This is worth saying again. Instagram is an insanely powerful social media channel for fertility marketing. I don't say this because data proves that Instagram is the second largest social network in the world. Twitter and Linkedin are large social networks too, but I typically don't recommend that fertility clinics spend too much time with them. They just aren't places where people usually talk about children or the journey of infertility. Instagram is different.
The #infertilitycommunity on Instagram is an extremely supportive peer-network. The content ranges from endearment to levity to humor to heartbreak.
I talked about the 7 most powerful ways clinics can use Instagram for fertility marketing, but I think I understated what makes Instagram so important to individuals and couples coping with infertility. Fertility clinics can't afford to ignore Instagram because
IVF patients are on Instagram. Research shows that 55% of women ages 18 to 29 and 28% of women ages 30 to 49 are active on Instagram.
Instagram is a place for people to connect with others about their struggle with infertility. The #infertility and #ttc (trying to conceive) hashtags account for over 110,000 and 329,000 posts, respectively.
Infertility bloggers and podcasters use Instagram as one of their primary avenues to promote their content and engage their audiences.
People create Instagram accounts for the singular reason of infertility. I wish I had a way of quantifying this for you, but if you browse through the #ttccommunity, you will find that most of the accounts include keywords like journey, ttc, waiting, baby, PCOS, etc.
Instagram is a scroll of the infertility language. Do you know what DH, AF, BFP, and BFN mean? They do. If you don't (I didn't), RESOLVE has a great dictionary of the infertility language.
Instagram is the second largest social media channel in the world. Ok, that does count for something.
Parents post baby pictures on Instagram. Do they ever.
Instagram is a referral source. There is no re-posting in Instagram, instead people tag their friends in the comment of a photo if they want their friend to see it. Example: If you post a picture of your amazing nurses on Instagram, this may offer the opportunity for a delighted former patient to tag a friend of hers to see the photo of her amazing care team.
Instagram is such a critical tool for IVF marketing because it draws so much attention from the infertility community. It is a support network that offers humor, encouragement, counsel, and companionship. Fertility centers can use this social media platform to attract new IVF patients if they can provide the value that people struggling with infertility are looking for on Instagram.