The anatomy of a Facebook page (for digital health companies)

September 14, 2016
QuHarrison Terry -

Recently, I joined the Marketing team at Redox to help us digitally refine the way we grow who we are as a company and how we interact with our customers. I was immediately intrigued by how 20% of our all social traffic in 2016 came from our Facebook page… even though our current Facebook page is, to put it nicely, complete TRASH.

How does a digital health company build up their Facebook page?

For Redox (and all digital health companies), this is something we have to think about, especially when the most prevalent and effective means of spreading awareness in the digital health industry is word-of-mouth marketing. Right now, what moves the needle for us is in-person meetings and getting in front of customers at conferences. Though the rest of the world excels in social media and utilizing technology for advertising, healthcare companies can feel like we’re stuck in the pre-1950s era of advertising.

This isn’t all that bad, though. There is still a big opportunity for digital health companies to utilize Facebook to grow their brand. I know what you might be thinking: “Well, no one in healthcare uses social media.” While it feels like the healthcare industry is populated more by Baby Boomers than it is Millennials, Facebook has over 1.7 billion active monthly users, and I would bet my entire collection of Kanye West memorabilia that there are quite a few doctors, nurses, and healthcare influencers in that group.

For this reason, I’ve decided to take a look at 26 promising digital health companies who use Facebook to market their brand. Listed in no particular order, I’ll break down what they are currently doing well and how they can improve.

  1. AventuraHQ
  2. AZOVA
  3. Breg
  4. Carevive Systems
  5. Chiron Health
  6. Cloud DX
  7. CODE Technology
  8. FORCE Therapeutics
  9. Fuel Medical Group
  10. Phrazer
  11. Glooko
  12. Healthify
  13. Healthipass
  14. Kinvey
  15. liveClinic
  16. Massive Bio
  17. MyidealDoctor
  18. OhMD
  19. Overl.ai
  20. Phreesia
  21. Redox
  22. Salesforce
  23. Survivor Plan
  24. Swellbox
  25. Tactio Health
  26. Wellframe

AventuraHQ

Good : Wisely, they’ve included a video in their header. Videos are far more engaging than any picture or banner. Unfortunately, they lose some points because the video doesn’t actually work.

Improve: I’d suggest structuring their posts with less text. In the post in the picture above, you can see there’s a lot of text but not a lot of contextual support. To help orient the reader while keeping text no a minimum, I’d simply state what the post is getting at first and then follow with the names. You can also minimize information overload by omitting the text below the headline. Lastly, since humans are visual creatures and respond well to pictures, include use an image in the post, even if it’s a stock photo.

AZOVA

Good: The relevancy to trending topics in the Olympics post is phenomenal and the copy does a great job tying the Olympics into your value proposition, which is a 25% off coupon. Well thought out!

Improve: They can take this offer even one step further by creating it into a “Claim your offer” Facebook Ad. This will allow you to showcase your value proposition right above the image for people to marvel at. They can then link the Ad to your True Lipids page so that people know where to go to claim their offer.

With a Facebook Ad, you can set a target audience profile, so that you are reaching all new people. Here’s a great example of the type of advertisement you can create: http://bit.ly/2cgmKcQ

Breg

Good: The variety of posting on their page is great and they have a lot of video content that is interesting to hear about. People respond well to seeing products in action more so than being sold outright. Breg does a great job of doing the former and not the latter.

Improve: They have a brand champion right under their nose in their visitor posts, and he is the epitome of what Breg stands for. Russell Moore’s story will evoke emotion while showcasing their product, an opportunity most marketers have to create out of thin air. Creating a story about Russell is a powerful marketing tool if used strategically.

Carevive Systems

Good: Their consistent posts on industry relevant articles will position them as a knowledgeable thought leader.

Improve: Which article feels more reader friendly? The industry article on patient-reported outcomes, right? I think this is because this concise post uses an image that’s related to what they’re are talking about while avoiding dumping a ton of information into the preview text. One thing to note is that, in general, you should use the post to spark interest, not reiterate the headline of the article. Here, they could take DotMed’s title and say, “Less than 20% of hospitals are using patient-oriented outcomes…Here’s our solution.” This allows them to combine industry data with their opinions, which makes for a great boosted post to reach new audiences.

This is an example of a Boosted Post: http://bit.ly/2c1bssw

Chiron Health

Good: A plethora of great content marketing promotions to capture leads (Articles, videos, webinars, eBooks). Their copy is very enticing which is great for garnering interested and getting clicks.

Improve: The webinar post is structured right, in that they generate the image and subtext from the link. “90 second” post should have the subtext, so that visitors can click on the image to be directed to the site.

Take many of your content marketing posts, and turn them into Facebook Ads that “send people to your website”. This will allow you to target a relevant audience and increase your reach. Here’s an example of this type of ad: http://bit.ly/2ccEgeP.

