Why most healthcare practices are wasting time and money on social media

Uncategorized Apr 23, 2025

So many practices are getting it wrong on social media

Almost every healthcare practice is throwing time, effort, and money at social media. But how many of those practices strategically now why, or know what impact that work is having on their patient numbers and bottom line?

Let me tell you.

Not many!!

Are you posting, liking, and commenting, but not actually seeing real results?

How would you know if all that work was having a positive impact?

If you’re not tracking the right metrics, it’s easy to get caught in the hamster wheel of doing more, but without knowing if what you're doing is actually working to grow your practice.

It’s time to break free from the guesswork and start measuring what moves the needle for your practice.

So let’s talk about how you can stop wasting resources and start seeing the real benefits of your social media efforts.

In an ideal world, you’d be using an automated dashboard like Sprout Social, HubSpot, or SEMrush to provide detailed data reports that break down your social media activity and the impact they are having. These tools show you what’s working, what you should do more of, and what to put back in the "not such a good idea" box.

They give you insights into audience behaviour, post performance, and overall engagement, all of which help make your marketing efforts more effective. They are pretty cool bits of software that can do a lot of social media heavy lifting for you, but using them in a small healthcare practice has its challenges.

Why most social media tracking tools don’t work for small healthcare practices

While tools like Sprout Social, HubSpot, and SEMrush are excellent for big companies, because although they offer deep insights into everything from engagement and keyword tracking to influencer performance, they are not ideal for small healthcare practices. But for these much smaller businesses, there are three major limiting factors:

Cost: Many small practices can’t justify the monthly fees for these high end analytics tools. Prices go from $140 to $3,600 a month, plus additional onboarding fees.
Complexity: These tools, even with their fairly simple dashboard layout, can still be overwhelming, requiring some technical knowledge and quite a bit of time to manage effectively.
Data overload: Because the software can pull in so many sets of data to crunch, it can still be difficult for the users to pull out the key insights that matter most to small healthcare practices, and use them effectively.

But fear not, if you don’t have access to these high-tech tools, there are still ways to measure the impact of your social media marketing without getting lost in the details. I'm going to take a closer look at how you can start measuring the effectiveness of your social media activity in simple, actionable ways. But first we need to understand one thing . . .

So why are you even on social media?

So, apart from it being highly addictive 😳, if it's so confusing, time consuming, and overwhelming, why even bother?

Well, let’s get real for a second: social media isn’t just about ticking off the “post content” box on your to-do list. There’s a strategy behind it. Posting on social media has real value - but only if you do it strategically.

Your social media activity is largely about generating leads.

The ultimate goal of your social media activity is to get lots of people, many of whom don’t even know you exist, interested enough in your practice that they reach out to connect. Whether they sign up for an event, inquire about your services, or simply follow you on social media, these actions show that you're building a valuable connection.

When I say generating leads, I’m talking about engaging with people who, at some point, will need your services and see the value in what you offer. Social media is a long-term strategy that builds awareness and trust, eventually leading to patient inquiries. This is where the magic happens: turning awareness into action.

Social media touchpoints

There’s no clear, linear path from a complete stranger to a paying patient. The journey is filled with various touchpoints along the way. Your website, Google Business profile, YouTube channel, physical premises, and reception team may all play a role in this journey. But in this section, we’ll focus on the key touchpoints through social media and how they can move someone through the stages of their relationship with your practice. Remember, this is just one part of the puzzle.

1. First introduction through a post or story
The first touchpoint often happens through a simple post or story on social media. A potential patient discovers your content either organically via hashtags or because someone shares it. This initial exposure gives them a glimpse of what you and your practice offer. Hopefully, it sparks curiosity, but they're still in the "awareness" phase - learning that you exist.

2. Engagement with your post or story
Once they see your post, they might engage with it by liking, commenting, or sharing. This is an indication of interest, but they’re still testing the waters. Engagement here shows they’re intrigued but not yet convinced. You've piqued their curiosity, but now it's time to keep them interested.

3. Exploring your profile for more information
Next, they may click on your profile to learn more about you and your practice. They start to get a sense of your values, your personality, and the range of services you offer. Whether they like your friendly approach, your helpful tips, or your professionalism, they’re starting to form their first impressions of you. This is often when they decide to keep following you or not.

4. Viewing your stories or reels
When they watch your short videos, they get a more personal view of your practice. These dynamic, casual formats show them behind the scenes, your team, your environment, and your approach to patient care. This is where they connect with you on a human level, beyond just your qualifications. If they like you as a person, they’ll feel more comfortable engaging with your content further.

5. Discovering helpful educational content
Hopefully, at some point, they’ll come across posts or videos where you provide useful, educational content. Maybe it’s a video explaining a common health issue, or a post offering practical advice they can use right away. This shows them you’re an expert in your field and that you genuinely care about helping people. It's at this point that they’re starting to trust that you know what you're talking about and that you might be able to help solve their problem.

6. Seeing positive reviews or patient success stories
Your social media isn’t just about what you say about yourself, it’s also about what others say about you. Positive reviews or testimonials from real patients play a huge role in building trust. When potential patients see others vouching for your care and expertise, they start to feel more confident in your abilities. Reviews and success stories are powerful social proof that can push someone closer to deciding to book an appointment with you.

