that communication is ever changing. Currently digital literacy is gained in early childhood and built on over a lifetime of continual exposure. Those who have fluent digital literacy are increasing relative to those who acquired the skills later in life and it is this new digitally literate demographic that is driving adaptation to traditional business acumen.

How social media is changing business

Social media itself may be rooted in socialising with friends, but now it is increasingly dominated by businesses. In fact, in the last 3 years, the number of businesses that deem Facebook to be important or critical to their success has increased over 75% (Jorgensen, 2012). The reason for this, is the increased demand from consumers for personalised content. With social media, a user can learn about a product, compare it with other products, explore a company's values, connect to people within the company, see what other consumers think of the company, buy products online, and publish their own opinions for others to see. They can do all of this from anywhere they choose, and instantly, online.

The average consumer now has more power than they ever had before, and more choice. People are choosing to get information about businesses when they want it, and how they want it, and they are inviting businesses into their daily lives because the content is interesting and relevant. This is the challenge for businesses wishing to represent themselves on social media, and in particular on Facebook. Business must provide what consumers want, or they will be left out in the cold.

While consumers are logging in by the millions, it is not just posts from family and friends that they are tuning in to; they are also viewing promotional material. When a user logs onto Facebook, they are exposed to nearly 1500 potential pieces of content within their newsfeed, most of which is provided by an average of 40 businesses, services or product pages that the user has liked or subscribed to (Smith, 2013b). Consumers are tuning in by choice based on how engaging or relevant the content is. In fact, this is exactly what Facebook had intended when developing the network. According to Carolyn Everson, Vice President of Global Marketing Solutions for Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg asserted early on that his vision for Facebook was to see marketing be as ‘engaging and compelling as the content you would see from your family and friends’ (eMarketer, 2013).

With social media marketing, consumers are spoiled for choice, rejecting traditional advertising approaches and instead looking for businesses that offer easier ways to connect. In fact, studies show that 80% of social network users prefer to connect with brands through Facebook (Savery, 2011). But consumers do not just want to view ads. In reality, consumers still lack trust in formal online advertisements compared to traditional advertisements (Richter, 2014). However, the success of online advertising is the way in which it is done, and with social media, it requires giving the consumer the power to choose.

The other benefit to social media is in seeing that other people like the same services, or products. Consumers will take recommendations from people they do not even know personally and indeed, a 2013 Nielson report found that only 14% of people value the endorsement of formal advertisements whereas 78% of people value personal recommendations from other consumers (Nielson, 2013). The highly desirable word-of-mouth recommendation is one of the most convincing marketing tools for attracting new customers and it is even more powerful than ever before using social media because of the value placed in numbers of endorsements.

Social media recommendations can come in many forms including the number of followers a business has, the number of people commenting positively on a business's content, or the number of formal recommendations. To increase any one of these, a business needs to present itself with useful and interesting information, and this is the real challenge with social media. It is essential for businesses on social media to keep up to date with the needs of followers, to post engaging content that exhibits the business's values, and to demonstrate excellent customer service by quickly responding to follower comments or concerns. By doing these things, a business can develop a loyal group of advocates who will attract others to the brand.

A social networking presence can help a business garner customer loyalty but more importantly, it can help encourage repeat business which is arguably the most significant source of revenue. Existing customers on average spend 67% more than new customers and combined with the fact that it costs 5–10 times more to attract a new customer than it does to retain the existing ones, it is vitally important to invest in keeping customers and encouraging them to come back (Fenn, 2010).

Social media users want to feel close to the business, to see that the business is human by gaining special insights or having access to privileged information; but, more importantly, they want to be engaged. The consequences of this user engagement is that small businesses can now potentially reach larger audiences than were previously possible with traditional print, television, or radio advertising, and with significantly less cost, enabling small businesses to invest in keeping the clients they have, and generating more positive referrals (Coleman, 2013; Constant Contact, 2014).

