Six tips on how to use social media to promote your pharmacy

Social media platforms are the modern way to develop a pharmacy business. They enable people to promote their expertise, talk about products and services and raise the profile of the profession locally, nationally and even globally. It is also a positive way for pharmacy professionals to enhance their own careers.

According to company formation experts Turner Little, 60% of businesses across all industries use social media sites, and this is slightly less (57%) for small businesses such as community pharmacies. However, it is now expected that companies have a presence on social media platforms (see Box 1). Turner Little claims that 77% of Twitter users feel more positive towards a company that responds to one of their tweets.

Ade Williams, superintendent pharmacist at Bedminster Pharmacy in Bristol, says social media ensures local pharmacists remain accessible and relevant because they can take part in ongoing health debates and share their insight, which people value.

“Social media is a great way to communicate,” says Williams. “We never post about our own personal activities but get pharmacy colleagues to post about one another.”

Here is how your pharmacy can establish a credible presence on social media.

1. Choose the right platform

What makes social media such a powerful marketing tool is that it is free. The biggest investment is the time required to ensure the most appropriate content is posted on the right website. Some platforms specifically target a business audience (LinkedIn) or businesses and individuals (Facebook), while others are more news-led (Twitter) or visual (Instagram/Snapchat/YouTube).

Gavin Birchall, pharmacist and managing director of DOSE Design and Marketing, a specialist pharmacy marketing agency, says he uses social media as a showcase for the work his company has carried out for different pharmacy clients.

“Our team has done pretty much every job in a community pharmacy, from summer student to main board director, which gives us great insight,” says Birchall. “We help pharmacy people promote themselves better on social media and in doing so, promote the profession.”

2. Differentiate yourself

Any pharmacy that wants to raise its profile using social media must be able to differentiate itself. Birchall says this can include creating a distinctive visual and verbal identity using pictures or video to grab attention.

“You have to put in the effort to learn the basics and consider what your audience wants to hear from you and how you can help them,” he says.

“Always be authentic, avoid being formulaic and select your social media platform carefully because they are all different,” adds Birchall.

3. Rotate responsibility for social media accounts

Pharmacy staff can be encouraged to use various social media platforms to post their own thoughts and share posts about health initiatives to promote pharmacy.

Williams says the staff at Bedminster Pharmacy share responsibility for all social media accounts to enhance the skills of the team: “We rotate responsibility for the Twitter and Facebook accounts so that more people are skilled in using the technology and different topics are mentioned.”

4. Give appropriate training

Training should be provided to all staff so the whole team knows what is and what is not acceptable. For example, someone may not realise they are revealing something confidential. Employers should also inform staff if their social media activity is being monitored.

Birchall advises pharmacy professionals to only post or share content they are completely comfortable with and that they would not mind other people seeing: “Run a list of important people through your mind before you share — your grandparents, your parents, your children, your friends, your boss, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), the police. If what you are about to share fails any of them, don’t share it.”

5. Implement a social media policy

All pharmacies should implement a social media policy to ensure there are no unacceptable posts or mentions made by staff that could damage the business or its reputation.

At Bedminster Pharmacy the rules for posting are very strict. Each post or comment must relate to one or more of the company’s four core values: patient advocacy, information, education and promoting self-care. Williams says pharmacy professionals must also be aware of the ethical rules and issues around confidentiality, and the best advice is to follow the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s social media guidelines and the GPhC’s standards for demonstrating professionalism online.

These include:

• Maintaining professional boundaries;
• Being clear about what you want to achieve from using social media;
• Watching and learning before jumping into debates and saying something you might regret;
• Being aware that when you post on social media you become a publisher and can be sued for libel, copyright infringement and data protection breaches;
• Being careful when engaging about medicines and drugs because patients as well as industry peers will read your posts.

6. Be prepared for negative comments

Williams states that pharmacy professionals should be prepared for negative comments on social media. “If we get negative feedback from anything we post, we follow the standard NHS complaints procedure,” he says. Williams also adds that there have been times when individuals have expressed displeasure, but were then impressed by how the pharmacy team responded.

“Remember that anything you share on social media has the potential to be seen by literally anyone for the rest of time. It can feel like you are hidden behind your screen when in fact you are more exposed than in any other aspect of your life,” adds Birchall.

Social media offers pharmacies and pharmacists a cost-effective way to raise their profile and promote their expertise to their local community and beyond. The secret is to choose wisely which sites to use and when, and to ensure everyone is clear about what information to post and when it is best to stay quiet.