Business to Business Marketing Strategies

It’s Time to Really Get to Know Your Customers, Choose Micro-targeting:Brainstorm some creative, original and unique business strategies because you will need profitable and small marketing subsets.

It is always essential to get to know the person you are speaking to. Without knowing who, you will never understand what it is that you need to discuss. Therefore, get to know your buyers because shoppers tend to buy things that are evidently important to them. Buyers want to purchase something that will help them or make them happy. Sometimes buyers will even buy on sentimental value. After all, the clientele is the reason why businesses are able to do what they do in the first place.

Paid Placements Are Here to Stay: Spend Your Money on the Right Content and Platform

B2B marketing teams are forced to invest in paid or sponsored placements in order to speak with businesses who are more difficult to reach than others. Additionally, social networks and large publishers have now invested their time in paid media rather than earned media. Social media outlets such as twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest have been offering sponsored content placements as well. Facebook made significant changes in late 2013, which has led to a 44 percent decrease in non-sponsored brand content. In order for your users to see your content on social networks, you have to pay. The days of being able to put it out there for free are over, and money is now becoming a major factor in the social aspect.

By 2020, Forrester predicts that 1 in 5 sales will result from data collected from wearable devices. Your challenge is to create a digital experience, fitting the preferences and needs of your audience.

Mobile Healthcare Marketing

It’s no secret that the present and future are going mobile in every way. This on-the-go trend and today’s way of life is only gaining popularity as more and more organizations and companies find a way to make their goods and services known through mobile portals such as smartphones.

Messages sent to mobile devices are meant to be immediate, precise and direct. These are short sweet notifications that are easily read while your consumer is food shopping, running around the office, or schlepping their kids to soccer practice. Your messages are with them whenever and wherever they go. This constant attachment to your consumer is a privilege that they give you and permission to contact them is very important and should never be abused.

With that being said, healthcare marketing in particular is increasingly on the rise. Patients find comfort in being able to directly communicate with their healthcare provider and visa versa. Becoming even more common are appointment reminders via email that go directly to your patient’s pocket. Also, apps, like the Apple iPhone health app let patients make reminders for medications, appointments, and any other healthcare needs.

Having your messages in the palm of your patients’ hands is essential. Doctors and especially large practices need to take advantage of the growing trend by making themselves available online in as many ways as possible. This may mean social media accounts such as  Facebook, twitter, and yelp. Of course when looking for healthcare professionals, recommendations are most common via word of mouth. A practice’s reputation is extremely influential and by creating an account on a reputation site specifically for healthcare like, health grades or vitals, you can get the extra boost and keep you in line or to help you surpass the competition.

If your practice is not going mobile there is a great percentage of patients being missed Most of these sites are free and should render great returns for your business. Don’t be locked out in the cold this winter, heat your practice up with new or refurbished online sources for your patients and stay connected!

Healthcare Marketing – Telling Your Story

In healthcare marketing, the art of storytelling is a powerful method of communication. In order to engage and attract new patients, a good-health story line is necessary. Sadly, it is a forgotten method inside the medical office.  The key to success is to tell your story from a different perspective.

Use the doctor as your storyteller because it is more easily remembered since he or she is the provider for it. Furthermore, it makes a stronger impression, and the weight of importance is greater. Use a benefit oriented story from the doctor when giving patients their instructions, for they are more likely to comply.

Patient-staff can better personally relate to each other more so than patient-doctor relations when storytelling from a patient-staff angle, for it increases the effect and value. Try to reinforce health or follow up care instructions when communicating via staff-patient. During the non-doctor encounters, incorporate positive attitudes and a narrative voice of the office because this is what patients pick up on. Make your presence warm and inviting.

In order to effectively communicate your brand message, communicating via story format is important. A benefit that results is the creating of referrals and sharing a positive story.

Tied to communicating the brand message is the actions, activities and patient-interactions within the office. From the provider’s unique medical training and experience, as a hypothetical example, it might be appropriate to link a particular story or message to how patients benefit. The benefits, for both patient and the practice, are significant, for truly effective storytelling often requires training, coaching and regular practice.

The Key to Successful Customer Service

A vital element in revenue and profitability is dependent upon your relationship with consumers of healthcare. To realize how healthcare’s new swing from provider-centric to patient-centric is much more significant than a smile and warm welcome, substitute “patient” for “customer” or “consumer.”

