How to Communicate Via Social Media

Why Social Media?

Simply put, social media platforms are where our target demographic is spending their time. In order for NAIOMT to gain the attention of and stay relevant among physical therapists, we need to be consistently sharing valuable content and actively engaging them where they are. 

They expect institutions like ours to provide valuable content (short video demonstrations, nuanced blog posts) and even entertain them (engaging, fun polls, quotes and memes) on social. By doing that, we begin conversations and nurture relationships. Once we’ve piqued their interest on social, and have demonstrated NAIOMT’s expertise in guiding them to reach a whole new level of care, we can convince them to try a class. From there, we convert them into life-long learners loyal to the organization.

Staying Current

We have built a solid library of content over the past few years, but in this ever-changing digital landscape, we need to continue adapting our approach to key trends, and creating fresh content. If everyone contributes just a little bit, we can have a robust offering not only in NAIOMT classrooms, but everyday on social too — further strengthening the brand, spreading awareness and putting butts in seats.

Creating Brand Ambassadors

User Generated Content

User generated content (UGC) is a marketing must. UGC is created when someone in a NAIOMT course posts a video or image to social media and tags NAIOMT. This does two things: 

• When we are tagged, we are alerted that someone has mentioned us. If we approve of the post, we can then ask permission to share on our own channels, which adds to the diversity of content we publish from our profile, and serves as a testimonial of sorts. 
• When someone shares a post about NAIOMT with their own community on social, it’s essentially free advertising for NAIOMT. Many PTs have a network of colleagues who follow them, so the audience is quite targeted. See examples of these in the images below, where other PTs start commenting and getting intrigued about NAIOMT.

Every time someone shares a post about NAIOMT with their community, they essentially vouch for our expertise and the impact the organization has on their professional lives.

This is why we all need to actively encourage students to take photos and videos during courses, and tag @NAIOMT when they post them to Instagram. Perhaps even incentivize them to do so. For example, anyone who tags NAIOMT is automatically entered into a free monthly course giveaway. Something to think about.

How You Can Support NAIOMT On Social

By communicating and sharing content on social, we spread awareness about NAIOMT and everything the organization is up to. Here are a few easy ways you can contribute.

NAIOMT’s Social Handle is @NAIOMT

@NAIOMT is where you find our content on social media, and also how you tag NAIOMT in social media posts. See Terry’s group photo post below.

Engage with our Audience

• Set up an Instagram account: Step-by-step instructions here
• Follow PTs and PT students
• Engage in conversations, like others’ posts, ask questions
• Encourage students who have completed a course to move on to the next course / level. Leveraging your existing relationship with existing students is possibly the most effective way to make students sign up for additional courses.
• See note regarding personal accounts in the Final Notes section below.

Contribute Content

Quotes

We want to show that the organization is constantly inspiring PTs to think outside the routine and challenge themselves. Sharing inspirational and relevant quotes can help do that. Please send quotes that resonate with you along with the person attributed to them to the Marketing Committee.

Testimonials

If you get a testimonial from a NAIOMT participant or perhaps a line in an email that expresses positive sentiment for the organization, please confirm we can use in marketing with the person who shared it, and send to Marketing Committee.

Capture Photos

Be sure to grab a quick group photo at the end of a course. Terry is the master at this:

Encourage User Generated Content (UGC)

Mention during course introductions that people are welcome to capture quick videos and photos throughout the course, and can post on Instagram and @NAIOMT so we can help share too.

PT Polls

Years ago Brett Windsor shared a list of “either/or” type questions meant to spark thought and dialogue. We used these to create interactive Instagram Story polls and many PTs participated. The poll feature exists on Facebook and Twitter too, so this type of content can go far. Any ideas you have for insightful, intriguing polls, please contact the Marketing Committee.

How to Boost NAIOMT’s Social Content Reach

The more likes, shares and comments a piece of NAIOMT content gets on social, the more people will see that content (due to complex platform algorithms that want to show users only the most valuable content people want to see). 

So when you come across NAIOMT content on social, please:

 1. LIKE

On Instagram and Twitter you “like” a piece of content by selecting the heart icon below it. 

On Facebook and LinkedIn, select the thumbs up icon/ “Like” button. For Facebook, if you hold down/hover over the “like” button, you can even select the “love” button or “wow” button. 

This is also true for blog posts, whenever you have read a NAIOMT blog post that you like, use the social icons on bottom of the blog post to “like” or share the post via social channels. 

2. COMMENT

While we never want to “get into it” with anyone on social, comments are a good place to add insights, pose thought-provoking questions and connect with others around a given topic. 

Again, comments show that people are engaged with a post, which tells the platform to go ahead and show it to more PTs.

