How to Leverage Social Media to Build Your Personal Brand and Stand Out

In our profession, the reality of competition has come to a level that is truly remarkable, in which having a doctorate of pharmacy is a foot in the door rather than an end goal.

This is not to discount anyone without a PharmD, such as pharmacy students who are working to become the future of the profession, or the outstanding pharmacists who have been serving with a BPharm.

However, having a PharmD, which is a doctorate-level degree, will not suffice when it comes to standing out as the go-to expert of your niche.

Having a PharmD is an exceptional accomplishment, but it’s what you do with it that will empower you to dominate your career. By using your expertise to reach a level of mastery, you can use it to create content of value to help those with a similar interest. This concept of creating a persona of expertise is the foundation for developing a personal brand, and the way to advance your career with your brand is to use social media.

It is important to reference back to your institution or employer’s rules when it comes to social media, specifically keeping the Oath of a Pharmacist in mind when establishing your brand.

Social media goes hand-in-hand with this commitment to allow you to fulfill your duty for 3 main reasons:

• The future of pharmacy is growing through millennials and gen-Z, who typically spend a significant number of hours on social media. Rather than fighting the rising tide, meet them where they are. By doing this, you’ll engage with them on a medium they are comfortable using, which will build trust, rapport, and allow you to effectively share your expertise in a way that is well received.
• Staying relevant on social media is as crucial as keeping up with your pharmaceutical education. You need to stay current with your drug knowledge, guidelines, and policies—why should your communication skills be any different? Communication is the foundation for relaying all of those hours of continuing education to those you work with and serve, so staying up to date on the latest trends in social media is an essential role you must fill as a pharmacist.
• Someone who is less qualified than you is dominating your niche because they are leveraging social media and you are not.

I share this to point out the reality of not just where pharmacy is headed, but where it is right now. Pharmacy is an ever-evolving profession, and staying aware of what is happening in the present will take your expertise to the next level.

I want to empower you to fulfill the Oath of a Pharmacist by becoming the go-to expert of your niche. I want to help you to script your brand, and in this series of articles devoted to social media, I am going to break it all down for you, step-by-step, so that you know:

• Where to start on social media
• The in’s and out’s of each social media platform
• Create momentum in building the masterpiece of your career: your personal brand.

Although social media is a tool, it is important to highlight that it is not a replacement for real life. It is a tool that can be used as a bridge to form connections so that you have previous context to build from when you go to a pharmacy conference.

People feel more comfortable with those they know and trust, so if you have been fostering that through social media, your in-person first impression will be a slam dunk!

Here’s are some previously published and upcoming articles on social media planning for pharmacists:

-Instagram: How a Pharmacist Can Make a Picture Worth >1,000 Connections

-LinkedIn: How to Leverage LinkedIn as a Pharmacist

-YouTube: The Pharmacist Platform to Share Your Expertise

-Twitter: Creating Community & Conversation in Your Pharmacy Niche

-Facebook: The Dichotomy of Personal vs Professional in a Pharmacist’s Life

Hugs and hashtags,

Adam Martin, founder The Fit Pharmacist

Creator www.ScriptYourBrand.com online course

Reference

Oath of a Pharmacist. https://www.pharmacist.com/oath-pharmacist. Accessed October 29, 2020.