Social Media and Healthcare

Almost all American adults have a voice search tool with them at all waking hours. You probably have one on your person right now. For iPhone users, it’s Siri, which also is on the MacBook and iPad. For Samsung users, it’s Google Now. Last year, people completed 250 billion searches with their voices. That’s one in eight searches.

There’s no question the demand for voice search is growing significantly. But how can you ensure you take advantage of it? Here are ways to capitalize on the trend line.

Start by developing your SEO

The most common response from voice assistants is to connect a user to Google’s top results. For example, when you ask a device a specific question like, “What is Tom Steyer’s position on the economy?” it will often direct you to five results in a mobile web browser. 

Therefore, ensuring your campaign ranks at the top of Google has never been more important.

Use Schema.org

Voice assistants increasingly use microdata from Schema.org to surface results. So, make sure your pages have metadata from that site inputted. 

Get Off Twitter, and instead build for Google

Campaigns and consultants spend so much time on Twitter. But it’s worth remembering, just 22 percent of American adults are on Twitter. Meanwhile, 73 percent of them are on YouTube (the world’s second-biggest search engine).

It’s a habit and a mindset change, but spending less time on Twitter and more time on Google/YouTube, will pay huge dividends for campaigns who can prove they are disciplined.

Create an extended FAQ

What is the primary input of voice assistants? Questions.

Use AnswerThePublic.com to produce a tree of all of the questions people are asking. You should have a page on your website that answers all of those questions and more. Then use the above-mentioned Schema.org to create microdata for the page that will help voice assistants populate the information to voice searchers.

Build an Alexa skill

An Amazon Alexa skill is a voice application. Similar to how Apple has apps on its App Store, Amazon has apps that work on the Alexa and can be created by anyone. Alexa represents the potential for what voice technology, especially for campaigns holds.

On a recent trip to Seattle, I met with two Amazon Alexa staff members. They explained to me that practitioners in voice should focus on building for two distinct purposes. The first is consumer voice experiences. These are voice applications that answer questions or provide information for commands. 

The second purpose is conversational AI. These are advanced applications that make you feel like you are having a conversation with a person.

Develop CFIRs for your Alexa skill

CFIR stands for Can Fulfill Intent Requests. CFIRs populate Amazon Alexa’s database with information and are like keywords or key phrases that may invoke your skill.

Example: I was laying on my couch one day and feeling tired. So, I said, “Alexa, inspire me.” And a skill started playing and offering me inspirational quotes from Oprah, Muhammed Ali and other leaders. The creator of this skill had programmed “inspire me” as a CFIR.

These are similar to the questions and answers you put on your FAQ as well as commands and responses you want that users could invoke.

Publish keyword-rich videos on YouTube

Remember, YouTube is the world’s second-biggest search engine. Start supplying content for it. Publish answers to FAQs in video form. Publish campaign ads. And in your keywords, post the questions that voice searchers might ask their assistants. Google pulls heavily from YouTube for results, and this may cause your content to rank near the top.

Embrace brevity

Similar to people, voice assistants that talk too much and for too long can be annoying. Keep your answers brief — 29 words brief. Those 29 words are about 10 to 12 seconds. Meanwhile, make your questions a bit longer — about 9 words, as this is the average length of questions people ask their voice assistants.

So don’t get left behind. Follow these tips to optimize your campaign for voice!

Read More: https://www.campaignsandelections.com/campaign-insider/how-to-optimize-your-campaign-for-voice-search

Social media marketing has essentially become unavoidable.

Finding healthcare social media success isn’t always easy. In fact, doctors often have the same few struggles. 

Statista estimates the number of social media users in the U.S. will rise from roughly 244 million in 2018 to approximately 257 million by 2023. Given these numbers, standing out from the crowd on social media is important, but it isn’t easy.

Here’s some advice to help your practice overcome the common challenges of healthcare social media:

1. Highlighting patient success stories without revealing PHI

Incorporating patient success stories into your social media marketing is a great way to promote your expertise. However, be careful not to accidentally disclose PHI, as this can lead to a HIPAA violation.

"Knowledge is the key to avoiding this"

When compiling patient success stories for social media, work with a legal professional to create patient marketing consent forms. Otherwise, only discuss patients in general terms without revealing PHI, and always triple-check content for potential privacy violations before posting.