Five Ways To Manage A Social Media Campaign
1. Secure your name on the social media sites.
We know this has a huge benefit for search engine optimization. We know LinkedIn currently comes up number one under searches for people on it. We know that Twitter, whatever you may think about it, has a big search engine benefit. You should go out, button up your practice name, plant your flag, and then come back. Do it before somebody squats on it. Do it on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. It doesnt take long. We know that is going to have a long term search engine benefit. You will be more easily found. Period.
2. Always start and point back to your website.
Whatever marketing craziness you cook up on the web, make sure youre ALWAYS pointing back to your website. Your website is your core property. Your website is your home. You own your website. You dont own Facebook. You dont own any of the other stuff. You own your website.
The more you create links back to your website, the more value you are creating for your website and the more equity youre building. If you buy a Laser, make sure you get in their directory and point back to your site. Get listed on their Facebook page and point to your site. If youre a member of an association, make sure you point back to your website. Theres big value there and its an efficient thing to focus your energy on. Your website is your most valuable online asset.
3. Create News.
Make sure youre thinking about your practice in terms of newsworthy and time sensitive events. Events, specials and promotions are the things that social media really picks up well. Youll get more traction, more quickly. Youll get more followers. Youll get more people interested in it. Its plain old better content. It also makes it OBVIOUS what to talk about on your website and social media campaigns. The keeps you from spending a lot of time composing articles and keeps you focused on the profit centers. If you get a great new outcome, thats news! If you just got back from the AACD, thats news! Treat everything like its important and your writing for social media will become much quicker, more fun to read and more efficient.
4. Build a list of patients and prospects.
If you currently let people walk out of your practice without getting their e-mail, thats really, really stupid. Email is how you add people to your Facebook campaign. Email is a no cost way to communicate with your prospects and patients. An email list of your patients would, by definition, contain all your word of mouth referrals. Create a VIP list and cultivate it. Everything you do should grow this VIP list. Direct mail costs about $2.50 per person and theyre a bunch of unknowns in a zip code. Based on that, the value of a list of 1000 targeted people that you owned? At LEAST $2500.00 every time you sent out ANYTHING. Email is probably the most effective and least expensive way to touch your patients and prospects.
5. If you think its stupid, stop doing it.
Is your marketing creating a ton of work? Then stop doing that! Follow your gut and your instincts. If you think Twitter is the dumbest thing ever, dont do it. Improving your search engine positions makes sense. Building a list of local people makes sense. Doing something crazy because some website developer/barista told you to? That makes no sense. Follow your intuition and your gut because if you dont sincerely believe in it, it isnt going to work anyhow. Always ask: Whats the legitimate business goal? Thats the big thing to think about as you embark on a social media campaign.
