Sheffield pharmacist, Saam Ali, aka the Pharmacy Mentor, has built a new online course ‘The Pharmacy and Social Media Mastery Course’, to help independents harness the power of social media, to drive sales and improve their brand awareness.

“If your customers and patients are on social, then so should your business,” Ali told Independent Community Pharmacist. “It offers a great opportunity for growth, as well as build community trust and push our profession forwards. So many independents still don’t even have websites.”

He believes that, as pharmacists are first and foremost health professionals, technology isn’t always their forte. “We are constantly time-pressured, so innovation sometimes takes a back seat.”

Ali himself works as a locum as well as running his own digital training business. “For two years now I’ve focused on the online world and am a fully fledged website developer and video producer. I designed the course because a lot of the material out there currently is old school. This course is about getting independents up to scratch. You don’t need to be a techie either. We start with the absolute basics.”

Ali is keen to emphasise that the course is not just about building a professionallooking Facebook or Twitter page. “Social media is all about what you do with it. It’s about growing your audience through engaging content and building stronger community relationships around you. The course gives you the tools to do just that.” The online course costs £99 and is available at courses.pharmacymentor.com

Look out for Saam Ali’s upcoming regular social media comment, Social Skills, in forthcoming issues of Independent Community Pharmacist.