Facebook itself has driven much of this new personal approach to marketing. As a result of this market success driven by Facebook, more and more businesses are being pressured to jump on the social media bandwagon. Never before in history has there been a more effective and affordable marketing opportunity; even the smallest businesses are finding simple, affordable success by presenting themselves online, and consumers are tuning in, proving that social media marketing is here to stay — for a while at least.

Developing a social media presence

In developing a group of followers, it pays to remember that exposure on social media can be much farther reaching than simply the number of followers a business has (Figure 2). Just one piece of original content that goes viral can dramatically increase the number of people that see it and for each person who sees it, there is an opportunity for them to like or share the content leading to even more exposure. The more followers a business has, the more people will want to follow as they see others’ likes as endorsements of the brand. Each and every follower has potential and is important for developing a strong loyal base of fans that will support the brand and draw in repeat business and new clientele.

Creating a social media profile requires some forethought to ensure that potential followers are not actually driven away. After all, a business is not just competing with others in its professional community; it is also competing with all other business in the wider social media circle because consumers are familiar with companies that do social media well, and with so many likeminded businesses to choose from, consumers will not give a second glance to a business that is poorly presented.

Presenting itself well on social media is vitally important so doing some basic research is essential. There are a number of resources available to help a business get started (Table 3). For instance, well-presented branding is key including choosing the correct size cover images, thumbnail images, and avatars. Similarly, creating original content in each social network is essential. While Facebook is more passive and allows users to scrapbook moments in their lives, Twitter is proactive, instantaneous and is more about the information. Knowing these differences is important when choosing how to communicate with followers.

Is social media suitable for healthcare professions?

Veterinary clients want, and need, in-depth information. When their pets get sick, they want answers straight away and whether veterinary professionals like it or not, most of them will go online at some point to learn about signs they are seeing in their pet, or to see what treatments are likely. So the question is not as much about whether social media is an appropriate platform for dispersing veterinary information, but rather it is how social media can be better utilised to provide information as a service? Judging by the thousands of successful veterinary/medical social media profiles already in place worldwide, clients want this connection and are proving that they want to tune in to get information that they can trust.

Within social media there are many excellent examples of veterinary/medical practices that are successfully integrating social media with their current practice (Table 4). What these practices have in common is the professionalism with which they present themselves, but also it is the consistently engaging content that they present to their followers.

Members of the public are discerning when selecting quality sources for the information they seek and many appreciate a professional recommendation to help them wade through the influx of misinformation that is readily available on social networks (Diaz, 2002). With social media, there are great opportunities for veterinary practices to fulfil at least some of the pet community's needs for knowledge around pet health. It also gives practices an opportunity for practices to assert their own unique recommendations to help clients determine fact from fiction when navigating the abundance of misinformation found on social media.

It goes without saying that a strong sense of professional ethics comes into play when considering establishing a public profile online. Ensuring confidentiality for clients is of utmost importance as is adherence to legislation regarding doctor-patient–client relationships when giving advice online. Similarly, maintaining a professional, yet engaging persona is vital so assigning the right person to the job is essential. However, with good strategies in place and a strong professional ethos, social media and professionalism can go very well together.

Conclusion

These are exciting times with unprecedented opportunities for engagement and outreach. The petkeeping community has a thirst for knowledge about pet health and veterinary practices are well suited to provide sound information and trusted advice. While veterinary practices may face professional and ethical challenges with regard to communicating appropriately in a public forum, these challenges are not insurmountable and with a solid strategy in place, practices can use social media to better help clients and subsequently provide the highest value service to the pet community.

Key points

• Those who have fluent digital literacy are increasing relative to those who acquired the skills later in life and businesses must adapt to meet this changing demographic.
• Social networks allow users to consume content that is important to them, from who they want, when they want it, and how they want it.
• Success of online advertising depends on allowing the consumer to choose what they want to see.
• Social media has changed the face of business and it is fast becoming an essential part of the business toolkit for providing intimate connections that consumers now expect.
• With good strategies in place and a strong professional ethos, social media and professionalism can go very well together.