Natural Therapies work on the body both physically and emotionally to relieve pain and improve health and wellbeing. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 80% of the world’s population relies on natural therapies. Homeopathy and Herbal Medicine use plants and essences to heal the problem areas within the body. Therapies concerned with Exercise, Physical Therapy and Nutrition are focused on creating optimum conditions for the body. Naturopathy and Iridology include diagnostic tools to detect illness before it harms the body.
Manual Therapies like Osteopathy and Aromatherapy use healing or essential oils to relieve stress and promote health. The philosophy of Osteopathy is to treat the whole body, not just the symptoms. It places genuine interest in understanding your problem and guiding you toward solutions which promote balance and harmony within your body.
The natural therapy industry needs to be branded so it will not be seen as ‘alternative’, and can operate on the same scale as the medical industry. Natural Therapy practitioners have a unique opportunity to help with this healing shift through social media. It is important to create a way for people to learn about the healing business and clearly share information through the best channels to reach the right target audience.
Social media implemented responsibly and effectively can help the natural therapy industry by informing and educating prospective patients about their services. It also helps in patient engagement through regular interaction with patients and other practitioners. Social media is a good listening tool, by discovering what patients are saying about your practice and acting on this information to deliver exceptional customer service.
Because people go online first to gather information before making an appointment, having a clear well done social media accounts can help them contact you. It takes time and commitment to make social media work for you. But to avoid social media disasters natural health practitioners are advised to take social media training to create a smart social media strategy and grow patient volume. Social media training and development aims to enhance natural therapy practitioner’s skills and knowledge in the latest techniques to deliver an effective social media strategy.
Developing a business-specific social media marketing strategy is imperative. Start by understanding your business goals and learn how to integrate them in your social media platforms. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter not only make you connect with patients but with fellow practitioners as well. @WellbeingParty is a Twitter account that connects with holistic healers and natural therapy practitioners around the world.
Create engaging content by sharing relevant and important information. Avoid selling and heavy promotion of natural therapy services. Social media is about educating, engaging and all forms of discreet tactful selling. This helps establish rapport and trust around your brand. Social media done correctly will become an important part of your marketing mix.