The B2B healthcare landscape is more competitive than ever, with companies of all sizes vying for attention and leads.
If you want to stand out here, it's time to rethink your marketing approach.
It’s time to tap into one of the most powerful tools at your disposal— ‘social media’.
A strong healthcare social media strategy can do wonders for building your brand, raising public awareness, and, most importantly, attracting new patients.
But let’s face it—creating an effective social media strategy can feel overwhelming, especially if you're new to the game.
That’s where this blog saves the day. It highlights proven healthcare social media strategies to help you get started.
So, dive in and learn what strategies to use to make your healthcare brand thrive on social media!
Give the following tips a try and gain more likes, shares, and engagement on your healthcare brand’s social media—
Share posts on social media that highlight how your company is working on preventative and proactive healthcare solutions.
For example, check out this Twitter post from AstraZeneca, where they discuss the impact of COPD and then hint at how they are trying to come up with innovative approaches to address the risks associated with it.
Healthcare video posts like these not only engage your audience but also keep them informed about the latest advancements in healthcare. Plus, they show that your company is constantly innovating to solve real health issues.
Apart from this, you can also post videos, blogs, or polls about other health concerns, routine procedures (like flu shots), and trending industry topics.
By consistently sharing such valuable content, you’ll be able to build trust with your audience, who will come to see you as a credible source for the latest healthcare news.
People often turn to healthcare facilities, like hospitals and outpatient centers, for reliable educational information. So, make sure your social media strategy includes educational materials.
You can create and share a simple animated video to educate about a medical condition, its symptoms, and prevention, just like Siemens Healthineers did in the linked Instagram video.
Additionally, you can share blog posts, infographics, and studies from your healthcare institution, or articles from other trusted websites.
If you’re sharing content that was not created by your team, always fact-check it. Posting inaccurate information can tarnish your reputation and lose patient trust.
Make sure to promote them in the right balance, don’t fill your whole page with promotional content. For instance, you can share info about an upcoming event like this:
And then in your next post, you can share about a new healthcare treatment or technology you are working on like this:
See how both the posts are from Abbott and how the brand makes its twitter page dynamic by sharing different types of content pieces.
Such fresh and diverse content is the only way to keep your audience excited and engaged.
To enhance your Twitter videos, be sure to check out our guide on Twitter video ad specs!
Essentially, all healthcare brands appear the same to lay people because their medical jargon, aims, or approaches are actually similar.
To break free from this perception and stand out, you should show people your unique values and commitment—show them how you are more than just your product.
You need to highlight the human side of your brand and how you care for people. For example, see the post from Roche, where they are announcing their partnership with SAS Brazil to help women from remote and vulnerable communities gain access to specialized healthcare for cervical cancer.
The main goal of social media marketing in the healthcare industry is to build and maintain a trusted relationship with your audience.
By highlighting your staff or team members' accomplishments, as Pfizer did in the example above, you can support this goal.
How?
Well, by showcasing their achievements, you demonstrate that you have top talent, which positions your brand highly in people's minds and helps them trust you more.
So, whether a team member receives recognition, your facility wins an award, or you receive praise from a patient, you can share these moments on social media. Just be sure not to share patient feedback without their permission as their confidentiality is also your responsibility.
Source: Web FX
These days, people are quick to share their experiences—good or bad—on social media. If your service is good, customers are likely to post good reviews. You can repost these reviews on your own social media.
Since people trust recommendations from others, seeing positive experiences will make them more inclined to choose your services.
To find user-generated content that you can repost, search for mentions of your brand on social media.
Apart from the organic user-generated content, you can also team up with a patient to create content, like testimonials or educational posts about a new treatment.
Just make sure to get their permission before sharing their content. While some platforms, like Twitter, make re-sharing easy, others, like Instagram, require you to ask for permission directly.
Hashtags are the wheels that drive the social media bandwagon, so use them effectively to reach your target audience.
You can use your own branded hashtags (like Northwestern Medicine's #NMBetter) or general healthcare tags (#CancerSucks). Hashtags help extend your content’s reach and make it easier for followers to share.
In the example I have provided above, you can see GE Healthcare use a custom healthcare-related hashtag, #FlexAcuityMatters, to show one of their patient monitoring solutions.
They also use one of their more common hashtags, #FutureofHealthcare, in this Instagram video too.
Hashtag holidays are a great chance for healthcare providers to engage with a wider audience.
Many health issues have specific awareness days or months, giving you plenty of opportunities to connect with people.
By giving them a behind-the-scenes look at your organization, you’ll boost their interest in your brand and make it feel more relatable to them.
For inspiration, check out the above-linked video from Pfizer. It gives a brief yet powerful look into the daily work of their scientists, showcasing their expertise and dedication.
This kind of content helps viewers connect with the brand by showing the real people behind the science.
Source: Freepik
Most social media apps let you go live and share real-time updates with your followers.
But before going live, make sure your content is valuable for your audience. Ask yourself if it will interest them.
If it does, you’re likely to get positive impressions and strong engagement.
