Is Social Media Right For Your Medical Practice?
Everywhere you turn you hear about social media marketing—but you also hear of the deleterious results when social goes wrong. How can doctors be assured that branching out their word-of-mouth business to social media is the right direction for their practice? Having a proactive social media plan could offset negative reviews from patients and help combat the deluge of invalid medical advice being dispensed by individuals every day.
TELL YOUR STORY
Social media is a great platform for storytelling, and starting with a solid content marketing plan can pay off in a great quantity of new referrals. For instance, if you are a bariatric surgeon and you are having difficulty finding new patients, posting before and after stories of real patient success stories could motivate others to take the plunge. The same can be true of other visual-based medical businesses such as plastic surgery or anti-aging treatments.
ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT
There are plenty of places online for people to bash you and your hard-earned reputation. If you don’t have a social media plan for any other reason, you should consider working with internet marketing consultants to create a plan for reputation management. This could include sites such as Yelp, LinkedIn, Google Places, HealthGrades, Facebook and more. Checking your Google Places page can net you surprising amounts of information—not only addresses, phone numbers and other information that may need to be updated, but also comments that you could potentially respond to and revise public perception. Nothing is as disheartening to a prospective client as seeing a negative review on Google or on Yelp. With the competitiveness of the medical landscape, it is more important than ever to manage your reputation online.
GAIN THE TRUST OF MILLENNIALS
According to the Pew Research Center, millennials are defined as those individuals between the ages of 18 and 33, who were born from 1981-1996. This group of individuals may continue to expand even more as those currently in their mid-teens achieve the age of majority. Millennials were formerly known as ‘Generation Y’, and these digital natives are increasingly engaged with information that can be found online. In order to appeal to this younger demographic, a fluid marketing business plan must be expanded to include social media marketing and mobile marketing as well. Position-based or location-based marketing is also a good bet, as this group of individuals is very interested in spur of the moment transactions and split-second decisions.
KEEP PATIENTS INFORMED
Is there an odd strain of flu making the rounds in your area of San Antonio? Would keeping your patients informed potentially help slow or stop the spread of infection? This is a great use of social media as an informal and quick communication that can allow you to get the word out quickly to your patients. Communicating openly in this way has the positive side effect of presenting you as a thought leader in your community and is yet another component of your content marketing strategy.
If you are not feeling comfortable with creating a fully fleshed-out social media strategy, do not be afraid of contacting professional San Antonio social media marketing consultants to assist in crafting your marketing business plan. Sometimes consulting professionals in their field is the only way to go. Just ask a doctor!
INSERT SHAMELESS PLUG HERE:
Let’s not act like we have it all together, ok? Life is crazy, new social platforms and tools are popping up every other day, and with every day that passes, we get closer to saying things like “kids these days” and “how do you work this damned thing?” The truth is: the world- and especially the elusive World Wide Web- is constantly changing, evolving and making us jump through new hoops. How do you keep up? You hire the experts. That’s right folks, it’s time to stop wasting your time squinting at the screen and actually get back to focusing on what you do best- running your business. Leave the “liking”, the “tweeting”, the sharing and the social media shenanigans to those of us crazy enough to keep up with the trends. Our “in-house hipsters” will keep your clients engaged, excited and most importantly- growing- to give you the following you need- without the gray hairs you don’t. Let 2Ten Marketing manage your social media content and marketing to have a successful social presence today.
SOURCES:
http://www.poweryourpractice.com/practice-marketing/physicians-and-facebook-7-reason-to-get-social/
http://www.amednews.com/article/20130722/business/130729980/7/
http://www.howardluksmd.com/orthopedic-social-media/linkedin-for-doctors/