Although many doctors are eager to dive into social media marketing since it is so big right now, it’s essential for them to take precautions. Social media marketing can be very effective if you go into it with a plan. Without a plan, however, you could spend hours on end perusing profiles and posting updates without achieving any results whatsoever. To ensure that the time you spend on social media marketing websites benefits your medical practice, keep the following do’s and don’ts of social media marketing for medical professionals in mind.

Do’s:

Remember that social media websites offer a space for you to engage in authentic dialogue. If you treat social media solely as a method for pushing your promotional messages, you will end up wasting your time.

Create a social media marketing plan that includes goals, objectives, and success measures. Social media marketing is a credible medical marketing strategy and should be treated as such.

Social media marketing may be cheaper than some traditional marketing methods, but it’s not free. You have to invest time, money, and most importantly, human capital, if you want your strategy to succeed. You will only get as much out of your campaign as you put into it.

Monitor what’s being said about your organization or clinic, and respond whenever necessary. It’s important to monitor what is being said about you so you can patch up any problems that arise before they become major.

Include important keywords in your social media profiles so people who are searching for information in your niche will find your social media profiles via major search engines.

Take the time to listen to what people are talking about on various social networks prior to contributing to ensure that you’re familiar with unwritten rules and the way things work.

Make sure you are fully familiar with the benefits, as well as the limitations, of social media marketing prior to launching your social media-based medical marketing campaign, so you can plan your strategy with them in mind.

Do research to ensure that your target audience uses the social networks you are targeting. It will be a waste of time for you to engage in social media marketing if you don’t use the right social networks. For example, you probably won’t have much luck marketing a medical practice on Myspace. However, you may have more luck marketing a medical practice on Facebook because it attracts a wider range of users, including older users.

Update frequently. People don’t like social media users who don’t update their profiles regularly. The most successful social media users are the ones who frequently update their profiles. If you don’t have time to use social media all day, automate your social media marketing system somehow.

Tell your patients about your social media presence. For example, you can add your Twitter page’s URL to your email signatures and business cards to encourage your patients to connect with you online. Furthermore, when you conduct presentations at conferences, you can advertise your practice’s social media profiles, which will help you network with other medical professionals online.

Don’ts:

Don’t build a social media marketing campaign for your medical practice without having a solid website first. It’s important to provide a link back to your main website on all of your social media profiles in order to build credibility and visibility. Social media regulars tend to distrust users who do not have their own websites.

Don’t try to accumulate thousands upon thousands of friends and followers on social media networks. Quality reigns over quantity in social media. What’s the point of having thousands of followers if only two of them listen to a word you have to say? 30 followers who hang on to your every word are worth more than 30,000 who don’t even pay attention to your updates.

Don’t expect to achieve results overnight. It could take weeks or even months for your medical practice to achieve results from a social media marketing campaign.

Don’t get too personal in your updates. Unless you are Paris Hilton, most people probably won’t care about what you watched on TV or how much you love your new red shoes. Keep things professional, but don’t be afraid to mix in the occasional personal update either, so your social media friends can get to know you better.

Don’t use different avatars on each social network. Your avatar is a large part of your branding, so make sure it is consistent across various social networks.

Don’t talk about a random slew of subjects. Make a short list of the topics you want to talk about in social media and stick to it. It’s important to establish a consistent branding image if you want to succeed in social media.

Don’t follow someone else’s social media marketing advice to a T. Learn the fundamentals, but then determine what works best for your medical practice through trial and error.

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About the Author:
JohnWhite is a medical marketing expert who works full time with health care providers to increase their visibility on the web space to get people connected with the Medical Professionals.
 
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Please Note... All links within articles are placed by their author-owners and not by this blog.Products with in those links may or may not be the best in the world.If it sounds too good to be true it could be a scam.Articles are posted for their info,ideas and or entertainment value only.

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When you’re running any kind of business, the budget often gets depleted by seemingly important things, sometimes overnight.  Suddenly there’s nothing left to market with.  Since marketing is everything, how do you consistently get your message to your audience without emptying your bank account? 

 Here are three very effective and low cost ways to get your name “out there” without breaking the bank.

1) Internet Article Marketing

One of the primary ways you can drive traffic to your Web site is position yourself as an expert on your subject. You can do this by writing articles.   

Article marketing simply means creating informational articles about a topic that is relevant to your audience, based on your keyword research.  You can then submit or post your articles to:

 -  online article directories,

 -  your blog,

 -  related business blogs

 -  your web sites.

Now, there are two options here:  You can write the articles yourself, or hire someone else to write the articles for you (with you as the author.)  The second option is good if you are pressed for time, but it will come with a fee, of course.

The hardest part about writing an article is just getting started.  There’s also a misconception that you must be a professional writer to do this; you don’t.

You will want to do a little research on tips to writing great articles, but don’t do too much.  Remember, you have something to say, and the best way to start is with a few sentences, on your topic.  Then formulate some tips by asking yourself questions.  For example: “How to Grow the Best Tasting Tomatoes,” or “5 Tips for Growing the Best Tomatoes.”

Start filling in the blanks, and before you know it, you will have your article.

Then, submit your articles to the major directories, at least three.  Once you have submitted several articles, you will be considered an authority, and will begin to attract an audience who is interested in your topic. From that point, there is a very good chance they will become leads for your business.

2) Online SEO Press Releases

Online SEO press releases are different from standard press releases. An online SEO press release is written so that keywords are scattered throughout the copy of the release. These press releases are then distributed online, posted on the business Web site, blog, etc., all with the purpose of driving traffic to your Web site and gaining a high position in the search engines.

Write your press release in third person, and submit it to a paid service such as PRWeb, or to various free distribution sites.

There are many “news worthy” things that happen in small businesses.  If you are not sure about what to include or how to do it, read other press releases, or you can out-source it.

3) Blogging

Business blogs are extremely important in your marketing.  Why?  They are the number one way to drive traffic to your Web site — which is traffic that you then have the opportunity to convert into a sale.

One of the reasons that blogs are so successful is because blogs are constantly updated with fresh content and search engines love fresh content. That means you have a higher ranking on the search engines organic side (the left) which you did not have to pay for.  Again, use keywords and build your posts around topics that your audience is interested in.  

Post to your blog two or three times per week.   Add images, videos, video blogging (also called “vlogs.”) Constantly ask yourself how you can help someone else solve their problem.  Then write about it. 

This will keep visitors (and the search engines) coming back to visit….your goal.

There are other low cost ways to market, but I have found that these three are highly effective and will get you on your way quickly.  You can either use any or all, but the key is to be consistent, and you will drive lots of high quality traffic to your site.

And the best part is that it won’t cost you anything except a little time!

Would you like to be shown more methods for driving massive traffic to your site without draining your bank account?
You’re invited to receive my newsletter, “Marketing Is An Art, Learn to Make It Yours.” 
 Here you will find user-friendly, creative tips and tricks for running a successful business from home, or anywhere.  Learn step by step different methods of marketing, and exactly how to put them in action. You’ll be able to use these methods to market anything, anywhere, on any budget.
To receive your 10 free issues, visit http://www.dianejdavis.com
Written by Diane J. Davis
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Please Note... All links within articles are placed by their author-owners and not by this blog.Products with in those links may or may not be the best in the world.If it sounds too good to be true it could be a scam.Articles are posted for their info,ideas and or entertainment value only.

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