Dr. Kim’s Kids Social Media Posts

As of 2018, I have been working with Dr. Kim Burlingham, a private practice pediatrician from Winnsboro, TX. I develop content for Facebook and Instagram, the latter of which I set up to expand her social media presence. Many posts I contributed to were either created using free license or Shutterstock assets and Adobe Photoshop, or were photographs taken by either Dr. Kim or myself.

Dr. Kim’s primary goal is to ensure important information reaches patients and parents through social media. My role is to ensure this information is eye-catching and easy to understand.

Furthermore, I also create evergreen posts to help maintain a consistent posting schedule. My strategy for these posts is to create content that falls under one or more of three “E's”:

• Does it educate parents and patients?

• Does it engage followers with a question?

• Does it encourage kids and promote positive parenting?

The COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was more important than ever to ensure information reached patients quickly and in a way that is easy to comprehend. This created new challenges with polarizing opinions on masking and vaccinations. Our strategy for this time was to create posts that are calm, yet firm without belittling our audience.

By the Numbers

For many businesses, the metrics - reach, engagement, and conversions - are a key aspect of social media success. For Dr. Kim’s Facebook, reactions, comments, and shares all increased over 350%, and reach increased well over 500%. The charts below show the increases in these metrics before and after I started contributing to the Facebook account.

Going Viral

One particular reason for the dramatic increase in all metrics was a photograph of one of Dr. Kim’s medical assistants demonstrating one ounce of baby spit up. The strategy for the post was to identify a visual demonstration regularly performed in the office and photograph it for online use. The result was a post that quickly spiraled to a significantly higher reach than anticipated for a small-town pediatric clinic.

With a viral post came new challenges including negativity and opposition. One of the biggest sources of opposition was that since the image used water on paper, it did not accurately depict the situation (typically formula on cloth). I recommended a repeat of the image using formula to show a side-by-side comparison and quell parent’s concerns. Once this image was posted, the opposition to the post lessened.

Going Really Viral

As the old adage goes, sex sells. So when Dr. Kim and I came across a recent study on the detriments of smoking, we thought this information would be the best way to connect to teen boys who are more focused on instant gratification than their future health risks.

One of the challenges was approaching the topic in a way that is appropriate, yet catchy. I used the bananas as a way to add some humor and appeal to user’s curiosity.