Main marketing for doctors on the networks is to bring information, says expert

Disseminating information about health is the best way for doctors to build their reputation on social networks, according to journalist Hiram Baroli, who has been teaching professionals in the sector how to sell themselves on the internet for 14 years.

Along with Unicamp medicine professor Leonardo Oliveira Reis and publicist Roberto Ferreres, Baroli gathered some of these lessons in the book “Essential Marketing for Doctors”, which will be released next Thursday (16) by Atheneu publisher.

“Most doctors become entrepreneurs, at least one office sets up”, says the specialist, who is manager of commercial operations at Sheet. “But he doesn’t know how to start.”

He counts more than 40 classes in the MBA in Management of Clinics and Hospitals at FGV, where he teaches. The course is for health professionals who want to learn how to run their business — an area where they arrive raw, according to Baroli.

In marketing, the subject of the book, doctors still come up against a very specific code of ethics. Social networks, which have become a showcase for almost every type of profession, can also be a dissemination tool for doctors. But some care needs to be taken.

Conar (National Advertising Self-Regulatory Council), where Baroli is an adviser, vetoes promises of healing or testimonies from lay people in health advertisements, for example.

“Doctors err in communication due to lack of knowledge”, he says. Using superlatives — phrases like “the most efficient” or “the only one capable” — is prohibited, as are selfies with patients in promotional material.

The professional can, on the other hand, say that he is a doctor, share what is on the official networks of hospitals and clinics where he works and provide information. In the last item lies the main form of marketing for doctors, according to Baroli.

“Today, the first step of someone who has pain is to look for information on the internet”, he says. If the user bumps into the content of a doctor, for example, the professional comes out ahead.

Research, reports and tips to prevent diseases are some examples of what can be published. The book also teaches how to package this content: what colors to use on the profile, how to record stories — short Instagram videos — and how to present yourself on different social networks.

Technological news in the office can also be disclosed. That’s why the book has an entire chapter devoted to digital transformations that are changing medical practices. Blockchain, the famous tool for validating cryptocurrency transactions, can be used in the office, for example. Watches that measure patient signals for future appointments, too.