Although we recommend all businesses start their holiday marketing planning in August, medical practices can often get away with making last-minute social media marketing adjustments in the last two months of the year. If you are in a medical industry that does not provide aesthetics, you may be thinking that Black Friday, Cyber Monday or other holiday marketing doesn't apply to you because as a cardiologist, for example, you can't give 50% off an echocardiogram! However, holiday marketing isn't about direct selling as much as it is about connecting. Here is a medical marketing idea (or seven) to mull over: 1. Spruce up your social media content (pun intended). Medical practices that focus on educating their patients do well in capturing their attention. Those who use timely occurrences - like the holidays - will win over their audience's attention and increase their engagement even when they can't offer a discount. For example, dedicate the last two months of the year on educating your audience about how typical holiday diet affects your skin if you're a dermatologist, heart if you're a cardiologist, etc. Don't forget to include a solution, which may be something you already offer! This type of content can go everywhere - a blog post, social media- including Instagram stories, email marketing campaigns and you could even pitch it to your local (or national) news. 2. Create a photo contest. Drive engagement and stay atop of everyone's mind by offering a gift card to a local health food store or even Starbucks to the winner of the best holiday outfit. This type of contest is best run on Facebook and you can boost to your hyperlocal audience to get new eyes on your practice! Want to dominate your digital presence in the New Year? Schedule a complimentary consultation here. 3. Offer a giveaway. Although this takes a little planning, you can offer a giveaway of a gift basket by instructing followers to follow, like and tag 2 friends. We recommend not giving more than 3 steps to enter a giveaway. This type of contest is simple to follow and can be done across all social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn! Want to gather email addresses from contenst participants? Good thinking! Run a lead generation marketing campaign on Facebook ads to your target audience. 4. Add Holiday cheer to your visuals. By simply adding a Santa hat to your logo or snow flakes to your videos, you can let people know that you are in the holiday spirit. Here's an example from SocialCow: https://www.instagram.com/p/B5vUcr3Bv0t/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link You can then spend as little as $25 on Facebook ads to promote your holiday content hyperlocally for 4-5 days each. 5. Holiday greeting cards are still in. Not all Holiday cheer must be spread using digital marketing techniques. Offline is cool, too! You may be running short on time to send out holiday gifts to your top patients, but you can still get holiday greeting cards out! Even though the rush may cost you, don't skimp out on the quality of the card. If you are a high-end dermatologist, make sure the card properly represents that. Remember, people are more likely to keep your Holiday card throughout the season and with people piling into their home, it’s a great way to get referrals! 6. Walk down memory lane. Holidays bring about nostalgia, making this season a great opportunity to review some of the best moments of the past year. You can dedicate a week to posting about the great things that happened, strategically tagging brands, public figures and patients (with permission). By tagging others, you are creating an opportunity to not only be remembered by them as well but for your content to be re-posted and visible to their audience. A small act of gratitude can bring you a lot more to be thankful for! 7. Layer up. This is one of the most important things to remember in marketing throughout the year, but especially during the holidays. Make sure that you are consistent with your content and marketing efforts as consumers will look at your overall digital presence. For example, when you are running the photo contest on Facebook, be sure to also promote it on Instagram and LinkedIn, so that people can visit and "Like" your Facebook page. Although this should not prevent you from any current marketing, it's also important that your social media and Google reviews are great and plenty as this is one of the first things consumers look at - regardless of where they found you. From our medical marketing experts at SocialCow, we wish you a healthy and productive New Year! Want to dominate your digital presence in the New Year? Schedule a complimentary consultation here.