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Turn Your Social Media Channels into an IVF Referral Network

By Griffin Jones

A fertility center’s Return on Investment in social media can be traced back to the activism of its community. The value of social media is not that we have a free broadcast mechanism to reach people with any time we like. None of that is true—it’s neither free, nor a broadcast mechanism, nor will people see our message whenever we please.

The value of social media is your community. Fertility centers acquire new patients through social media when they have a passionate, connected, community of people that zealously advocates for them.  This is "word of mouth". Communities will gladly rise up for their fertility centers—providing better advertising than we could ever hope to buy—but only if they are engaged. To engage your community:

•    Respond to all direct messages as quickly as possible
•    Reply to all comments and posts
•    Thank those who leave reviews and compliments
•    Crowdsource: Ask for input on various practice initiatives

Responding to comments and reviews is a critical part of community management for infertility clinics.

Responding to comments and reviews is a critical part of community management for infertility clinics.

The most direct way to use social media to attract new IVF patients is to empower current and former patients with a "word of mouth" referral network. When you interact with your community of supporters, the number of people who are they are able to refer to your practice increases dramatically.  If you look at the Facebook pages of the vast majority of fertility centers in North America  you will find that patient communities are largely ignored. If you are unable to dedicate the time it takes to respond to, thank, and inspire your community, your ROI on social will be very limited.

The Harsh and Scary Truth About Social Media for Fertility Centers

If you’re spending money on internet marketing, you should know this axiomatic truth:
Posting something on social media does not mean that anyone sees it.

Many fertility clinics spend money on growing their Facebook fan base or their number of twitter followers. Often, the number of a practice's "followers" or "likes" are too large while their message remains unseen. Equally, an infertility clinic's message won't be seen if its community size isn't big enough.

4 Tested and True Types of Social Media Content for Fertility Clinics

Infertility clinics are possibly the single greatest social media anomaly in healthcare.

Why? Most disciplines within healthcare are not social. Reproductive endocrinology, because of parental aspirations and deep community need, is extremely social. Therefore, the content that generates "word of mouth" referrals for fertility clinics is radically different.

7 Measures To Increase IVF Patients From Other Cities

Caution. Attracting patients from another market will do one or all of three things.

1). Slowly and sustainably grow your REI practice

2). Hedge your patient flow in a recession

3). Offer you data to decide if maybe even one day it would make sense to open a clinic in that area (if you´re so ambitious)

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What Makes Online Reviews Different For Fertility Centers

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I shot this video post back in June after the 2015 Midwest Reproductive Symposium. The way infertility patients use online reviews for their Reproductive Endocrinologists and their practices is vastly different from most other categories. Facebook is by far the most positive review source for fertility centers. Yelp is certainly the most negative. Other sites, such as RateMDs, ZocDoc, HealthGrades, and Fertility Authority tend to fall in between the two ends.

How Your Clinic´s Website Will Tell You if You Can Attract IVF Patients From Other Cities

How do you grow your infertility clinic's practice if you´re from a small market? What if you´re the only fertility center that provides IVF in your area?

I have an assignment for you. First, you certainly have an anecdotal idea of how many people come to your practice from out of town, that´s a start. But there´s also a way to tell if people are considering you, researching your practice online from other cities.

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Tribe Marketing For Fertility Centers

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If you're not familiar with one of my favorite authors, you may want to check out Seth Godin.

Godin says “A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea. A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.”

Most healthcare categories do not have tribes. Dermatology patients are not connected by an idea. They have no shared interest and thus no leader or way to communicate. Couples and individuals struggling with infertility are connected by an idea however. They are connected by the feeling of loneliness and exclusion. They are connected by the feeling that they want to know their problems are human.