Got this from a friend or colleague? Why not subscribe?

Hey Practice Builders — it's Steve with Healthcare Marketing Vitals!

Last week, I talked about using safe ways to adopt AI in your practice.

This week, like a raccoon to a can of tuna, I'm getting into something that some people hold their noses at, but is actually really good for you:

Social media posting.

Most practices treat social media like a flashlight—only turning it on when they desperately need something. New patients…Appointment bookings…Service promotions…

But the practices that leverage their social media to consistently attract patients and build unshakeable community trust?

They operate like lighthouses.

There's a massive difference, and once you understand it, your entire approach to social media will change.

In This Week’s Email:

• [30 sec] Worth Your Time: Essential social media resources for health and medical practices

• [3 min] Spotlight: The Lighthouse Strategy that transforms patient acquisition

• [30 sec] By the Numbers: Surprising healthcare social media data

• [30 sec] Quote for the Week: Content marketing wisdom

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HUBSPOT

Unlock the Power of AI With the Complete Marketing Automation Playbook

Discover how to reclaim your time and scale smarter with AI-driven workflows that actually work. You’ll get frameworks, strategies, and templates you can put to use immediately to streamline and supercharge your marketing:

• A detailed audit framework for your current marketing workflows

• Step-by-step guidance for choosing the right AI-powered automations

• Pro tips for improving personalization without losing the human touch

• Tools and templates to speed up implementation

Built to help you automate the busywork and focus on work that actually makes an impact.

Steal the Playbook

Key Insights about Social Media Strategy

✅ The 80/20 Lighthouse Rule: 80% of your content should be valuable health guidance (educational posts, community engagement, wellness tips), while only 20% should promote your services. This builds trust before asking for business—and patients notice the difference.

✅ Platform Personality Matters: Each platform serves a different purpose in your lighthouse strategy. Instagram excels at visual health education, Facebook builds community connections, and TikTok reaches younger patients with quick, engaging health tips. (YouTube can be extremely lucrative for your practice, but in this email I’m focusing on short form social media.)

✅ Consistency Beats Perfection: Posting 3 quality posts per week consistently outperforms sporadic bursts of daily posting. Your lighthouse beam needs to be reliable, not just bright—patients trust practices they can count on for regular, valuable content.

WORTH YOUR TIME

Essential Social Media Resources for Your Practice

🎥 [Watch] Masterclass: Social Media Marketing for Doctors - I like this video masterclass because it’s specifically designed for teaching healthcare professionals social media from A-Z. It features strong patient acquisition strategies, relationship building, and compliance-friendly content creation with real-world examples. Watch the Masterclass →

🎧 [Listen] The Doctors On Social Media Podcast - Created by Dr. Dana Corriel, this podcast focuses specifically on healthcare professionals using social media effectively. I like that it features interviews with successful medical influencers and also gives you practical implementation strategies. Listen to Episodes →

📋 [Resource] Social Media in Healthcare: A Regulation-Friendly Guide - Hootsuite's comprehensive 2025 guide covers HIPAA-compliant social media strategies, including "edu-taining", content tips, and compliance audit checklists for healthcare practices and orgs. Read the Guide →

🎯 [Resource] Free Editable Social Media Image Templates - We created a few image templates that you can use on social media to bring attention to your posts. Get them for Free →

TOGETHER WITH EVERY

The back office, built for founders

Every handles the operational grind — from incorporation to banking, payroll, and compliance — so you can focus on what matters most: building your company.

Start by incorporating your company for free, then access tools that grow with you. No busywork. No guesswork. Just a clear path forward.

Get started today.

SPOTLIGHT

Stop Being a Flashlight, and Start Being a Lighthouse

4 min. read

(FYI the below is dramatized. I wanted to try something a little different. Tell me what you think!)

Dr. Sarah Martinez learned the lesson the hard way.

As a family medicine physician in Austin, she'd post sporadically on Facebook.

Maybe once a month when her schedule was busy, and in scattered bursts of two or three days in a row if not: promoting flu shots, physicals, and annual checkups.

But her posts got barely any notice or engagement.

And those new patient inquiries from social media she was hoping for?

Zero.

Then she met Dr. James Chen, a psychiatrist whose practice was booked so solid he rarely even took on new patients!

His secret wasn't better credentials or a fancier office.

But they approached social media from entirely different angles:

While Dr. Martinez operated like a flashlight—turning on her social media only when she needed something—Dr. Chen operated like a lighthouse.

Flashlights Are Selfish

Most practices view social media like Dr. Martinez and approach it backwards.

They post for themselves: when they need patients and when revenue dips.

And then they go silent whenever they're busy.

This creates what I call "flashlight marketing:" sporadic beams of self-serving content that patients (and algorithms) ignore.

So of course their social media doesn't deliver.

But they misdiagnose the problem and conclude that social media "doesn't work" for healthcare, even though the real problem is their approach.

Lighthouses Give

Successful practices like Dr. Chen's operate differently.

They understand that social media isn't a promotional tool.

It's a trust-building tool.

A lighthouse doesn't randomly flash its beam because it’s afraid of the dark. It operates consistently, providing valuable guidance to help ships navigate safely.

It builds trust through reliability and shining its light to serve others, not itself.

The same principle applies to social media.

Your practice should be a consistent beacon of health guidance in your community, not a flashlight that you only turn on when you need something.