Cloud DX

Good: They’ve added character and a sense of personality to their company by posting a lot about Star Trek. People could argue whether or not this is a wise strategy, but I think people like personalities, and when it comes to marketing, why be bland?

Improve: To the outside person it takes a lot of scrolling to figure out what Cloud DX does. To circumvent this problem, I’d suggest using their “NowWhat video with Ryan Duffy” in their header so that people can be briefed instantly when they reach their page.

CODE Technology

Good: CODE does a great job posting industry content and staying up on latest news. Giving people a place to come for up-to-date news is a great way to consistently get your name in front of people’s eyes.

Improve: Their timeline, while informational and engaging, lacks original content. In general, when you post original content though, engagement is 10-20x that of other posts. CODE should either post more original content or pin their original content to the top of their timeline, making it is the first thing people see.

FORCE Therapeutics

Good: There are loads of great articles on their timeline that are great for informing people of your industry.

Improve: They should sprinkle in other types of content in between article posts so that there are more ways for people to engage with their page besides just reading articles. It looks like they have a few videos in the queue which would be great posts to break up your article density.

Fuel Medical Group

Good: Their Facebook page has a variety of content and solid engagement features which drive visitors to actual action.

Improve: To collect leads while growing their audience, I’d suggest they make a compelling article out of the above case study. They could take people through their process, highlight the savings, and end with a call to action that captures leads. That would be a great piece for content marketing and could be promoted via Facebook Ad or a boosted post.

Phrazer

Good: The header image of your Page gets right to the point in that you know exactly what your product accomplishes. The “About” section is clear, concise, and easily found.

Improve: With humans having a shorter and shorter attention span, brevity is important—take could take their product video and create a 90-second variation of it that encompasses the majority of the product and add a call-to-action at the end of the video. They could pin that video to the top of their feed and promote it as well video. This would be a great way to reach new leads in a concise, compelling way.

Here’s an example of advertising for more video views: http://bit.ly/2cdq1q1

Glooko

Good: Love that they are using carousel images to showcase your interns’ learned lessons.

Improve: To take these posts to the next level, change the text underneath each intern’s picture to either their name or an interesting insight they learned. They can still link it to the same article, but this will provide them with 4 more copy placements to get someone to click.

Healthify

Good: Their content game is stellar right now, and I’m genuinely shocked that they don’t get more engagement on your posts. Go read their stuff right after you finish reading this post. It’s great stuff.

Improve: First, they could change their “About” section to include what your company does. With every post detailing something different, a new visitor could have a hard time figuring out what Healthify does. Saying something as simple as, “Healthify looks at social determinants of health” will clear up some of that confusion. Second, spending as little as $5 a day boosting some of their articles could improve their engagement drastically, which will improve traffic to other pieces of their worthy content, too.

Healthipass

Good: Their header is very descriptive and aesthetically pleasing, which is a great combo to have. It’s also an interesting idea to include a company description in the header photo—it’s engaging and clever use of space.

Improve: They have very infrequent activity on their page and need to be more consistent. I would suggest making some original content around two themes: Healthipass’s value to providers and Healthipass’s value to consumers. Another option is making advertisements about the two value propositions and sending audiences to their respective information.

Kinvey

Good: They’ve built a sizable Facebook brand, which shows they are relevant, knowledgeable, and engaging. Their engaging and timely news feed gives people a place to come for info on the industry, positioning them as a thought leader.

Improve: Facebook often times doesn’t prioritize posts from Pages unless people pay to do so. For this reason, I would suggest they take some of the content they’re using to collect leads and create a targeted campaign around their current Fans or a “Lookalike Audience” of your current Fans. This will allow them to put their webinar outreach in front of people that have already engaged with you, but aren’t always seeing their content.

Here’s more info on creating those two types of audiences, respectively: http://bit.ly/2chdnK9& http://bit.ly/2cFZiUN

liveClinic

Good: They have an abundance of interesting, original content, which they can effectively use to hook readers and then send them to their website.

Improve: I would keep the headlines they have, but don’t reiterate the headline in the snippet text above the image. So often, people waste an opportunity to intrigue readers with different copy. Pull a stunning fact or make a bold claim in that text above the image. They can then boost some of those posts to direct more traffic to your website.

Massive Bio

Good: The use of simple pictures and striking words is effective—they make very bold, alluring statements that have the power to attract a great deal of attention when in front of the right audience.

Improve: A common rule they (and you) should follow when producing images for Facebook is that text should take up less than 20% of the image. Though people are inclined to read big, bold lettering, Facebook’s algorithm will neglect to deliver posts and advertisements that break this rule. Also, I would highly suggest you link these statements to articles or some sort of data to back them up, as you will look more credible and give your readers more information.

MyidealDoctor

Good: They have very clear call-to-actions in most of their posts to download their app.

