Which Hospitals Excel at Weibo and WeChat? Insights from Social Media Leaders in China's Healthcare Sector

This is the latest Weibo post published by Peking University First Hospital on its official Weibo account as of the time this article was finalized, in which a patient expressed gratitude to the doctors. Notably, it is also the hospital with the largest number of followers (1.08 million) on Weibo to date.

It is commonplace for hospitals to leverage social media platforms to promote their value, disseminate health knowledge, and guide patients to seek medical care at their facilities.

According to data from research conducted by Halls Medical Investment Management Co., Ltd., a Grade 3A hospital, under the guidance of Halls, launched an offline free clinic campaign through online marketing, rapidly and effectively enhancing its brand visibility. Meanwhile, statistical data indicates that patients visiting this hospital included90.7% of respondents learned about the hospital through online media, 5% through inter-hospital referrals, 3% through offline marketing in daily life, and the remaining 1.3% through other channels.

The above data clearly demonstrate that hospitals can leverage self-media platforms on social networks for brand marketing, thereby effectively enhancing their visibility and improving their institutional image.

However, the critical downside is that inadequate promotion can expose a hospital to intense public scrutiny and backlash due to negative reviews. Hence the saying, “Success lies with the media, and so does failure.”

Nevertheless, many hospitals have successfully leveraged social media platforms to promote their institutions and facilitate interaction between the hospital and patients.
It is understood that the social media tools currently mainly used by hospitals include Weibo, WeChat, QQ, video websites, blogs, and dating sites. This article will focus on discussing the two major social platforms, Sina Weibo and WeChat.

——————————————Weibo——————————————

According to publicly available data from Sina Weibo, as of November 8, 2015, the number of “institution-verified” users with “hospital” as their nickname on Sina Weibo had reached6219hospitals. We randomly selected 1,000 hospitals from this cohort and found that:

▼ Hospitals in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou Are the Most Socially Active

Among them, the proportion of hospitals in the top ten regions accounted for75%, constrained by geographical conditions, regions such as Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Qinghai are in a socially disadvantaged position.

We will target fans with a follower count of10hospitals with over 10,000 were further analyzed. As of now, there are48The hospital has over 100,000 followers.

▼ Beijing’s “Ultimate Playmakers”

Among these 48 hospitals, nearly half (22) are based in Beijing and have more than 100,000 followers. The remaining regions show relatively even distribution, with one hospital each in three regions, two hospitals each in six regions, and three hospitals each in five regions.

▼ Predominantly Private Hospitals

Private hospitals lead public hospitals by a narrow margin of five. In addition, there is the sole foreign-invested hospital—specializing in cosmetic and plastic surgery.ID Hospital KoreaMade the List. According to Du Xiaoyan, Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese Association of Plastics and Aesthetics, the number of foreigners traveling to China for plastic surgery is growing at an annual rate of 10%, with a near-zero failure rate. Regardless of how robust this figure truly is, the growth momentum itself is noteworthy.

▼ Women’s and Children’s Specialty Hospitals Attract the Most Followers

Among the hospitals, there are 15 general hospitals and 33 specialized hospitals. The specialized field covers 13 categories, with obstetrics, gynecology, and pediatrics (OB/GYN and pediatrics) specialized hospitals being the most active, followed by cosmetic and plastic surgery. Ophthalmology and oncology each have two hospitals, while the remaining nine categories each have one hospital.

▼ Content is primarily for science popularization

Contrary to popular expectation, hospital Weibo accounts primarily focus on health science popularization. However, there are differences between public and private hospitals. Public hospitals mainly center their content around news, social activities, patient stories, and institutional honors, with posting times largely random. In contrast, private hospitals primarily engage in product promotion and marketing campaigns, supplemented by a small number of inspirational posts. Their update frequency typically involves smaller volumes posted more frequently, revolving around marketing initiatives and products.

▼The Weibo accounts of six hospitals were first launched in March 2011.

Among the 48 hospitals with the most successful social media presence as compiled by VCBeat, the earliest adopters launched in March 2011, with six hospitals going online that same month. Compared to Sina Weibo, which only began its operations in September 2009, these hospitals were pioneers in social media engagement within the healthcare sector. The most recent entrants joined in 2014, specifically in January and September, averaging nearly 10,000 new followers per month. Of course, this figure likely includes a significant number of inactive or fake accounts. Nevertheless, the ability to attract a large volume of followers in just over a year is arguably achievable only by plastic surgery and cosmetic hospitals. This shared characteristic underscores their common identity: they are all plastic surgery and cosmetic hospitals.

——————————————WeChat——————————————

Currently, many hospitals in China have leveraged WeChat to disseminate health education materials and provide patient guidance services. Some hospitals have also implemented online services, including appointment scheduling and consultations, as well as WeChat Pay functionality. According to a report released by Yice at the end of 2014, 61.57% of hospital WeChat accounts enabled appointment registration via WeChat, 1.87% offered triage services, 77.99% provided patient guidance functions, 4.48% allowed payment of medical fees through WeChat Pay, and 8.58% had activated service evaluation features.

Furthermore, among the 5,429 hospitals monitored and analyzed by DXY at the end of 2014, 1,888 had launched WeChat official accounts, representing a penetration rate of 35%.

By integrating data from the Yice Report and the DXY Report, VCBeat conducted a statistical analysis of hospitals with significant influence in WeChat-based medical imaging. The majority of these hospitals operate Subscription Accounts, while Service Accounts are less common, with only a small fraction maintaining both types.

▼ The Most Socially Savvy Hospital is in Zhejiang

Statistics show that hospitals with successful WeChat social media operations are primarily distributed across 13 provinces and municipalities. Furthermore, unlike the concentration of players on Sina Weibo in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, WeChat accounts are mainly concentrated in Zhejiang, Shandong, and Shanghai.

▼ Public Hospitals as the Mainstay

In the promotion on WeChat,Public Hospitals Are Far AheadUnlike the open nature of Weibo, WeChat’s closed ecosystem makes it distinct and less suitable for public-facing displays. Therefore, mutual following holds no significance for WeChat marketing. This also limits the marketing and promotional strategies commonly employed by private hospitals, which tend to be overly commercialized and rely on monotonous tactics, resulting in low-quality follower bases.

▼ Women’s and Children’s Hospitals Remain the Most Popular

As above, since public hospitals are predominantly general hospitals, general hospitals lead by a wide margin, among whichThe only specialized hospital category is obstetrics and pediatrics.

▼Most hospitals implement online services and hospital information via WeChat navigation bars

Most hospitals have enabled the menu bar feature on their WeChat Official Accounts. The majority of these accounts provide online services and hospital information. Online services include appointment registration, symptom checking, and test result inquiries. Hospital information encompasses micro-websites, news updates, and educational videos. A small number of accounts also offer health information features, such as medical visit guides.

▼Content focuses on health science popularization

An analysis of the types of articles pushed reveals that health education, hospital news, and social activities/hospital honors rank in the top three. Other categories include physician promotion, patient-friendly information, patient stories, and research/innovation achievements.

Although hospitals currently exhibit a high rate of social media adoption, their effectiveness remains suboptimal. This is evidenced by the minimal engagement—such as favorites, reposts, comments, and particularly scarce likes—on Sina Weibo posts, as well as the low number of comments and likes on WeChat article pushes. There is scant reader feedback, and overall user activity is extremely low.

What hospitals must squarely face is that social media is not merely a marketing tool, but also a channel for patients to access medical information, learn about health knowledge, and engage in communication. There remains considerable scope for hospitals to enhance their social media strategies.