Archive for March, 2012
Is Your Practice Ready for the Facebook Timeline Change?
Mar 20th
Facebook will be requiring everyone to switch to the new Timeline by March 30, 2012. If your practice has a Facebook Page, you’ll need to be prepared for the completely new look, layout, and features. The new Facebook Page layout looks like the new personal Facebook Timeline pages with space on top for a large banner and a more personalized feel. Some small businesses are already excited about the new format while others aren’t so prepared to make the switch.
Here are some things to look forward to with the Facebook Timeline change:
- Space for a large cover photo. One of the biggest changes to the new Facebook Page format is the cover photo section. This 810-pixel wide image is the perfect place to showcase your company logo or share an eye-catching picture. You’ll still have space to add a profile picture but that picture will be much smaller. Be creative with the image you choose as your cover photo — it could be a before and after transformation, a shot of your staff, or something else that makes your practice stand apart from others in your industry.
- You can operate as a brand. You can now have a Facebook “identity” that is based on your Facebook Page. You can send and receive messages, post comments, and “Like” items as your practice — instead of having to maintain your admin profile. This can make it much easier to communicate with fans directly as a brand or business.
- No more landing tabs. If you invested time and money in setting up a landing tab on your Facebook Page, you won’t need it any longer. Facebook has done away with tabs altogether so you won’t have any type of “gate” to encourage “Likes” and cannot set up any creative landing pages. This means you’ll have to work that much harder to engage your fans, build your audience, and use creative posts and incentives to lure in more fans.
- You can fill out your company history. Another promising feature of Timeline is, in fact, the timeline. You can tell your company’s story by filling out key details or highlights such as major milestones, founding dates, and other information.
- You can highlight important posts. Not all of your posts will be in chronological order because Facebook will only show a summary of some of the most popular posts to the casual visitor. You can, however, highlight important posts so that they can be pushed to the top and will always be visible.
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Have questions about Facebook marketing and other online marketing options for your practice? Talk to one of our PracticeDock online marketing specialists today!
More content you may be interested in:
- U.S. Tops the List of Most Plastic Surgery Procedures Performed in the World
- How Doctors are Using Social Media to Connect with Patients
- Need Help Marketing Your Practice Online?
- Train Your Staff to Secure More Appointments with Call Tracking
- How Patients Leverage Technology to Find Healthcare Providers
How Doctors are Using Social Media to Connect with Patients
Mar 15th
If one of your business goals is to launch a successful social media marketing campaign, make sure you’re using social marketing tools and strategies that get the most results.
Plastic surgeons and doctors around the country are now tapping in to the benefits of social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and blogs to connect with patients and round out their marketing strategy. From running sweepstakes to hosting live chats with a group of patients, there are several different ways to market to patients and generate new leads.
Here are a few ideas to consider for your social media marketing strategy:
Facebook Sweepstakes
Florida-based plastic surgeon Dr. Paul Wigoda ran a successful Facebook sweepstakes in September 2011. Dr. Wigoda is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and also the chief of plastic surgery at Broward General Hospital. The sweepstakes involved asking patients to “Like” the practice Facebook page within a two-week period so they could be automatically entered to win a $250 gift card towards a nonsurgical procedure and be featured on the doctor’s plastic surgery and beauty blog. Runners up received a Victoria’s Secret gift card. You could host something similar with a gift card for services.
Twitter Activities
If you are posting to a blog regularly or are online at least once per day, consider using Twitter to reach out to patients and share your content. Twitter can be a great way to generate some buzz about your practice, post links to your blog, and also share other links of interest. You do need to be very consistent with Twitter or it won’t be effective. Post something regularly, retweet other people’s posts, and engage your followers as often as possible. Twitter can be a branding tool by keeping you at the “top of mind” of many of your patients.
Blog Posts
Many practices now have a blog attached to their website where they post information about events, special offers, or industry highlights. Add a blog to your website so that patients have some fresh content to read and enjoy. Blog posts can be shared and also generate some buzz about your practice. Just make sure to post them to Facebook and Twitter as well so that prospective patients end up clicking back to your site.
