Is SnapChat (or Instagram) the Next Big Thing In Marketing to HCPs?
With the ability to reach billions of followers around the world each day, businesses are using social media to promote specials, attract followers, and expand the reach of their product. Right now, the up and coming new social media platform is Snapchat.
Created in 2011, Snapchat is a mobile messaging app where users send photos and videos to each other that self-destruct after a few seconds. Within the last year, Snapchat’s daily video views grew from 2 billion to 10 billion, according to Bloomberg Technology News.
Despite the growing popularity of this social media platform, it seems the healthcare industry is slow to utilize Snapchat as a marketing strategy. Of course HIPAA laws must be taken into consideration when using social media in regards to healthcare, but there are multiple, creative ways for the healthcare industry to use Snapchat.
For instance, healthcare professionals can create Snapchat stories, a feature which allows the user to string together multiple snaps and create a video narrative that is available for users to view for 24 hours. This feature could be used to highlight a “Day in the Life of [insert medical professional here].”
The reason Snapchat works so well in marketing is its simplicity and ability to create a sense of intimacy in a short amount of time. In a world where understanding healthcare is becoming more complicated and the digital world is making us feel more connected yet disconnected at the same time, Snapchat offers the ability to send quick, simple messages that still feel heartfelt.
Given that healthcare is now looked at by the general population as a consumer market, Snapchat may be underestimated as one of the best tools available for healthcare providers to create trust and comfort in patients and convey health information to the public.
[Instagram may be better for pharma. For more on that read: “Now May Be the Time for Pharma to Get Serious About Instagram”; http://sco.lt/79K5JZ]
Related stories:
- “Poof! FB & SnapChat Offer #pharma Marketers Transient, Untraceable Messaging”; http://sco.lt/7HPp2n
- “Snapchat: A Social Media Platform Too Far for Pharma Marketing?”; http://sco.lt/7pA3WL
Infographic: What About Social Media Do Healthcare Professionals Find Useful?; http://sco.lt/6rGmTB