Weekly Pharmacy Social Media Checklist
I know that at Peak Strategies we constantly preach about creating a strong social media presence for your pharmacy. However we understand that it can also be overwhelming and confusing to know what to post and share.
That is why this week we created weekly social media checklists for you to download and implement in your pharmacy.
We have created checklists for the three most popular social media platforms for pharmacy that being Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Facebook:
Facebook features include strong visual elements, great analytics to track performance and a broad demographic of users.
Tip for Facebook! Don’t overwhelm your customers with products on Facebook; be selective about what you’re publishing. EDUCATE not just selling.
How often to post: 3-5 times per week.
Suggestions of posts:
Sharing posts about your pharmacy blog or website (this can include your franchises) Ensure you have shared the post with an interesting image relevant to the blog post.
Product and Service placement. Of course ultimately your social media is to generate traffic to your pharmacy and to increase sales. So it is wise to post about products but ensure it’s not an overload and you have other interesting posts.
Video- Utilise film to educate and share tips with customers. Flu season? Discuss the benefits of flu shot. For example if it is Diabetes information week, discuss how you can help with diabetes management and consultations. Also of note is to keep the video to one- four minutes long. Let your audience know about the services you offer as well. Not just products.
Share posts about your team, your team are the forefronts of the brand so ensure they are promoted to your customers. Suggestions include staff profile updates or taking a “behind the scenes” action shot. Be sure to include all staff members from pharmacists through to pharmacy assistants.
Share local content. It’s extremely important to engage with your local community as a large percentage of your traffic will be people in your immediate area. These posts can be about local upcoming events, iconic images from the area and news.
Weekend memes and images. People are generally a little more inclined to engage closer to the weekend due to excitement. Post memes and images relevant to the weekend. Another suggestion is to shed light that your pharmacy is open on weekends for example post a fun team photo or an image of your actual pharmacy with a caption detailing your opening times.
Twitter:
Features of Twitter: big on hashtags, fast paced and great way to link external websites (for example your website or blog).
How often to post: 2-3 times per week
Suggestions of posts:
Quotes relevant to pharmacy. This could be a focus on looking after yourself or a statistic that would shock customers (and encourage them to come visit you for a chat).
Links to your website or blog.
Research other Twitter accounts and retweet information that is relevant to pharmacy.
You can start a Q & A with customer and answer important questions for pharmacists.
Instagram:
How often to post: at least once a day no more than three times.
Why is posting frequency important? As Neil Patel says:
“If you post too infrequently, your audience will forget that you exist and you will quickly fade into the deep dark recesses of their minds. However, if you are posting too often, you will become a complete nuisance and they will dread seeing your posts overcrowding their feed”
Instagram tip: always use warm colours filters for your photos, for example lark.
Suggestions of posts:
Ensure on all posts you use relevant hashtags. For example if I owned a pharmacy called Sarah’s Pharmacy- I would use the hashtag #sarahspharmacyperth. That way when people click on that hashtag they would see all of my posts for the profile. Post an image with the pharmacy whether it is your logo or front of house. Then spend the time to go through your other posts to add the hashtag in.
Another handy tip is to research popular local hashtags within your pharmacy’s area. That way when customers are looking at a particular hashtag, they will see some of your posts. Want to learn more about hashtags? Read our blog: Instagram, Let’s Give Your Pharmacy More Personality.
You can recycle content for your social media across your platforms. The posts about your products you use on Facebook you can post on Instagram as well. It also helps maintain a brand consistency with your messaging.
Be creative and utilise some of the features on Instagram such as boomerang and Instagram stories. For example you can use the boomerang feature when you’re posting about your team, share it on the Instagram Stories or do a boomerang team shot.
We firmly believe that what platforms you choose is completely up to you. This is because each pharmacy would have a different target customer therefore not all platforms will be relevant. For example if you’re aiming to target older males then Instagram isn’t the platform for you with its target audience being younger females.
What we do suggest however is that what every platform you use must have a consistent posting strategy. Social media isn’t as easy as creating an account then forgetting about it. It involves planning, creativity and strategy.
So we hope that these checklists inspire you to kick start your social media or to reflect on your current strategies. If you need some help with brainstorming, please do not hesitate to contact me on sarah.rendell@peakstrategies.com.au
Download the pharmacy social media checklist:
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