Improve: Instead of making posts about downloading your app, they will find more success in making a Facebook Ad exclusively for mobile devices to download their app. All you need is a sentence or two of desirable copy and a friendly image, and they’ll find many mobile users downloading your app.

Here’s an example of a mobile advertisement for app downloads: http://bit.ly/2coxTsr

OhMD

Good: The copy used in this post accomplishes two things: it gains interest and and provides actionable objectives. Their “About” section is also short, descriptive, and gets the job done.

Improve: Because they already have over 1,000 organizations using their app, instead of trying to reach new clients, they should focus on getting their current users to use the app more. They can create a Facebook Ad to re-engage current users, which will only target people that have downloaded their app. This is basically a friendly-reminder to get people back on OhMD.

Here’s an example of this type of advertisement: http://bit.ly/2c9pWW1

Overl.ai

Good: Their header image is very inviting, simple, and gets the point across.

Improve: Instead of having an address in their about section, they should include either a video of their product or a quick description. Also, while they share a lot of industry related content, they lack original content. Creating company-specific content would help establish them as a thought-leader. Even if they’re opinion pieces or light-hearted analogous examples, some created content would be beneficial.

Phreesia

Good: Their Facebook channel has gone stagnant for a year, but it can still be reactivated with some original and shared content.

Improve: The customer case studies they have are great content marketing and advertising pieces. I would suggest they create an easily digestible series of content for these cases with call-to-actions at the end, which they can post and boost to larger audiences. Or, they can create advertisements out of these cases and send traffic to either the case or a sales page.

Redox

Good: Serious and playful content are both included on our Timeline, making for engaging page duality.

Improve: There’s no rhyme or reason to what we post, when we post, or why we post it. Our industry specific content is fine, however all of our fun-read content should have a purpose. Essentially, you want to be able to pick anything from your Timeline to boost to a larger audience and feel confident that people will engage with it and will generate leads at the same time. There are also relics of a time before Redox had a logo. (…sigh)

Salesforce

Good: They’ve done a phenomenal job growing their Facebook brand and have cultivated a lot of leads they can pursue from this channel.

Improve: There are three paths I see to a retargeting strategy. One, they can re-engage all of their Facebook Fans with an advertisement for Dreamforce ‘16. Two, they can retarget anyone that visited their website but didn’t purchase one of their packages with a sales type ad. Three, they can create a lookalike audience from either their Fans or their website visitors and reach a whole new audience with anything they’d like to promote.

Here’s more information for targeting Fans: http://bit.ly/2cGgxFv

Here’s more information for targeting website visitors: http://bit.ly/2chdnK9

Here’s more information for creating a lookalike audience: http://bit.ly/2cFZiUN

SurvivorPlan

Good: Their variety of post types—articles, inspirational quotes, status updates, etc— keeps you scrolling through your timeline.

Improve: I’d encourage them to create some content focused on what SurvivorPlan means by being patient centered. Perhaps they create a series of content highlighting different patients and what their personalized SurvivorPlan might look like. Obviously, there is patient confidentiality to consider, so they could make up some common or hypothetical cases.

Swellbox

Good: Putting testimonials on college-themed images is a unique way to showcase the value of Swellbox since it’s aimed at younger people.

Improve: They can take these one step further by spelling out exactly what students love about their product. Students get apps and companies thrown at them all year long and the ones that catch on are the ones that provide value in the simplest way (messaging and food-delivery). That’s not to say that Swellbox doesn’t provide value to students (in fact I would put this at the top of value serving), but most will write this off as a boring healthcare-thing they don’t need or aren’t interested in. Prepare for these doubts by saying why they need Swellbox through quick student testimonials.

Tactio Health

Good: They do a great job keeping people up to date about new features.

Improve: To make this even more effective, they could create an ad designed to increase engagement in their app. Essentially, they can target everyone who has their app and has a Facebook Page and tell them about their newly designed Logbook page, or anything else new. This will have a higher newsfeed delivery rate with this targeted audience instead of creating a non-targeted, general post about it.

Here’s an example of a mobile Facebook Ad to increase app engagement:

http://bit.ly/2c9pWW1

Wellframe

Good: Their featured image conveys a scholarly, optimized message that is perfect for their business.

Improve: They can post more consistently and include images in every single one of their articles, even if they’re just stock images. They could also test driving more traffic to their page by putting links and actionable content in their webinars, white papers, case studies, and even in their intro video.

Here’s an example of Facebook Ads that direct traffic to your website: http://bit.ly/2ccEgeP

Redox Moving Forward

We’re most inspired by companies who use Facebook to create genuine and meaningful connections with their customers and tell stories beyond their own. We’re always on the lookout for ways to improve and are working to implement some of these strategies to our own page. To watch how we evolve and connect with us even further, like us on Facebook.

Lastly, If you have any thoughts, questions, or would like me to take a look at your page and offer some insights, I’d be happy to talk. Get in touch with me at [email protected].

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