As we stated in part 1 of this article [April 2017 issue], the question isn’t, “Should you have a digital marketing campaign?” it’s, “How do you create one and manage it while running your practice?” Let’s finish our discussion with tips 8-14 on our digital marketing checklist.
8.Get Someone to Oversee Your Digital Marketing
It’s crucial to have a dedicated person in your practice oversee your digital marketing. We can’t stress this point enough. The effectiveness of your digital marketing will be directly related to the consistency and quality of your content. Ensure one person oversees the process and follows your strategic plan.
9. Work a Minimum of 30 Days Out
Being ahead of the game reduces stress and ensures accuracy. Make sure your emails and blogs are written ahead of time, allowing you to have them edited by another set of eyes. Schedule out your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn posts ahead of time and then “like,” share and address comments daily. If you miss a day, it isn’t the end of the world because you’ve already developed a “scheduled presence.”
10. Utilize Scheduling Tools
We are a fan of Hootsuite to schedule and monitor social media posts, but there are myriad other scheduling tools out there. Depending on the platform, some will give you monthly metrics reports. Most will allow you to post to multiple platforms, like / share / comment on individual platforms, and schedule posts months in advance.
11. Implement, Monitor and Control
Digital marketing is meant to be social and “now,” not “set it and forget it.” Ideally, you need to monitor your accounts daily. If you aren’t getting the engagement you want, go back to your editorial and content calendars (discussed in part 1).
What should you adjust? Are your email open rates not what you want? Adjust your subject lines or send time of day. Not getting the engagement you want on Facebook? Switch it up – add more verbiage or images.
12. Use Platform Insights to Understand Your Followers
Tools such as Google Analytics and Facebook Insights will help you to really understand where your marketing is working and where it isn’t. It will also show you who is engaged with your content. Compare that to your patient personas (target client profile) – are they a match?
If the majority of your website visits are coming from millennial users and you aren’t targeting them specifically in your other forms of marketing, you are missing a potential revenue base.
13. Consider Adding Paid Advertising
With the advent of ad blockers, paid banner ads aren’t nearly as effective as they historically have been. For health care providers, we recommend using sponsored or boosted Facebook posts. They are fairly inexpensive and can be geo (location) targeted. According to Pew Research’s “Social Media Update 2016,” 68 percent of all U.S. adults use Facebook – it’s worth the investment!
14. Don’t Rule Out Hiring Outside Help
Be it a writer, digital marketing agency or even an intern to help with logistics, hiring outside assistance may be the way to go. Health care providers need to focus on patients and what they do best. Spending hours trying to write a blog post that you could pay an expert less than $100 to produce is simply not worth your time and won’t bring you return-on-investment (ROI) value. Time is money – use it wisely. But if writing is your thing and you’ve got the time, then pen away!
Your Plan: Bring It All Together
Plan the plan and work the plan. Analyze the results and compare against your expectations. Adjust your thinking and approach to bring about your desired results. As with any strategic initiative, your efforts will be reflected in your results.
Rob Berman is a partner at Berman Partners, LLC, a medical device sales, service and marketing company. He has held a variety of marketing roles during his career. Rob can be contacted by phone at 860-707-4220 or by email at [email protected]. His company website for new lasers is www.bermanpartners.com and for used lasers www.usedlasercenter.com.
Cindy Donaldson is president and CEO of Red Barn Consulting, a strategic marketing, sales and business operations consulting firm. Contact her at 860-469-8090 or [email protected].
