Merchant Processing Services

In this digital age, if you’re not taking advantage of a variety of online opportunities, then you’re really missing out. It’s no longer good enough just to have a website—though forgoing a website is also a mistake.

Patients want to be able to have questions answered via Facebook or watch videos about your practice on YouTube. And they want you to be easily findable on the web. We spoke to marketing expert Jody Raines, president of WebMarCom.net, an internet strategy and marketing firm, to find out the top three mistakes you may be making online. 

Thinking Facebook is for fun. We’ve covered the importance of social media heavily, but we also know that many of you still aren’t taking advantage of the opportunity. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter aren’t just for socializing—they’re prime opportunities to interact with patients and to grow your practice. “We’re getting to the point where if you don’t have a Facebook page, consumers may actually think you don’t exist,” says Raines. “Social media is also another way to be found on the web. If someone is Googling you, one of your social media pages will likely pop up in the search.”

But it’s not just Facebook. There’s also LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and now Google + Pages. Why not take advantage of all of them? They play off one another and are all great opportunities to reach patients in different ways. Make a point to link all of these outlets together. Perhaps a potential patient found your website and then did a search for you on Facebook. Now he wants to watch a video on YouTube to get an idea of what the practice looks like before he ever steps foot inside. All of these opportunities can be linked together—and all of them help create patient trust and appreciation before they ever even visit you.

Also think of the cost—or lack thereof. It used to be quite expensive to put together a marketing campaign but these types of services are free. “With the advent of social media—outlets like Twitter or Facebook—the playing field has now been leveled,” says Raines. “Small businesses now have the opportunity to compete with big ones. It’s no longer so much about what kind of budget you have but about how you engage with your customers.”

Failing to put the time in. While these types of online opportunities can be extremely beneficial, they can also be time consuming so it’s important to put together a social media plan. Companies that effectively use social media tools aren’t just making random posts. They have a goal and a plan in mind, says Raines. Many also have a person that’s dedicated to doing that work. Decide who is going to handle your practice’s social media outlets and make sure the “voice” is consistent. If different people are making posts, make sure that it still sounds like it’s coming from one company voice. Often just having a single person handle it for consistency sake is easier.

You also have to realize it’s not enough just to have the pages. Once you create social media accounts you must actively maintain them. It’s worse to have an existing but inactive Facebook page than to not have one at all. It creates a sense of poor customer service—perhaps before they’ve ever even walked through your doors. “If you’ve created a Facebook page or twitter account but aren’t responding to your customers’ posts or questions, they’re going to get frustrated,” warns Raines. 

In making sure that your practice is getting plenty of time in the social media spotlight—and getting the right kind of attention—you might also want to consider a social media policy. This is a hot topic right now as many companies are pondering exactly how they want social media to be handled at work. “Some companies are coming up with policies that are very restrictive and say their employees should not be using social media while at work or mentioning anything about work in their posts,” says Raines. “Other companies are viewing it as an opportunity and saying that everyone that works there is an ambassador for the company and is encouraged to post about work—and even make posts while at work. They believe the more people participating in the ‘conversation,’ the better. In the end it really depends on the company and their comfort level with social media as well as their employees that are using it.” 

Forgetting your website. While we’ve certainly pushed social media hard, it would be a huge mistake to forget about your website. Social media is a wonderful complement to your website, but it’s not a replacement. After all, most patients will likely find your website first—and then look for you on Facebook (though there is evidence that more and more consumers are using Facebook as another search engine tool!).

Raines says that building all of your marketing efforts on someone else’s platform is a definite error. A Facebook page alone is simply not good enough. “Having a social media account is definitely important but one day you may need to start all over, even after investing lots of time and energy into your Facebook page,” she says. “Mark Zuckerberg could wake up tomorrow and change the rules. Having all your information on someone else’s platform always puts you at risk. That’s why you should also have your own site that you have total control over.”

Of course you also need to consider how patients will find your website. Search engine optimization means ensuring your site is getting picked up by search engines. “For example, you may have some beautiful photos on your site, but those are not read by search engines so you need to think about also having the right text on your site,” says Raines. “You need to think about the kinds of words your customers might be using to search for you.”

That also means making sure your website isn’t too bogged down with jargon that your patients wouldn’t use. “Your potential customers might be searching for your product or service but not using the technical lingo for it,” explains Raines. “Make sure you have some keywords on your site that will make you ‘findable’ to them.” 

While all of this can seem daunting or overwhelming, taking it one step at a time is the smartest approach. If you’re missing out on some of these online opportunities don’t jump in head first and start up all your accounts at once. Instead start with one and work on maintaining it regularly. If you’re struggling, you may want to consider an online marketing consultant or social media expert. Or simply do some online research about developing a social media campaign and maintaining your website. There’s plenty of good information out there. Fortunately, as these types of opportunities continue to grow, so do the resources available to support you in using them.

Lindsey Getz