This is the Lighthouse Method: A systematic approach that positions your practice as a trusted, consistent source of health information, using proven content formulas and platform-specific tactics.

The Three Lighthouse Principles

Principle 1: Provide Consistent Value

Like a lighthouse, your social media should consistently provide value to your community.

This means regularly posting content that serves your audience's health needs, not your business needs.

For example, Dr. Chen posts three times per week across Instagram and Facebook.

• Monday: mental health tips for managing life and work stress

• Wednesday: myth-busting posts about common psychiatric medications, stigmas, trends, or misinformation

• Friday: community wellness spotlights featuring local resources, groups, and events

See what's not here?

Direct promotion of his services. That comes later, after trust is established.

A dermatology practice might share sun safety tips, skincare routines, or before-and-after educational content (with proper consent).

The key is consistency.

To build trust, your lighthouse beam must be reliable.

Principle 2: The 80/20 Rule

Use this formula for your practice’s social media content strategy:

80% of your content should provide value to your community, while only 20% should promote your services.

This isn't arbitrary—it's based on how trust works.

People need to see value before they're willing to engage with promotional content.

The 80/20 ratio ensures you're building trust faster than you're spending it.

The 80% (Value Content)

• Educational posts about health conditions

• Wellness tips and preventive care advice

• Behind-the-scenes content showing your team's expertise

• Community health event participation

• Myth-busting posts about common misconceptions

• Patient success stories (with proper consent and in HIPAA compliance)

The 20% (Promotional Content)

• Service announcements

• New patient availability

• Special programs or treatments

• Practice updates and news

Principle 3: Platform-Specific Navigation

Different platforms serve different purposes in your lighthouse strategy.

Each has its own "audience personality" and content preferences.

Facebook: Community Harbor

Facebook excels at building community connections and longer-form educational content. It's where older patients commonly spend time.

Content strategy - Educational posts, community event participation, patient testimonials, and practice updates.

Schedule - Post 3-4 times per week with a mix of text, images, and videos.

Example: A mental health practice might share posts about managing holiday stress, local support group information, and educational content about therapy approaches.

Instagram: Visual Health Education

Instagram's visual nature makes it perfect for health education through infographics [👈 free templates], behind-the-scenes content, and quick tips.

Content strategy - Visual health tips, team spotlights, before-and-after educational content, and Stories for daily engagement.

Schedule - Post 4-5 times per week including daily Stories.

Example - A family medicine practice might share infographics about vaccine schedules, healthy meal prep ideas, or exercise tips for different age groups.

TikTok: Quick Health Guidance

TikTok reaches younger patients with short, engaging health tips and myth-busting content. It's particularly effective for practices wanting to attract patients under 40.

Content strategy - Quick health tips, myth-busting videos, trending health topics with professional perspective.

Schedule - Post 2-3 times per week focusing on quality over quantity.

Example - A dermatologist might create quick videos about skincare routines, sun protection tips, or addressing common skin concerns.

The Choice Is Yours

Every day, your potential patients are scrolling through social media with health problems, questions, and concerns in the back of their minds.

Sometimes they’re even looking directly for guidance and researching providers.

And (like it or not) they're making decisions about who to trust with their care based on what they see online.

So the question isn't whether you should be there—it's whether you'll be a lighthouse or a flashlight.

Flashlight practices will continue to struggle with sporadic posting, minimal engagement, and social media that feels like a waste of time and money.

They'll keep wondering why their competitors seem to effortlessly attract patients online.

But lighthouse practices understand the truth: Social media for business isn't about selling, it's about serving.

When you consistently broadcast valuable health guidance to your community, patient acquisition becomes a natural byproduct of the trust you've built.

Your lighthouse is waiting. If you build it, they will come.

🥳 A QUICK ANNOUNCEMENT

Coincidentally…

We’ve started offering social media posting for practices! 😄

But we don’t have a track record and testimonials for this (yet). 😔

So I’m offering a handful of practices 30 days of free social media posting. 😄

After that, if you’re happy with the results, the price will be around $300/mo because we’re able to leverage some AI tools for you…

...and I don’t feel the need to charge you a ridiculous amount of money if we’re able to be more efficient.

This is first come, first served and we only have so much capacity.

👉 So if you’re interested, reply to this email and let me know ASAP and I’ll provide you with more details. 👈

For SEO/Paid Ads, we are NOT another round of 90-day “growth sprints” until sometime in September. So while I’m grateful for your interest, please know the most I can do right now is add you to our waitlist.

BY THE NUMBERS

Healthcare Social Media Stats

• 3.7% - The average Instagram engagement rate for healthcare industry content—the highest among major social platforms.

• 60% - The percentage of social media users who are most likely to trust social media posts and activities by doctors over any other group.

• 41% - The percentage of patients who stated that social media content influenced their choice of hospital when seeking medical treatment.

• 90% - The percentage of Americans who use social media for health information.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

When You’re Ready, Here is How I Can Help

1. Reply to this email: What's your single biggest challenge with marketing your practice? I read every response and use your questions to shape future newsletters.

2. Reply to this email: Let me know if you’d like 30 days of free social media posting. No strings attached.

*Some links in this email may be sponsors or affiliate links. They support this free email at no cost to you. Your support of our sponsors means a great deal to me and goes a long way.

That’s All for Now

Have a great week—and remember think local, post social.

See You Next Week,

Steve