Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok have transformed how businesses, including those in healthcare, market themselves.
By leveraging social media, Nurse Practitioners can effectively market their practices with minimal upfront investment and quickly reach their target audience.
It’s no surprise that these platforms have become essential marketing components for many NPs.
So what’s the problem?
On the surface, it may seem that there’s no problem in using social media to market your practice. However, when taking a closer look, you realize that these platforms are akin to building your house on land you don’t own or control.
Not a good idea!
While social media marketing is easy, free, or low-cost, it can be risky and has the potential to destroy your business.
The Risks of Depending on Third-Party Platforms
And here is why…
Social platforms, while popular, powerful, and easy to use, are entirely outside of your control.
The rules, algorithms, and access to your audience can shift overnight, sometimes dramatically.
Here is an example from just two days ago. If you’re a member of various Facebook groups, you may already know what happened.
Starting on Tuesday (last week of June 2025), several Facebook groups and pages were shut down without reason or recourse.
Some of these groups had hundreds of thousands of members, all gone in a flash.
One Facebook user wrote: “Dozens of high-quality groups and pages have been taken down for ‘policy violations’ but with no transparency, reason, or justification.”
Ouch… that hurts.
Facebook is aware of the problem. They say it’s a technical error, and they’re working on fixing it.
In the meantime, group members can’t access the community, and the group owner can’t get in touch with the members, until the group or pages are reinstated.
It’s not uncommon for social platforms to adjust their algorithms, which can significantly affect the organic reach of business pages.
That’s why practices that rely heavily on Facebook to connect with their patients can suddenly find their engagement plummeting without warning.
Similarly, account suspensions or bans, often automated or triggered by unclear policies, can instantly remove access to your patient base, potentially damaging your practice’s visibility and reputation.
Additionally, platforms may vanish or lose popularity.
Remember MySpace or Google+?
While they were once dominant platforms, eventually they declined, taking with them countless hours of marketing effort and patient engagement.
That’s why relying on and investing in platforms over which you have no control exposes your practice to potential vulnerability.
The Illusion of Security
Social media’s ease of use often creates an illusion of permanence and control.
The platforms feel stable and secure because you actively engage with visitors, build a following, and get real results.
However, the reality is rather different.
Terms of service, which most users typically accept without much thought, grant platforms extensive power over your content and audience interactions.
You may spend years building a community or following, only to have your access restricted overnight due to a policy misunderstanding or automated enforcement error.
But beyond that, relying on third-party platforms means your practice’s online presence, to some extent, is shaped and dictated by another company’s goals and priorities.
Understandably, social platforms primarily serve their own business interests, which may not align with yours.
Facebook’s priority, for instance, is maximizing advertising revenue, often at the expense of organic reach. That’s why you may have to pay increasing amounts simply to maintain visibility among the followers you’ve so painstakingly cultivated.
The Solution: Build Your Own Digital Assets
To mitigate these risks, Nurse Practitioners should prioritize building marketing assets they fully own and control, such as practice websites and email lists.
Your website serves as the central hub for all your activities, including marketing and advertising. Unlike social media, your website content and traffic remain entirely within your control.
You decide the messaging, presentation, and strategic direction of your digital space. Additionally, your website provides stability, offering a dependable and permanent place for patients to find you online.
Building and nurturing an email list provides another avenue to stay in touch with your patients.
Email marketing consistently outperforms other marketing channels in terms of patient engagement, cost-effectiveness, and return on investment. By growing your email subscriber base, you create a valuable marketing asset that remains unaffected by algorithm changes or shifting platform policies.
Strategic Use of Social Media
Building your digital assets doesn’t mean you should abandon social media entirely. Instead, use it strategically.
Platforms like Facebook and Instagram are excellent for reaching new audiences, raising awareness, and driving initial interest.
However, always try to bring contacts back to the digital assets you own. Invite followers to subscribe to your email list, visit your website, or download free resources directly from your site.
This ensures that even if third-party platforms undergo significant changes, your patient relationships and communication channels remain intact and under your control.
Long-term Stability and Growth
Chances are that your ultimate goal as a Nurse Practitioner in independent practice is to achieve sustainable growth and stability.
Reaching this point requires investing in marketing channels you control.
Think of your website and email list as digital real estate you own outright. These channels will deliver consistent results because their effectiveness isn’t tied to someone else’s rules or business priorities.
Moreover, content created on your website can build long-term search engine optimization (SEO) value, continuously driving organic traffic to your practice.
Unlike social media posts that quickly disappear from users’ feeds, high-quality website content remains discoverable and valuable for months or even years, providing a consistent stream of potential patients.
In Conclusion…
Social media platforms, without question, offer powerful tools for marketing your practice. However, relying solely or primarily on third-party platforms is risky and shortsighted. Consider using social media as complementary tools supporting your main channels.
When you build your digital foundation on channels you fully control, like your website and email list, you create a sustainable and effective long-term marketing strategy.
Ultimately, your practice’s future should never rest on rented land but rather on assets you own and control.
Your thoughts? Join the conversation by leaving a comment or question below.
By Johanna Hofmann, MBA, MAc., EAMP; regular contributor to the NPBusiness blog and author of “Smart Business Planning for Clinicians.”