Quick Start Tips for Social Media

Becoming active on social media can be a daunting task, but with a little planning and some helpful tools you can create an actionable strategy.

Step 1: Create an account on major social networks

We recommend creating an account on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Even if you don’t have a plan to post to all of the accounts right away, it’s good to have the handles secured for consistency later.

Step 2: Develop a monthly content calendar

Planning your content out a month in advance helps to relieve the stress of having to post daily. When developing your calendar, consider: 

• Posting between 3-5 times a week across all platforms

• Creating a content theme for each day of the week (e.g., Mondays are focused on hiring, Tuesdays are focused on occupancy growth)

• Making “evergreen” content that can be reused later

• Looking to community events, healthcare recognition days and national holidays for content inspiration

• Developing consistent hashtags 

Step 3: Leverage a scheduling tool

There are several scheduling tools available online that allow you to post your content in advance, such as Cloud Campaign and Hootsuite. Using a social media scheduler can make your posting more efficient while helping to track results and monitor activity.

Step 4: Add advertising to expand your reach

Social media advertising is a great way to supercharge your reach to target audiences. Determine your goals, then consider creating an ad with a monthly budget of $200 to get started.

Step 5: Assign a social champion to monitor and track results

Assign a member of your team to be your “social media champion” and ask that they stay tuned into comments on posts and progress throughout the month via the platform’s notifications. This task is often streamlined through a scheduling software which can aggregate information in one dashboard.

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