Hopefully, now you can see that your social media posts and profiles have a part to play in your overall marketing strategy. Now that we’ve seen how your social media strategy creates meaningful touchpoints, the next step is to figure out how to track these interactions and measure the ROI of all of your social media efforts. This is where we dive into measuring social media ROI with simple metrics. Let’s explore how you can assess whether your social media efforts are actually driving the results you want.

Measuring social media ROI with simple metrics

While the high-tech tools can offer detailed reports, you can still measure social media ROI with simpler metrics. These basic indicators will give you a snapshot of whether your social media efforts are paying off.

Here are 8 metrics you can track in order to be better informed as to how your social media work is performing.

Direct messages (DMs): The number of DMs you receive each month is a clear indicator of lead generation. DMs show that people are feeling a connection and reaching out to engage with you or for more information about your services, which is a sign that your social media activity is working.

Action Idea: To track DMs, use the native messaging tools on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. Set a reminder to review your inbox at the end of each week, recording the number of new messages. Use a simple spreadsheet to track DM numbers month by month.
Click-through rate (CTR): Measures how many people click the links in your posts and land on your website. This shows that they are interested enough to explore your services further.

Action Idea: Use a URL shortener like Bitly to create the links you share in posts and your profile, then you can track clicks on those links shared. Bitly provides detailed reports on how many times each link was clicked, as well as when. Incorporate these links into your posts regularly, ensuring each post has a call to action to encourage clicking.
Phone calls: Track the number of calls coming into your practice. Not everyone will send a message or click on a link, but if they’re picking up the phone to enquire, it’s a strong signal of interest.

Action Idea: Start tracking phone calls by asking your reception team to note whether the caller mentioned social media. You can also use a unique phone number from services like Google Voice that you can tie back to social media campaigns. This allows you to track how many calls are coming directly from social media.
Form submissions: Monitor how many people fill out your contact forms on your website. This is a clear step toward conversion and a good way to track how effective your social media efforts are in driving inquiries.

Action Idea: Set up Google Analytics to track form submissions. Use conversion tracking to see how many visitors from social media are filling out your forms. Additionally, you can ask new patients how they heard about you during registration to see if social media played a role.

Email sign-ups: Are people signing up for your email list or downloading free resources? This is another indicator that people are interested in hearing more from you.

Action Idea: Use an email marketing platform like Mailchimp or ActiveCampaign, which provides reports on sign-up sources. You can even set up specific landing pages for social media campaigns that direct people to sign up forms. Track how many new sign-ups you get from each campaighn.

Walk-ins: Track how many people come into your practice without an appointment, especially if they mention social media as their reason for coming in. This tells you that your social media presence is making an offline impact.

Action Idea: Add 2 fields to your new patient registration form asking; how they found you, and why did they choose you. This helps you track walk-ins who mention social media specifically.

Chatbot responses: If you use chatbots on platforms like Facebook, track how many people engage with them. This shows whether your social media posts are encouraging potential leads to start conversations.

Action Idea: Set up Facebook Messenger chatbots to respond to common questions and track how many people engage with the chatbot. Use Facebook’s built-in analytics tools to track interaction rates. Make sure your chatbot includes options to book appointments or inquire further.

Promo code usage: If you run promotions with unique codes on social media, track how many people use those codes. This gives you a measurable way to see how your social media posts directly lead to conversions.

Action Idea: Create unique codes for each social media platform you use (e.g., FACEBOOK10 for Facebook followers) and track the usage in your booking system or new patient registration process. This helps you directly tie conversions to specific social media campaigns.

Managing expectations . . .

And let’s be honest - that's what a majority of small practice owners are doing right now, not measuring any of it.

Firstly, social media is just one piece of your marketing strategy. If you’re also running Google Ads, attending local networking events, or working with referrers, social media isn’t the only factor driving new patients to your practice, so being precise about it's impact isn't possible.

Secondly, social media is an almost bottomless pit of data that requires a smart tech solution to give you as full a picture as possible. But if you're not at the stage of subscribing to some of the big evaluation platforms, you still need to do something. So while measuring these basic metrics won’t give you 100% clarity on the exact impact of social media, they will help you spot trends. You’ll begin to see patterns in how your social media activity influences the number of leads coming into your practice over time.

The system we’re discussing isn’t high-tech or perfect. It’s not going to give you detailed, crystal-clear insights like expensive platforms might, but it is better than doing nothing at all. The goal here is to track key metrics, see where you can improve, and gradually build a more effective social media strategy.

It’s not about perfection, it’s about progress and creating a simple, low-tech approach that at least moves you forward.

The big takeaway: Start measuring something

The key takeaway is simple: start measuring. Even if you don’t have access to fancy tools, tracking these basic metrics will give you valuable insight into whether your social media marketing is having some positive impact or not.
Don’t let the lack of detailed analytics hold you back. Start with what you can measure simply, and use those insights to improve your approach.

OK that's it for this blog. Thank you soooo much for taking the time to stop by my healthcare marketing blog today. I really hope you found value in spending some time here today.

I’d be so grateful if you could spare me just another 5 minutes to share your thoughts or questions in the box at the end of this page. What are you going to do differently now in your private practice?

Oh, and please use the social share buttons if you think other people you know might benefit from seeing this.

Until next time.

Thank you

Jill Woods
Healthcare Marketing Specialist
Founder of Practice Momentum