How to Share on Instagram

Within Instagram

• Select the paper airplane icon
• You can decide to share to your Instagram Story. If you select the arrow next to “Add post to your story,” people who follow you on Instagram will be able to see it. 
• You can also decide to send to specific people you are following. All you have to do is select them from the list and share.

Outside of Instagram

• Select the three dots to in the upper right hand corner of a post.
• Select “Share to” 
• Select where you’d like to share to. The options shown here will vary depending on the apps on your phone. (Facebook, Linked In, WhatsApp, etc. Either would be valuable to NAIOMT.)

How to Share on Facebook

• Select the “Share” button
• A window will pop up allowing you the option to comment on the piece of content you’re sharing. Emojis are encouraged, as they are eye-catching and help show personality. 
• Select “Share now”
• The NAIOMT content will now appear on your Facebook wall.
• Note: You can also opt to share to another Facebook page, a group, your Facebook story or in Messenger.

How to Share on LinkedIn

Within LinkedIn

• To share to your own LinkedIn page, select the share arrow in the lower right hand corner. 
• A window will come up and you’ll be able to add a comment about the piece of content you are sharing. 
• Add hashtags such as #manualtherapy #physicaltherapy and #physicaltherapist to help boost the post to relevant people (PTs!)
• In the top right hand corner of the window there is a drop down menu, and you can select who can see your post. This can be “Anyone,” “Connections only,” or members of a LinkedIn group you belong to. Select whichever you feel is relevant to the content you’re sharing.  
• Once you’re happy with your comment and audience for the post, select “Post” in the top right hand corner.

Outside of LinkedIn

• Select the three dots in the upper right hand corner
• Select where you’d like to share to. The options that come up will depend on what apps you have. 

How to Share on Twitter

• Sharing content on Twitter is called “Retweeting.”  
• Simply select the small icon underneath the content that has two arrows connection into a square. 
• You will be able to choose whether to retweet with or without a comment. 
• Once you have successfully retweeted, the box will turn green. 

TikTok

NAIOMT does not currently have a TikTok account, but we’re including it on this page to show the potential. As with any other channel, we just need the right content to be successful!  

TikTok is a wildly popular platform that can be a useful tool to spread awareness and demonstrate the strength of the NAIOMT program—particularly among younger PTs. 

PTs Are On TikTok

Despite what you may have heard, TikTok is not just a bunch of teens posting dancing videos. The video content being shared and consumed there is wide-ranging and far-reaching. 

TikTok hashtags are a great way to see for yourself the kinds of PT content that exists. Consider these video numbers:

• #physicaltherapy: 1.8 Billion views
• #physicaltherapist: 133.8 Million views
• #Physicaltherapistsoftiktok: 1.1 Million views
• #physicaltherapylife:  12.6 Million views
• #occupationaltherapist: 74.3 Million views

Beyond the above categories of videos, there are many many more niche areas and PT-related communities NAIOMT can tap into. 

How? We create the right video content. 

Keep in mind TikTok videos should be shorter than NAIOMT’s regular video demonstrations, ideally not longer than 60 seconds—but don’t even have to be that long! Also, portrait mode rather than landscape is preferred for TikTok videos. We encourage all faculty who are TikTok viewers to get in touch with the Marketing Committee with your ideas.

Final Notes

Create Personal Accounts

NAIOMT already has official organization accounts, and we are now encouraging faculty to create your own personal clinician-focused accounts (example: your first name_last name_PT). This is for several reasons:

• So you may answer any questions the NAIOMT audience may have, but as yourself — a seasoned NAIOMT instructor. Note, we can not have many people posting content directly from the official NAIOMT social account, but we do need to create more of a presence. By having many mentors within our organization interacting online, we mimic/convey the guidance and expertise that we demonstrate offline.
• So you can start following and interacting with current and prospective students. This means liking their posts, commenting/adding emojis, posing questions, etc.
• So you can help share the content that gets posted to NAIOMT’s official account.

In regards to content such as videos and blog posts (or any longer texts), please share these with the Marketing Committee. Once the video or blog post has been published through NAIOMT’s official channels you can share it through your personal social media account.

Your personal/professional account is yours, but we all must keep in mind that everything we say or post from those accounts may be associated with NAIOMT.

It would be helpful in your profile bio to tag NAIOMT. For example, on an Instagram bio: “Physical therapist and @naiomt faculty member passionate about guiding PTs to clinical excellence.” The @naiomt would turn blue, and so when someone comes across your bio, they can just tap on the @naiomt to see what the organization is all about.

Be Authentic

People expect an authentic experience on social — even from brands and businesses. So don’t be afraid to show a little personality. Colloquial language is perfectly fine. The more emojis the better.