Social Media is Not Just a Trend – It's Part of the Patient Journey

Today, social media has become an essential tool for medical clinics in the field of medical marketing. It is no longer just a channel for clinic promotion but a vital part of a comprehensive SMM strategy and the first point of contact with the patient.

Over 77% of patients search for information about a clinic online before making an appointment. In many cases, social media creates the first impression and directly influences the decision to choose a particular clinic.

In Healthcare, Social Media Serves Key Functions:

  • informs about services;

  • builds trust in the doctor;

  • demonstrates the clinic’s expertise;

  • explains why patients should choose you.

This is no longer about traditional advertising. It’s about ethical medical marketing, building audience trust, and creating a consistent medical marketing strategy for 2025.

What Content Works in Medical Social Media in 2025

Educational Content: Explaining Complex Topics in Simple Terms

People are looking for doctors they can trust, and social media has become a platform where medical professionals simplify complex topics and make healthcare more accessible. This is why short video formats (Reels, TikTok, Shorts) remain among the most effective tools for explaining specific medical topics in an approachable and clear way.

These formats not only provide patients with valuable information but also build trust by showcasing doctors’ expertise and shaping the clinic’s brand through high-quality content marketing.

Other effective content formats include:

  • Visual examples of “before / after” (with patient consent);

  • Infographics that simplify complex processes;

  • Q&A sessions;

  • Debunking medical myths.

This is not just content—it is a key element in building patient trust.

Emotional Content: Show the Human Side of Your Brand

Patients no longer want to see faceless clinic profiles. They want to know that real people — a caring team and trustworthy doctors — stand behind the brand. This is why behind-the-scenes content is trending: reality-style insights into doctors’ daily lives, team stories, emotions, and work processes.

These formats help foster a sense of connection, familiarity, and humanity. They strengthen emotional engagement and build patient loyalty.

Collaborations with micro-influencers in beauty, health, and fitness are highly effective. Influencer marketing helps increase client loyalty, build trust, and boost patient engagement with medical services.

Visual Content: The Foundation of Building Trust

Visual content is the foundation of any effective SMM strategy for medical clinics. It is a key component of digital marketing that helps build trust and strengthen brand awareness.

Patients want to see not promotional slogans but real processes: treatments, rehabilitation, and preparation for procedures. This is a crucial part of both content strategy and the patient experience, influencing trust and reinforcing the clinic’s reputation online.

Patient reviews, clinical cases, real treatment stories, “before / after” examples, interviews, and recovery stories all have a strong impact. They enhance audience trust, improve the effectiveness of medical marketing, and contribute to building a strong brand.

An essential element of visual content is highlighting the expertise of doctors through conference participation, certifications, scientific achievements, and real clinical cases. This reinforces credibility and removes doubts.

Another valuable format is behind-the-scenes content that showcases the clinic’s inner workings: teamwork moments, preparation for patient appointments, and daily operations. This creates an “open doors” effect, making the brand feel more approachable and trustworthy.

Social Media as Part of the Patient Journey

Today, patients rarely make decisions based on a single communication channel. The choice of clinic or doctor occurs within an omnichannel journey, where each channel plays a distinct role in building trust and influencing the final decision:

  • Instagram – checks the clinic’s atmosphere, faces of the doctors, “live” content. It’s the channel of first impression and emotional connection.

  • YouTube — looks for proof of expertise, detailed explanations, extended content (procedures, doctor insights). It reinforces professional credibility and trust in competencies.

  • Google — verifies reviews from real patients. It is the primary source of social proof.

  • Clinic’s Website – shapes perceptions of the clinic’s status, experience, and expertise. It serves as the brand’s business card.

  • Messengers (Viber / Telegram / WhatsApp) – chosen for convenient contact and quick booking. It’s the channel for comfortable, instant communication.

An effective strategy must not operate in isolation. To support patients throughout the decision-making process, clinics should integrate these elements into a unified system:

  • Visuals and Communication via Social Media: Modern visual content, storytelling, emotional engagement through Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. This forms the first impression and supports the image of an open, modern clinic.

  • Analytics and Convenient Booking: Easy booking through social media, websites, messengers. Process automation, query analysis, and channel performance tracking for marketing optimization.

  • Reinforcing Trust through Reviews and Expert Content: Reviews on Google and specialized platforms, expert publications, videos featuring doctors, simple explanations of complex topics. This builds long-term trust and the clinic’s brand.

Why Medical Businesses Need BRAB Experts, Not Just an SMM Specialist

Social media in medicine works effectively only where people understand not just algorithms but patient behavior, emotional trust triggers, and the real expectations of the target audience.

At BRAB, we have deep expertise in medical marketing. Our experience includes working with clinics in Ukraine, the UK, the USA, Switzerland, and Israel. We understand both local market specifics and global trends in digital and omnichannel marketing for medical services. Our expertise includes local optimization, SEO for medicine, and ROI analysis in marketing.

We work with large clinics, multidisciplinary centers, as well as niche practices – dermatology, cosmetology, orthopedics, spine and joint treatment, ophthalmology, reproductive health, and radiology.

We help both market leaders aiming to improve results and new clinics needing to quickly fill appointments and build trust from scratch.

“Medical projects have consistently made up over 30% of our work since 2016. This is an area where we clearly understand how to deliver results.”
— Roman Baranov, Managing Partner, BRAB

We know how to build effective SMM for clinics and digital marketing strategies that drive results. Our strategies include content marketing, local SEO for medicine, social media analytics, and PPC advertising to increase marketing conversions.

BRAB: creation and promotion of websites for medical business

All the principles described above and a number of other online tools to improve the marketing effectiveness of medical websites are used by the BRAB integrated online marketing agency. Here you can create a project from scratch or optimize the work of an existing site. Well-organized digital marketing brings a number of benefits to the healthcare business, including increased patient flow, increased brand awareness, and increased efficiency in spending marketing budgets.

BRAB Agency offers website development, SEO, advertising management, and full-scale marketing support for medical clinics and specialized centers.

Learn more about our approach to healthcare marketing at the link below:
https://brabagency.com/en/industry/industrial-medicine