Need help marketing your practice online? Talk to one of our PracticeDock online marketing specialists today!
More content you may be interested in:
- U.S. Tops the List of Most Plastic Surgery Procedures Performed in the World
- Need Help Marketing Your Practice Online?
- Train Your Staff to Secure More Appointments with Call Tracking
- How Patients Leverage Technology to Find Healthcare Providers
- How to Make a First Impression that Attracts More Patient Leads
How Patients Leverage Technology to Find Healthcare Providers
Mar 8th
Have you ever wondered how patients go about choosing their doctors and making their healthcare decisions? Before the Internet, the decision-making process was relatively simple. Most patients chose doctors who were close to their home, or selected those who were referred to them by friends, family members, or colleagues. Word-of-mouth marketing is even more powerful today thanks to social media and the Web, but patients now also taking the time to peruse medical websites, read doctor blogs, and looking at ratings and reviews sites for information about various service providers in their area.
Appature created the infographic below to illustrate exactly what methods patients use to find a doctor, and how many of these patients are using social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter to seek out more information. Results of an October 2010 eMarketer Study show that there were approximately 1,220,000 global monthly searches for the keyword “physicians” and that 27,200,000 websites appeared on a Google search for the keyword “find a doctor”.
Reviewing the information below can give you a good idea of how active many of your patients really are online, and what types of resources patients are tapping into in order to find you. (Click on image for larger version.)
Need help marketing to patients online? Talk to one of our PracticeDock online marketing specialists today!
More content you may be interested in:
- Top 5 Things Doctors Forget to Do After Spending Money on Marketing
- U.S. Tops the List of Most Plastic Surgery Procedures Performed in the World
- Need Help Marketing Your Practice Online?
- Train Your Staff to Secure More Appointments with Call Tracking
- How to Make a First Impression that Attracts More Patient Leads
Top 5 Things Doctors Forget to Do after Spending Money on Marketing
Mar 1st
Whether you’re investing a few hundred or a few thousand dollars into your practice marketing projects, you’re probably expecting some sort of return within a few weeks. While some marketing strategies can deliver instant results, the majority require a long-term commitment and ongoing efforts.
There are very few “hands off” marketing methods that actually work for doctors and practices. We work with doctors across all specialties and found that many forget about some key steps right after executing their marketing campaign.
Here are five things doctors forget to do after spending money on marketing:
- Forgetting to ask for the source. Whatever marketing method you choose — whether it’s online advertising, television, radio, or direct marketing — make sure to ask the client “Where did you find us?” or “How did you hear about us?” Doing this consistently will give you a good idea of what types of marketing methods are working and which are not.
- Ignoring potential customers. Even when someone contacts your office to ask a question, you have to treat them like they are a potential customer. If they decide not to get a procedure for themselves, they probably know at least five people who are looking for a doctor. Maintain a high level of customer service so you keep attracting the right types of clients.
- Forgetting to capture contact information. Even when someone isn’t booking a treatment or procedure, it’s essential that you capture their name, email address, phone number, and even mailing address so you can follow up with them at a later date. You must keep populating that marketing database with current and potential client information. Once you have these, you have to follow data protection rules and make sure you’re not just “spamming” your contacts. Always give these contacts the option to “opt out” of future promotions.
- Overlooking the value of email marketing. Email marketing is one of the most powerful ways to nurture patient leads and will also support your branding efforts. Be consistent with your email campaigns so you can generate some high-quality leads for a relatively low cost.
- Forgetting to ask for a referral. Always take the time to ask a satisfied patient for a recommendation, online review, or even a referral. This is one of the most effective ways to increase your client base and ultimately, build your business.
Need help with your practice marketing campaign? Talk to one of our PracticeDock marketing specialists today!
More content you may be interested in:
- 5 Ways to Make an Email Newsletter Your Best Sales Tool
- U.S. Tops the List of Most Plastic Surgery Procedures Performed in the World
- Need Help Marketing Your Practice Online?
- Train Your Staff to Secure More Appointments with Call Tracking
- How to Make a First Impression that Attracts More Patient Leads
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