For years, LinkedIn has been known as one of the most effective social media platforms for healthcare professionals. From establishing your practice’s brand to marketing its services, and even networking in groups with other medical professionals, LinkedIn can arguably offer you and your practice some of the best business-related opportunities available for professionals and job seekers in the healthcare industry.
If you’re just getting started, here are our recommendations for building your presence on LinkedIn.
1. Complete Your Profile
The golden rule for creating any sort of profile on social media is this: If you’re going to establish an online presence, make sure it’s complete. To start, fill out your profile with your full name and choose a recent photo to be used as your profile image, preferably a professional headshot. A professional picture is important, especially for someone in the medical field. While many people use their headline to write their current job title, we recommend using your headline to advertise your areas of specialty. For example, consider what people would be searching for when looking for someone in your field. As far as experience goes, be sure to add your current position. Depending on your level of experience and the length of your career, you can choose to fill this out completely or simply highlight your recent experience. Lastly, customize your LinkedIn URL. A custom LinkedIn URL will make it easier to share your profile and is the icing on the cake in terms of online professionalism.
2. Establish Your Practice
Creating a business page on LinkedIn is important if you want to be able to effectively market your services and establish an online presence for your practice. Your business page should be completely filled out with your website url, address, contact information, and more. From your logo to the posts you share, always make sure your information is up to date and accurate. Just like your website, your LinkedIn company page is a representation of your practice, so it’s important to keep it as professional as possible.
3. Build Your Network
The type of connections you choose to have will determine how you build your network. There are generally three types of networkers: Those who only connect with people they’ve met, those who connect with people in or related to their industry, and “LIONS” or LinkedIn Open Networkers– LinkedIn users who will connect with anyone. Once you determine how you’d like to network on LinkedIn, it’s important to go ahead and make connections. Whether you choose to add industry leaders, prospective patients, or other professionals who may pass on referrals, making quality connections can benefit you and your practice in a variety of ways. Connections that know and trust your ability as a medical professional can improve your online credibility with endorsements and recommendations. Additionally, joining healthcare-related groups and connecting with industry leaders are great ways to meet and learn from other professionals.
For more tips on how social media can benefit you and your practice, follow us on LinkedIn!
