It seems like every business these days is on at least one social network (or four). As a medical practice, you may be thinking there’s no way you have enough interesting things to say or no one really cares enough about your practice to follow them on Facebook or Twitter – but you’d be wrong.

In a recent State of Inbound study, social media had a 100% higher lead-to-close ratio than outbound marketing (such as print or radio ads). In other words, social media was more effective in driving customers to businesses – and the same can hold true for medical practices and patients.

One of the best ways to reach these potential patients on social media? Post photos. According to a Hubspot study, photos on Facebook Pages receive 53% more Likes than the average post.

Here’s a few things to remember before you start posting:

• Have a plan to post consistently. Daily, 3x weekly, 2x monthly – whatever the case may be, create a schedule and stick to it.
• Make sure you have photo releases for everyone in your photos. Plus Subscribers can download a photo release template – just insert your practice name and print.
• When applicable, use a program like Pixlr to add your practice’s logo to photos. Since photos are shared more than text posts, you want your logo to go with the photo when it’s shared, don’t you?

So now that you know what to do before you get started, what should you be taking photos of to maintain a personal touch on social media?

Create Contests

When is the next major holiday? These are the perfect times to organize a friendly staff contest and drive your social media efforts through the roof with little effort. Inform your staff that on a specific day they should dress up to celebrate the holiday (Valentine’s Day = wear red, etc.).

Then, have them submit a photo to you at a deadline you specify. Once you have all the photos, create an album on Facebook and say the photo with the most “Likes” will earn free lunch for that department (you can announce this on the album itself or just send out an internal memo to keep the contest aspect off of your Facebook page). Voila.

Just sit back as your staff shares the photo with all of their friends and encourage everyone to like your page. You’ll be amazed at the results online and the team building offline.

Grab a Photo of Doctors with Patients

Nothing goes over as well as a quick candid shot of one of your physicians with a patient. Not only does the patient feel special (and maybe a little extra motivated to leave you a positive review), but it shows all of your followers that your doctors care and they’re real people too.

As an added bonus, other patients will often comment about how great their experience has been with the doctor or with the practice once they see the photo. These photos take less than a minute to organize and they will create a lasting impression.

Empower Your Employees

Designate an office manager or employee with social savvy to find opportunities to take photos. These can be anything from stopping by the nursing station to highlighting your newly decorated office or even showing off someone’s cubicle theme. Anything to show the office is human and relatable will work – even if you don’t think it’s photo worthy, your followers will love it.

If you have younger doctors at your practice or those who are especially tech savvy, give them access to the Facebook account and encourage them to take a photo when they can. Coming straight from the doctor, or giving a “behind the scenes” look at what they do will drive your social reach through the roof.

When All Else Fails…Find a Cute Kid

Works. Every. Time.

What Did We Miss?

Have other photo ideas that work really well on social media? Let us know what you do at your practice in the comments below.