With over 110 million Americans actively using social networks (Anderson Analytics), there’s clearly a huge audience, but how can this benefit a medical practice? Here is a list of some of the many ways your practice can benefit from actively engaging in online social networking:
- Additional exposure to your brand – Whether you are trying to build your personal brand or the identity of your practice, these sites present additional opportunities to reach new people and get more exposure.
- Additional links to your website – These profiles live on the Internet and allow for you to place a link that leads directly to your website. This is a great way to drive additional traffic to your website.
- Additional search results for your name in Google and other search engines – Search engines index these profiles and include them in search engines and can appear when people search for your name and/or practice name. ‘Owning’ many search results for your name is a great preventative measure to controlling your reputation on the web.
- Professional networking – LinkedIn allows you to network with other professionals around the country and become more of an authority in your field by responding to questions posed in groups.
- Great way to market to existing patients – Once you do some networking and build up a following, these profiles give you the power to keep your face in front of your patients. Each time you post a topic it shows up in their ‘Feed’ when they login to the social networking website.
- Ability to bring in more referrals - When existing patients and others follow you on Facebook or Twitter, their followers may see this and choose to follow you as well. This can build up your following and ultimately bring in more referrals.
- Quick and easy way to broadcast messages to your audience – Since most of the messages broadcasted on these services are vey short, it only takes a few seconds to send one out.
- Market your blog – Facebook allows for automatic importing of your blog feed so every time you post on your blog, it goes right on to your Facebook profile and sends updates to your followers. Twitter allows you to send links in your messages which can point out to your blog posts or any other page on your website.
- Powerful ability to search for people that discuss a certain topic in your area – Twitter has a location-based search function so you can find people, for example, who mentioned the word ‘dentist’ within a 15 mile radius of Elmont, NY. This allows you to find a locally targeted audience to attempt to build relationships with. Once they choose to ‘follow’ you, they will instantly see the messages you broadcast from that point forward.
- Connect with people at a low cost - A large audience such as this is clearly a marketing opportunity, but the biggest benefit is the ability to connect with people at a low cost. The only true cost is the time involved, so if someone on your staff has the available time, you can invest that time into something that can increase your business.
Let Us Help Your Practice Experience These Benefits Firsthand!
MyAdvice is offering a service where we will set up profiles for you on the top four social networking websites. This saves you the setup time so you can quickly join the conversation and start building your networks. Get started with social networking today!