Source: Freepik
Promptly solve your patient’s or potential client’s query on social media.
When you solve their problems, you build trust and often earn lifelong recommendations.
You can use online media to address their interests and concerns while handling complaints through discussions on Twitter or other networks.
Apart from these strategies, consider running branded social media campaigns like partnerships, contests, and giveaways to boost engagement and attract attention.
For more inspiration, take a look at our detailed blog on healthcare marketing campaigns that redefined medical advertising!
These are some real-life examples of healthcare social media marketing you can check out for inspiration–
AstraZeneca uploaded this 3D animation explainer video on their YouTube channel to simplify oncology cell therapy. Using detailed visuals and a clear voiceover, the video explains how our immune system protects us from pathogens and abnormal cells.
It also highlights how, with solid tumors, the tumor's microenvironment can suppress our immune cells and create barriers. AstraZeneca then shows how they genetically engineer T cells to overcome these obstacles, giving a glimpse into their innovative solutions.
What's really captivating about these kinds of videos is the microscopic details they reveal about our bodies—things we could never see with the naked eye. These fascinating details are what keeps the viewer hooked from start to finish.
Boston Scientific nailed it with this social responsibility post on Twitter. It is a quick 30-second video explaining their C3 (Cut, Convert, Compensate) strategy, aimed at reducing their greenhouse gas emissions company-wide.
They use it to highlight their commitment to sustainability and demonstrate that they are a resilient, forward-thinking business.
Why does this kind of content matter to you?
It shows you're not just focused on business but also care about the planet, your patients, and your community. And for healthcare brands, maintaining such a responsible, ethical image is super important.
Boston Scientific posted this video on World Environment Day. You can also utilize other awareness days or months to create relevant and engaging content for your social media.
Novartis shared a straightforward animated explainer video on Instagram, breaking down Radioligand Therapy (RLT) and how it works.
Along with the video, they posted a well-crafted caption explaining how this precision treatment helps healthcare professionals target and treat cancer cells or those in the tumor environment while minimizing damage to healthy tissue.
Towards the end, they subtly promoted their brand by highlighting how Novartis continues to "reimagine medicine" to bring next-gen treatments to patients in need.
Using this approach, they not only educate their audience but also reinforce their expertise in the field.
Legacy and history really help build trust for a healthcare brand, don’t they?
That’s exactly what Medtronic tapped into with this social media video. Using it showed us a brief glimpse of their journey, showing off their major breakthroughs—from their very first pacemaker in 1957, which was this big, external, battery-powered device, to today’s version that’s implantable and as tiny as a AAA battery.
Such social media content shows your viewers how much you have evolved and why you are a leader in the field.
In this Facebook video, Thermo Fisher Scientific shared the heartwarming story of baby Amelia and how organ donation saved her life. It's the raw emotions in the video that really connect with people.
Posted during #DonateLife Month, this post offered more than just Amelia’s story. It included some eye-opening stats in the caption—like how one organ donor can save up to 8 lives and improve the lives of over 75 others, sparing countless families from heartbreak.
The video beautifully combined the personal impact of organ donation with a larger, powerful message through the stats!
In addition to such social media posts, you can also consider running healthcare commercials to boost your brand awareness. For some inspiring examples, check out our linked blog!
One of the biggest challenges for healthcare social media marketing is HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Though there are other regulations and compliances this is the most common and tricky one you’ll face.
Under HIPAA, you are required to protect your patient’s information from unauthorized access or misuse, which can make it tricky to share their testimonials and experiences on social media.
But there are ways to share these without exposing their privacy. Here’s how you can do it—
And most importantly, ensure you have a team that’s familiar with HIPAA regulations and trained on how to protect patient privacy.
Here are four major social networks and how they can enhance your hospital's social media strategy:
YouTube is a powerful tool for engaging your potential clients and patients with informative and visual content. On your YouTube channel, you can share informative animated explainer videos, product demos, testimonial videos, behind-the-scenes, etc.
Facebook is great for sharing updates about your practice and events. It’s a go-to reference point for patients and potential patients to stay informed about what’s happening at your hospital.
Twitter is perfect for sharing breaking news and timely updates about your new products or studies. It’s a platform where people go for quick, real-time information. You can easily target your niche target audience here while also keeping your general followers informed and engaged.
LinkedIn is the platform for professional networking and it is where you’ll mostly find your B2B clients. It’s a great place for building credibility and positioning your brand as a leader in the industry.
Here, you can engage in discussions, share research, and offer insights that establish your reputation.
Use these key metrics to measure the success of your healthcare social media marketing strategy
And that brings us to the end of our exploration of healthcare social media marketing strategies!
There are so many other tactics out there; after all, social media is such a dynamic space, and each platform has its own flavor. But the strategies we’ve discussed are enough to get you started.
Just remember to share educational and engaging content, highlight new treatments or innovations, tell your patients' stories, and engage with your followers across platforms.
So go ahead and start putting these strategies into action—you're ready for this!
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