For some doctors social media is very new. If you’ve never experienced Facebook with a personal page before it may be difficult to navigate a business page without that point of reference. Even if Facebook doesn’t interest you in the private realm, it is a necessary part of any doctor’s online presence.

The name of the game is engagement, but there are a set of rules that businesses and practice must adhere to, even if unspoken.

Here are some quick and easy tips to keep in mind when expanding your social media presence.

• Be Relevant: patients will view, and like your Facebook page for information—and while all your posts don’t need to be “strictly business,” try to your limit fuzzy kitten meme shares. Instead share information related to your practice and industry. Specials, tips, even jokes relevant to your audience will reinforce your position as an authority.
• Be Engaging: Communicate with your followers. Even if you choose not to respond to each individually, if there is an overwhelming sentiment among your network, address it.
• Be Professional: If you’d like to voice personal opinions create a personal page. Your practice’s page is no place to air personal gripes, carry on political or religious debates or call out competitors.
• Be Present: Creating a page and never looking back doesn’t help your brand, and can actually hurt it. Create a schedule and post interesting content at least once a week. Many will consider your Facebook page an extension of your practice—you wouldn’t ignore a patient for weeks on end…

Now that you’ve created a Facebook business page and you know what to do, here are a few things not to do. Just like in life, a bad online reputation can follow you, and possibly hurt your brand.

• Don’t Over Post: While it is important to be present, there is a limit. Posting once an hour will dilute your followers’ interest, and eventually the attempt to be engaging and present will relegate you to blocked status.
• Don’t Be a Salesperson: Even though a Facebook business page is there to reach out to existing and potential patients, don’t think of your status updates as ads. If everything you post is a thinly veiled sales pitch your followers will quickly diminish.
• Don’t Be a Mass Messenger: If you’d like to reach a large part of your fan base do it via status updates, or create a group and invite those specific people. Mass messaging means every response will be sent to every person on the message—which becomes incredibly annoying very quickly.

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