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Social media is one of the easiest ways to reach new and existing patients—so what are you waiting for?
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There are more than
140 million users of Facebook. Chances are you may be
one of them. But are you using Facebook and other
forms of social media to promote your business or just
for fun? If you’re only using it for the latter, you
may be missing out on a great opportunity.
The fact is that even if you’re not using social
media, your patients probably are. In these tough
economic times where literally every person in the
door counts, why not try to connect with your patients
on a closer level by reaching them through social
media sites like Facebook.
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Modern Eye Care of Afton Village in Concord,
North Carolina has done just that. The practice has its own
Facebook page which is maintained regularly by Sheelah
Eller, an optometry technician. “We use Facebook for
marketing,” she explains. “We try to get everyone to
sign up to be our ‘friends.’ Then their friends can also
see our page and when they need an eyecare provider, may
think to use us. It’s just another tool to reach more
people.” In fact, Eller says that a few patients have said
they found the practice through its Facebook page.
Modern Eye Care also uses the site to post their different events. It’s essentially free advertising! “We had a trunk show and used Facebook to promote it,” Eller says. “And if we have any specials going on, such as a ‘Back to School’ sale on lenses, we’ll announce it on Facebook as a way to get the word out to the public.”
Kresyln Barron Odum, OD, of Family Eye Care in Sandersville, Ga., also uses her business’ Facebook page to keep her patients updated. She posts specials, discounts, and events on the office’s page. “We also post lots of photos of what we do to give back to the community,” she says.
Fresh in Patients’ Minds
Many have said that Facebook is one of the best ways to keep your practice fresh in patients’ minds. Most users visit sites like Facebook almost daily, and if they’re going on a trip and need a new pair of sunglasses or broke a pair of frames, they’ll be more likely to turn to your practice than the mall if you are fresh in their minds. However, in order to keep your page fresh, it’ll have to be maintained regularly. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to be a lot of work. It can be as simple as posting a few thoughts, several times a week. Eller says that she hasn’t found Facebook to be very time consuming. She just blocks out a little bit of time to do some updating to the office’s page.
Each time you make a post, it keeps your page pulled up and more visible to others. Justin Bazan, OD, owner of Park Slope Eye in Brooklyn, N.Y., does this by posting interesting content in order to generate discussion. He hopes that some of the educational information he posts will pique his patients’ interest. He also uses it as a way to answer some of his patients’ quick questions.
Eller also posts little tidbits and interesting facts on a regular basis. For instance, around press time she posted:
“The eye is the only part of the human body that can function at 100 percent ability at any moment, day or night, without rest. Your eyelids need rest, the external muscles of your eyes need rest, the lubrication of your eyes requires replenishment, but your eyes themselves ‘never’ need rest. But please rest them!”
Eller says that making regular little postings keeps patients interested and also keeps the practice’s name out there. And she says it’s fun to share some interesting and educational information about eyecare that patients may actually benefit from.
Of course the whole purpose of Facebook is to “connect” with others, and that’s one of the biggest benefits of using it for business. Barron Odum says that working in a small community, Facebook has been particularly helpful in reaching out to locals. “It’s a great way to connect with the local children and teens,” she says. “And as Facebook has grown, the parents have joined too. So now I reach even more people!”
She adds that she’s become a very active user of the site. Her patients can count on regular updates and even photos. And all of that has helped generate interest in her practice. “Facebook is more than I could have ever hoped for,” she says. “It continues to help me grow my practice. Everyone knows that they better come dressed to pick up their glasses or to an event because they will be on Facebook!”
What to Know
New users to Facebook may not realize that a business’ Facebook page differs from an individual’s profile. According to Facebook, “Profiles” represent individuals while “Pages” allow an organization or business to maintain a professional presence. One of the big differences between a personal profile and a professional page is that you can’t just reach out to “befriend” people like you can with profiles, explains Eller. The individual has to reach out to you first, by saying they “Like” you (a form of Facebook lingo that essentially just means they’re linking to your page). This can make it tricky to reach out to clients, but Eller has found a successful method. “We keep a Facebook sign up sheet in the office where patients can provide their information,” she explains. “Since you can’t seek out friends through a professional page, we use a personal profile to make contact and then suggest that they become a fan of our professional page. This has helped us get more fans of our page. Otherwise, if we aren’t the ones making contact, our patients may forget to look us up.”
While advertising and other marketing tools can cost a bundle, one of the best things about Facebook is that it doesn’t cost a dime. And it’s no doubt a simple way to connect with existing and new patients. Barron Odum raves: “It’s super easy and user-friendly. Anyone can do it—and best of all it’s Free!”
In a day when everything costs money—what more can you ask for than that?
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