The social in acupuncture

The social in A cupuncture

Andrea Dewhurst

Student Member: Hertfordshire

I started an Instagram account quite by accident. I mean it wasn’t an accident, but I certainly didn’t have any clue or intention of what I was doing. I created @thechannelproject because, after 20 years of being out of school, I realised I was a visual learner; and the picturebased app Instagram allowed me to indulge in it and have that learning readily to hand. I mean I couldn’t carry Maciocia around with me everywhere!

So I started posting what I was learning. I started chatting with wonderful peers from around the world. I started following amazing accounts that were teaching acupuncture through their posts. I learnt from those people.

Social media is like learning acupuncture (bear with me). You start off with no clue. You follow along. You pick up a few bits. You think ‘I will never get the hang of this’. But you spend more time on it. I spent money with people who are experts to help me (a bit like I have spent lots of money on acupuncture books). You refine your practice. Get more accurate. Get more results. It takes time and energy. It will not happen overnight. And in the same way that I will never be a master of acupuncture, I will never be a master of Instagram.

But these are things that I have learnt. I am sharing them with you. Because I like sharing and I like helping people succeed and that is what is great about social media. Sharing and supporting. A is for amazing content: This is what social media platforms want. This is what your patients want. Look at people’s content that you admire. It doesn’t need to be an acupuncturist. Make a note of the things you love. What you don’t love. The aesthetic? Their manner? The content? How they share? What makes you click ‘like’ on a post or watch a video? I suspect it’s something that resonates with you or is useful or interesting information, or someone you like or trust. Make your content something you’d like to like.

cis for Canva: I couldn’t create the content I do without this friendly online design tool. I use the paid-for version because it is such a useful tool but there is a free version that you can go and practise with. It took me three years to find a style that suited me. I had many iterations during that time. I have finally found a style I am happy with. I am not a designer so cannot offer any specific advice but some general rules of thumb…

Think about accessibility: text in different colours can make it hard for people to read.

Fonts: same with fonts. Squirly fonts look lovely, but are they easy to read?

Visuals: depending on the social media platform depends on the picture to text ratio. Instagram is a very visual platform. Use visuals. u is for understanding: Where are your patients coming from? Do you ever ask them how they found you? Because if it isn’t social media and it is always word of mouth, you might not need to spend so much time on this stuff! But if social media is a way people find you, please make sure you have a business or creator account on Instagram. Having one of these allows you to look at all your statistics. What posts are doing well? When is your audience online? This information is fantastic and you need it.

pis for preparation: Block out time to work on social media. Map out what you are going to do. What is happening each week. Look at international events (there are quite a few calendars out there) that you can tie your content into, for example #endometriosisawarness was in March. Create your content in a bundle. Don’t do it piecemeal. I’ll be honest, some of my content takes me a couple of hours per post. I won’t (I hope) have that luxury when I am practising. So be realistic about your time and what you can create.