You’ve said VERY to the question, “How important is Facebook to my healthcare PR strategy?” and are either jumping aboard the social media train, or, you’re already on it and looking at making it work even better for you than it already does.

To help you in your journey, here are five quick—but important—tips you need to know to make the trip worthwhile.

1. It’s a website—treat it like one. Design a nice page. Post interesting, original comments and do it often. Link the page to your newsroom.

2. As a business, you want to develop and create a Facebook page, not a Facebook profile. Facebook profiles have limits—such as caps on friends—that a Facebook brand page doesn’t.

3. Give exclusive content. With so much competition for attention, don’t make the mistake of giving your fans the same old, same old they can get anywhere. Make your Facebook page different and special—stream videos, post pictures of events (for example, a health fair), get interactive with your customers—and keep them coming back for more.

4. Free stuff is always good. Offer white papers, case studies, free samples or products, anything that you think would be interesting to your customers.

5. If someone posts a criticism—answer it right away. The longer you wait, the more opportunity there is for you to lose a customer that you’ve worked so hard to get.

Keep these tips in mind and you’ll keep your customers and patients coming back for more. Do not leave them waiting for the train to leave the station.

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