Socialize Your Practice to Success: American Academy of Audiology Practice Management Resources. Learner objectives. Recorded November 14, 2012

Transcription

1 Socialize Your Practice to Success: The Next Step November 13, 2012 Kayce A. Bramble, AuD HearUSA American Academy of Audiology Practice Management Resources Reaching Physician's CD May is Better Hearing Month The BEST Guide to Marketing for Audiologists State Licensure Information on Audiology Assistants Tip of the Month Practice Management Articles Practice Development Tools Resource Library Learner objectives Describe the benefits of social media in marketing the audiology practice. Create a Blog, Youtube and Twitter account Demonstrate how to post educational, relevant, and interactive content to the Blog, Youtube and Twitter accounts Describe how to gain followers for the blog, youtube and twitter. 1

2 Don t reinvent the wheel Just Google it Look at your colleagues Check out the manufacturers View the professional organizations Hire someone else to do it for you What is Social Media? Social media includes web based and mobile technologies used to turn communication into interactive dialogue Familiar: Facebook, twitter, Youtube, and blogger Less familiar: wordpress, Google plus, digg, ehow, pinterest, stumbleupon, and flickr Why do Audiologists need to use social media? Social media users age 65+ grew 100 percent throughout 2010, so that one in four people in that age group are now part of a social networking site ( Facebook beats Google for weekly US traffic ( YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine ( Facebook users now top 750 million 2

3 Bottom Line A social media presence is an essential part of audiology practice marketing. Reaching out to prospective customers, building a rapport with them, lending an ear to their problems, and suggesting solutions is an effective social media marketing strategy that goes a long way in forging lasting customer relations. Social Media Marketing Two way communication Instant feedback and exchange of ideas Personal/social extension of your business & services Opportunity to build trust Enables us to demonstrate our value Key elements Blogging A blog (a portmanteau of the term web log) [1] is a discussion or informational site published on the World Wide Web and consisting of discrete entries ("posts") typically displayed in reverse chronological order (the most recent post appears first) ( 3

4 Goals of Blogging To increase your site's PageRank and SEO in order to appear higher up the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) To demonstrate skills and expertise in your niche To build a following of customers and potential customers to help drive revenue To increase your "reach" To drive traffic (i.e. social marketing) The Value of Blogging Differentiate your business, products and services Attract prospects and develop new business opportunities Promote your business through the Media and online Public Relations Act as a central element of your Search Engine marketing Research and Develop new Markets, Products or Niches Develop Communication channels to your market Help to enhance and build your visibility and brand Position Yourself as the Expert Improve Internal Communications What to consider when starting an Audiology Blog What do you want to do with your Blog? Who is your target audience for your Blog? What results are you looking to achieve? What Blogging software will you choose? How will you host it? What to name the Blog? Look and Feel of the Blog How will it integrate with your other marketing activities? Who will be blogging and how often? How to deal with comments? 4

5 Blogger or Wordpress Easy to set up Free Endless personalization options Posting is quick and easy Option to have professional design and paid hosting Link to your facebook page Blogger versus Wordpress Blogger Pros 100% free Extremely easy to setup and manage Publishing contents is straightforward. You can use your own custom domain name if you own one. Allows you to display ads like Amazon, Google AdSense etc. Built in social networking features. It s very reliable No need to backup databases. Posts are automatically indexed by Google. 100% ad free. Blogger Cons Only 1 GB storage. You don t own the blog. No FTP support. Wordpress (free version) Pros Simple to use once you learn to navigate. It s 100% free. It s very Search Engine friendly. No need to backup databases. Wordpress (free versions) Cons Frequent updates You don t own the blog. Not allowed to monetize your WordPress.com blog using Google AdSense, Amazon, banners etc. Limited support of themes and plugins. No FTP Access. Displays ads unless you buy opt for ad free version which costs $29.97 annually. How to create great blog content Speak in your own voice. Eliminate the marketing message from your content. Make your blog your education center to answer all of the questions your prospects and clients ask. Offer more articles for readers to look at examples. Add a call to action to help your readers learn more. Use the opportunity to shine Let someone else do it Incorporate Ecommerce 5

