Making Social Media Work For Your Practice Movies are being made about it. Your kids live on it, with their computers and their phones. Your favorite stores offer specials just for being a ‘friend’ or following them on it. Social Media. Unless you have been living under a rock, you have heard something about it. So what does it mean for your business? Social Media has become the way to socialize with your friends, neighbors, family and strangers thousands of miles away. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, YELP, Digg… The list can become quite long and confusing. What you need to know is this: Your prospective patients are using social media to socialize, but they are also using it as a tool to help them choose where to shop and what to buy. We are starting a new year and social media is going to be a major part of your success (or demise). Social Media has opened the doors for everyone to be a critic and given them a large, public platform from which to broadcast their opinions. One bad experience from your business could be broadcast to hundreds of people in your community within a matter of minutes. By the same token, good comments from your patients should also be posted as a means of encouraging others to improve their vision. A few things to consider when building up your social media networks: Know your networks. Just like you should know your target patient (audience), you should know which social networks you should be on and how they differ. There are a multitude of social networks out there. Some are going to be great for all generations. Some will be only beneficial for certain procedures. Be active. The first step to being seen on social media is to post or tweet. Due to the algorithms, you need to frequently post (daily is recommended) in order for your posts to be seen by your followers. Keep it social. Social media is just that, social. Your audience doesn’t come here to buy, they come to socialize. Yes, people are becoming more and more influenced by social media (friends recommendations, sponsored posts, videos, etc) but you want to keep a healthy mix of sales posts to engaging or fun posts. Engage. Know what people are saying about your practice and engage in the conversation. If they are commenting on your posts or leaving reviews, make sure your practice is responding. Expand your reach. Your social reach may not be that great to start with. That’s why you need to incorporate some advertising like Geofencing or Sponsored Posts. Reach your target audience. If you need help with your social media or simply just don’t have time for it, we can help. Schedule a meeting to discuss our social media plans.