Hashtags in healthcare are not just an afterthought for your social media posts, they are #strategy for optimizing your practice’s marketing efforts.
Hashtags have become part of the social media norm. According to Twitter, the average daily number of hashtags tweeted is 125 million. That’s just on Twitter. And people use hashtags on all platforms from Facebook to Instagram to Tik Tok and even YouTube. These simple words or phrases have come a long way in popularity, but their basic purpose remains the same.
Hashtags turn topics and phrases into clickable links for your social media posts, helping your practice reach a wider audience across social media platforms. These simple but powerful tools connect you with your community and potential patients.
A good social media strategy should include popular, relevant, and branded hashtags. Using popular hashtags helps your post become searchable, expanding your reach to people looking for related content. Take a look at these top performing Instagram healthcare hashtags this year.
Popular hashtags should not be the only part of your strategy. Relevant hashtags narrow the focus of your post to more specific content such as #orthopedics, #sportsmedicine, or #kneereplacement. Relevant hashtags are important because they reach an audience searching for your specific health services.
Finding the best hashtags to reach your audience does take a little work. Do your research and watch what hashtags social media influencers and your competitors are using. Having this information will help you gain an understanding of your target audience and what content they are and are not engaging with.
Finally, include a hashtag unique to your brand or practice. Using these specific hashtags can help patients follow your content and posts in searches, and make it easier to follow your practice.
Hashtags have become part of the digital marketing norm, and they help gather content for healthcare consumers to have a larger conversation. Combining popular, relevant, and branded hashtags can help boost your social engagement and increase your social media presence among your patient base. And it’s all possible with one small symbol and a few thoughtful key words.
Holly Breen Olds has served the healthcare industry with over 20 years of expertise in healthcare marketing for physicians, hospitals and the medical device sector across the US.
