How to Market Your Independent Pharmacy for Free

The world of independent pharmacies is one full of competition. Already dwarfed by the huge corporates with their endless budgets, it can often be tough establishing yourself in the local community let alone the city or state your pharmacy is based in.

But how do you do it? How can you make it possible that your small, recently opened independent pharmacy stands out from the others? This could also be asked of some of the older pharmacies too. Even if you have been trading for the past 5 years, if footfall is dwindling or reputation is diminishing you need to rectify it fast with some quick and cheap fixes.

In this edition of our blog, we look at what you can do as a new independent pharmacy, or as one that has been operating for a few years to drive interest and create brand awareness of your operation.

Use social media to your advantage

It may sound a well-worn cliché now as just about every business is using Facebook, TikTok, Instagram or Twitter (we still can’t call it X either!) to promote themselves but many don’t use it in the best way.

Facebook

Join local community pages and create posts specific to that page introducing yourself as a new business. When on these pages, notify the community of special offers, health news, or if you have one, your blog, especially if the content is topically relevant at the time. Invite people to visit and to reach out via the platform to ask questions. Interact with other local businesses that post on the page, congratulating them on successes or offering support if they are running fundraisers or events.

On your page itself, promote the pharmacy but also the team within it. Your brand is valuable to you and the community and by showcasing the people behind it, you enhance the sense of community bought on by independent pharmacies. Occasionally focus on seasonal products to remind people of their importance and should there be a news story relating to healthcare, talk about it!

Find a suitable social media calendar too, you can then make community-based posts that help make people feel included. Should there be a national awareness day, post about it, should there be a religious festival, pass on your best wishes to those celebrating it.

Largest user age group: 25-34. 56% female and 44% female.

Instagram

Instagram is all about photos and with cameras on smartphones being incredible these days, you can showcase your products as well as the pharmacy itself with some high-definition photos. Add text to describe what is in the picture and then use the relevant hashtags for the product, your location, and your business. In many cases, you might need multiple hashtags to get in front of the right audience but this can be perfected over time as you establish what works and what doesn’t.

Make sure to comment on posts by others too, it helps keep you in the conversation which drives engagement towards your page. In the same vein, reply to comments on your posts. Nobody likes a social media page that doesn’t interact with the people interacting with it.

Largest user age group: 18-24. 51.8% male, 48.2% female.

TikTok

Now this can be a risky one as people are becoming incredibly inventive but if you are willing to spend a little time playing with TikTok, you can build up huge numbers very quickly. The downside perhaps is that you could get 1 million views on a video but 95% of these views will be spread across the country, perhaps even the world and as a result will have no bearing on your pharmacy.

That being said, if you hashtag the local area, the pharmacy, the product and the trend you are jumping on, there is every chance more of your community will see it than you think and then interact with you. TikTok is all about trends though and perhaps having someone in your team that is a little social media savvy might be wise. They can then create videos that thrive on these trends. Just remember, a lot of TikTok content is created with humor in mind and with healthcare being a serious subject, you will have to determine how you would like your content to come across.

Largest user age group: 18-24. 54% female, 46% male.

Twitter (X)

Twitter, or X, gives you the chance to voice a professional opinion as well as promote your business. As you can follow anyone and anyone can follow you, you will quite often find people from way outside your target market liking your posts and interacting with your page.

Twitter is also a great place for you to share content from other industry professionals and whilst a share of a post is not always perceived as an endorsement, it quite often is and this can help reinforce your brand values, ethics and beliefs.

Largest user age group: 18-29. 34.1% female, 61.29% male.

Join professional organizations

The rest of the industry won’t know much about you if you do not make your presence known and once you have people in the trade talking about you, news can travel fast!

Head to the NCPA website where you can find a host of great resources as well as events that you can attend. There, you can perfect your networking skills so that when an event comes along, you can mingle with the best of them and make your business known. Keep an eye out for events and book a slot, many are free and give you a great chance to build up relationships with suppliers, other pharmacists, and customers.

Aside from networking, use the joining of these events to learn from others, but also make your voice heard. If you have made a success of something in your pharmacy, shout about it within these groups. Our community loves celebrating the achievements of others and, as long as you don’t brag too much, people will share your success with others and as a result, help build your business for you.

Don’t just focus on the pharmacy

This may sound odd, after all, you want to promote your pharmacy and drive custom, but you can do that without pushing the services you offer by getting involved with the community.

Attend local events and donate prizes, engage with the community as an individual and not just as a business and source collaborations with other independent businesses.

These things can all be done free of charge and build your new independent pharmacy reputation without having to spend a penny. Of course, a little spent here and there can be worthwhile!

Listen to the community

You may have you or your social media whizz keeping an ear to the digital ground but what about what people are saying in your local community? Hundreds of conversations happen in an independent pharmacy each week and some could be bad for business as well as good. Harness the knowledge gained from these conversations to change the bad into good and make the good even better.

Word of mouth travels almost as fast as a social media post so those negative thoughts about your pricing, service or opening hours can very quickly be erased with a proactive approach. It costs nothing and enhances the reputation of your pharmacy. Think of it as marketing your pharmacy as the one that listens to the needs of its community.

One other way you can enhance your pharmacy is to incorporate RxMile software. With a fully integrated system that works alongside your existing tech, full compliance is guaranteed. Our prescription delivery service enables you to deliver medications to a wider customer base and remain at the forefront of developments in the world of independent pharmacies. With cost-effectiveness through route optimization and driver cost management, you keep your costs low and your bottom line high. Book your free trial of RxMile software today.