Social Media Marketing & Your Practice

Quite a few clients have contacted us about social media and how to use that for their practice. Below you will find a Cliffs Notes version of how we instruct chiropractors on leveraging each social media channel.

LinkedIn.com

A professional networking site, LinkedIn.com is an effortless way to get your name known in your community.

How it works: You set up a profile, detailing your work experience and credentials. Then, cyber-network with your contacts. In the search box in the upper right simply enter the name of your contact. Once located, click “Add to Network.” Over time, you will build a valuable network of professionals.

Benefits: Allows the user to keep up-to-date on your activities, even if you don’t interact with them regularly. It also allows you to remain top-of-mind with a dispersed, but interested group of people.

Advanced Use: LinkedIn.com has several functions for the advanced and enthusiastic user. You can cultivate recommendations from peers, update your status to promote activities or answer on Linkedin Answers a question related to your field of knowledge. Lastly, join LinkedIn groups if you intend to be an active participant in your field.

Twitter

How it works: You send outgoing messages or links in 140 characters or less.

Benefits: Twitter allows you to share media – of any sort – with a captive audience. It also allows sharing your thoughts or impressions of your expertise, community and general interest.

Advanced Use: The best way to gain a following is to “follow” people. Then they become aware of your activities. When you see a message, or “tweet,” you can ReTweet (or RT) this to your followers. Most tweeters love having their message RT’d – so it garners goodwill in the micro-community.

Facebook Fan Pages

Watch our video on using Facebook to market your chiropractic practice

How it works: Your practice sets-up a presence, or page, on facebook.com. You encourage “fans” to receive practice updates on their customized home page. Your practice posts news, info, and other interesting tidbits related to your field of knowledge.

Benefits: Your fans stay up-to-date on your practice and news in your field.

Advanced Use: Maintaining a facebook.com fan page takes commitment. It is recommended that you update your “status” once a day. While this garners loyal patients, many practices find the investment of time too much. If having and updating a facebook.com fan page suits you, you can “suggest a fan” though networks and even advertise, inexpensively, based on your geographic location and other criteria.

Blogs

How it works: You establish a blog, which is like a newspaper column you pen, and update it weekly. You share and reflect on the latest trends in your field, opine about them, and then include a marketing message to get patients in your practice.

Benefits: Blogs help establish thought leadership, or local expertise. They are also spectacular for showcasing your personality if penned well. Blogs may be posted to your website and give a prospective patient or lawyer a glimpse of you and your specialties.

Advanced Use: Blogs require commitment. As the saying goes, “No pain, no gain.” It is recommended that you update your blog with a new posting once a week, at least. Once you have committed blog content can be spread on all social media properties. You can post the link on your Facebook.com fan page, send a tweet with the link on Twitter.com, and update your status on LinkedIn.com.

Yelp

How it works: Yelp.com is a website, or forum, were patients and consumers review local businesses.
Consumers pen a review, and apply a star-rating to their experience at your practice. Patients who are seeking a chiropractor visit Yelp.com, and enter their search criteria.

Then a list of returns is offered. They can refine results by adding criteria. Either way, the number of stars is present on the search results. Prospective patients will read reviews. If good, they will usually call with an appointment.

Benefits: Consumers trust other consumers more than businesses – this site enables consumer to consumer reviews, and has significant site traffic. There is the possibility of getting a lousy review, but it is minimal, provided you run an upstanding practice. At the very least, list your practice on yelp.com
Advanced Use: Once your profile is on the site, you can send requests to patients or business colleagues to review you and your practice on the site. These reviews will be served up to any yelp.com searcher.