Expand the Reach of Your Aesthetic Healthcare Practice with LinkedIn
Reach New Heights and New Patients with LinkedIn
On the surface, LinkedIn is the little brother in the social media craze, seemingly relegated to Facebook’s shadow. Rumors surrounding Facebook’s IPO place it at a $50B valuation, while LinkedIn’s initial valuation was around $4B. Facebook has over 750 million users, and LInkedIn has just over 115 million. The amount of time spent on LinkedIn—a key metric for measuring the value of advertising space—pales in comparison to Facebook, which according to Nielsen Research accounts for 12% of the average user’s internet time.
Regardless of the numbers, LinkedIn remains a valuable asset for aesthetic healthcare practices, with some distinct advantages over Facebook. If you are looking to further improve your practice’s online performance and your professional authority, LinkedIn should be at the top of your list of considerations.
Facebook or LinkedIn: How Much Time do You Have?
The argument for social media has never been an either/or issue. If you have the time, the benefits of expanding your social reach and brand awareness across a number of channels will improve your online performance. The most important part of that sentence being, “if you have the time.” Before you jump into the endless array of social media platforms, you’ll need to decide if the potential benefits justify the time commitment.
I Have a Facebook Page, Why Should I Bother with LinkedIn?
There’s little doubt concerning the potential benefit of an involved patient community on Facebook. But where do you go from there? Once comfortable with the platform and time commitment required by Facebook, LinkedIn represents a second tier priority worthy of your attention.
With LinkedIn comes a new audience and a slightly different set of goals. LinkedIn is a business-related social network that can further improve the quality of your online reputation and authority within your industry. The main goal of the social platform is the creation of an online professional network.
Whereas Facebook allows you to interact with patients and provide a valuable resource focused on your practice and passion as an aesthetic healthcare provider, LinkedIn creates a way for you to maintain relationships with a list of professional connections.
Think of LinkedIn as the online version of industry conferences and continuing education courses. The platform allows you to not only stay connected to colleagues you may only see once or twice a year at these events, but also allows you to stay informed of the latest news concerning your professional affiliations and industry organizations.
LinkedIn Light Years Ahead of Facebook in One Respect
In the second half of the article, “LinkedIn is More Valuable than Facebook,” Bruno Aziza discusses LinkedIn’s original vision: better connecting business people through analytics. As the world in general becomes more analytical, Aziza argues LinkedIn is light years ahead of Facebook because the platform provides users with greater insight concerning the future of their career, their position, and their industry.
While LinkedIn may not be a top priority for practices strictly hoping to reach out to new patients online, Aziza says LinkedIn is committed to providing greater insight into their user’s industry and professional networks.
How LinkedIn Can Improve Your Practice’s Online Performance
The surface-level goals for LinkedIn users are fairly similar to Facebook: create quality interaction and make valuable connections that lead to improved offline performance in your practice. In addition to the audience, the difference lies in the method and how the professional social network can benefit your practice. The following list provides 3 ways LinkedIn can benefit your practice.
- LinkedIn Can Validate Your Expertise & Authority in the Industry
- LinkedIn Creates Enhanced Reputation Management Opportunities
- LinkedIn Builds Stronger Relationships with Colleagues
Stay tuned to the Rosemont Review for specific action steps you can take immediately to kickstart your LinkedIn profile and start making connections. Call your Rosemont Media rep with any questions, or for more information on LinkedIn for the aesthetic healthcare practice.