6 Content Ideas RSS Feeds Blog comments Community events Competitors blog comments Unique uses for your product or service Debunk a myth or misconception. Industry news Offer an overview of a recent study Write about how you re making changes to improve your service Try themed content for different days of the week Introduce your staff Blog Design Tips Fonts (2 3 max) Coordinating Colors (2 3 max) White Space is your friend Optimize Images Use only relevant images Change your template icons Minimize ads Simplify the navigation menu Make your links highly visible Use short paragraphs Place RSS newslink icon in a prominent location use photos to capture attention 6

7 Hearing Aid Blog Post Tinnitus Blog Post Hearing Aid Blog Post 7

8 How to Create a Blog User information Blog name Hosting (free or paid) Choose a theme (free or paid) Create a blog post Publish your post Wordpress Themes Blog Basics Keywords Tags and Categories Search Engine Optimization Backlinks More Words, Better Navigation, Less ads Plugins Widgets 8

9 YouTube YouTube is a video sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos To create an account you simply provide your identifying information, password, and you agree to their terms. Why You Should YouTube Video is 53 times more likely to get you on page one of a search. Creating original video content improves your SEO Video content is a powerful branding tool Huge potential to get your message in front of a wide audience Video content is quite easy and inexpensive to produce Video plays better on mobile devices YouTube Tips Create and Customize Your Channel Don t Overuse Annotations Add Subtitles Act To Remove Offensive Comments Engage With the YouTube Community Organize Your Content Don t Overlook Tags Promote Your YouTube Videos Elsewhere Keep it short and sweet SEO Tips: Use the most relevant Keywords for your business. Use the best possible Title for your video. Keep the Description of your video short and relevant (Max 27 characters). 9

10 Goals of YouTube Show off your expertise Share knowledge Market your products Connect with customers, colleagues and prospects Improve SEO YouTube Content Create content that meets a need Pay Attention to Production Value Optimize for YouTube Search Give the Viewers a Follow Up Action Let them Know Who You Are Testimonials How to videos Twitter Twitter is an online social networking service and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text based messages of up to 140 characters, known as "tweets ( Takes a minute or two to create an account and start tweeting 10

11 Why You should Tweet It s a megaphone for branding Can be used as a prospecting tool Twitter is the networking tool of today It s great for staying connected with your customers Considerations for Twitter Know your Target Market Build your Followers Tweet Regularly Engage your audience Twitter Content Just 140 characters, keep it simple Tweet links of interesting content with your own observations Link your blog and Facebook posts Re tweet relevant tweets Post questions for quick answers and answer others questions to establish your credibility and expertise Create links to your Web site or blog (don t over do it!) Keep up on the buzz in your industry Network with like minded people. 11

12 Twitter Tips Use Hashtags (#audiology) Combine platforms (syndicate your blog with twitter) Ask questions Tweet about others Always follow back Respond promptly Twitter Home Page Twitter Home Page 12

13 Social Media Cautions Patient Privacy (HIPAA) Professional/Personal Boundaries Gaining Followers Attach links everywhere Comment on relevant blogs and leave your links Invite patients and colleagues to follow your blog and twitter Follow similar blogs/twitter accounts Post some good tweets right before following someone else Complete your Twitter bio. Add your Twitter feed to your blog or to other social media profiles Reply to people you are following, especially if they re not yet following you. Add a youtube widget to you Blog Cross promote your social media sites Google Analytics Track traffic to your blog Visits, vistors, and page views Traffic sources Bounce rates Filters Social media reporting tools 13

14 Twitter Analytics Twitter Analytics The Archivist Twitonomy Tweetstats 14

15 YouTube Analytics Very similar to Google Analytics Summary report Data filter that allows you to filter reports by content, geography and date Interactive map that accompanies most reports, showing you the geographic distribution of the metric you re interested in Professional Help EducatedPatient.com Audiologymarketingnow.com HootSuite.com SproutSocial.com Tweetdeck.com Manage social media 15

16 Q&A To ask a question, please type your question into the chat box in the lower left corner of the screen and click on the Send button located right below the box. Resources to Socialize Your Practice to Success Practice Management Resources on AAA website: ault.aspx AMA social media policies: socialmedia.shtml 16