It is important to know that it is at least six to seven times more costly when acquiring a new customer as opposed to retaining an existing one. To increase profitability by 75 percent, a five-percent increase in consumer retention is necessary. 20 percent of existing customers will contribute to 80 percent of future revenue. Bain and Co., Gartner Group and Harris Interactive are respected companies in the corporate world where these statistics originate. Understanding these statistics is important to help master customer service. Linked to provider compensation, patient satisfaction must be achieved. Based on non-clinical values, patients will increasingly judge. In order to find better service, patients are more likely and more willing to change providers. What makes it or breaks it for the office is the staff, the office culture and other considerations, not just the doctor.

Invest in routine training that is culture-wide. Often, many practices don’t have enough training to deliver customer service adequately. Everyone can appreciate the importance of a quality service who has direct patient contact. An unbiased evaluation and proven methods can be delivered by an outside and independent resource.
The non-clinical considerations should be reviewed. Typically built around the provider or the business are the office operations, administration and functioning. Intangibles such as convenience of location, rapid appointment setting, office environment, operating hours, etc., are what patients’ biggest concerns are.

“Zero waiting” is key. Patients hone in on the sense of having to wait; on hold when calling, waiting for the first available appointment, waiting to see the doctor, waiting for lunch hour to be over, etc. What attracts new patients are offices with “after work” office hours, little or no waiting time and same day appointments.

The patient must be informed in a timely manner about delays, changes/improvements in the office routine, and lab reports. Similar steps and procedures that keep the patient informed should be implemented.

The unexpected must be integrated. The element of surprise is delivering quality customer service, something which is often overlooked. Exceed expectations and steer away from the norm.

What fuels referrals and recommendations is an unexpected WOW-effect that makes long lasting and positive impressions.

The New Trend: Telemedicine

These days, anyone with online access can receive an immediate consultation from a doctor or healthcare professional. There’s no appointment needed, no traveling or waiting involved, and no hassle. In addition, the standard insurance co-pay tends to be low and some employers may even cover the cost. This new trend of convenience and immediacy, called telemedicine, is becoming increasingly prominent, so it is sure to impact your health-care, practice or hospital marketing plan.

One example of how telemedicine is rising in prominence can be found in the plans for a new virtual care center in Missouri run by Mercy Telehealth Systems. This facility will house nearly 300 specialists, physicians, nurses, researchers and supporting staff. Thanks to this new virtual center, care can be delivered at any time on any day through video, audio as well as through data connections.

Another example of this trend comes from the test period that Google is running, where people who search for symptoms can be offered the chance to have a live video chat with a doctor. During this test period, there will be no cost involved and any communications will be “HIPAA-compliant.” This doctor-consultation feature is likely to move beyond the testing phase, and when it does it will become a very fertile business ground.

The Importance of a Good Reputation

More patients than ever are going online to research their doctor. According to a study from Pew Internet, 44% of patients are researching their doctor online before committing to them, and about one in five conducting research use physician-rating sites.

It's important for doctors to Google themselves at least once a week and be aware of what comes up, because that's exactly what their current and potential new patients are doing. Physicians don't want to be defined by a negative news story, or a bad review from an online physician-rating site, which is why it's important that they mange and take control of their online reputation before they send out a negative and inaccurate impression. There are important steps that physicians can take to ensure they are in charge of their reputation.

Have a Website: If a potential or existing patient searches for you or your practice and the only result is a third party site, you run the risk of the patient getting incorrect information or negative reviews. Having a professional and attractive website gives patients a look at what your practice represents, and offers useful and accurate information.

Get Social: Social media provides an effective medium for doctors to communicate with their patients. Being in control of how you and your practice are portrayed is important, but even more so is being able connect to patients on a personal level. It means a lot to patients when they can connect to their doctor or their practice on Facebook, Twitter or Google +.

Set Up a Google Alert: An easy way to monitor the information available about you online is to set up a Google alert for your name, or the name of your practice. With this alert, anytime you are mentioned online you will become immediately aware via an email to your desired account.

When you consider how online transparency has changed other industries, such as hotels, books, and movies, it's only a matter of time before the same change happens across the healthcare field.

Doctor Marketing Plan

First thing’s first, start over! Uproot what you’ve implemented, do some fresh research and start from the ground up. This may seem daunting and stressful but you may catch things you’ve missed in the past and hit new trends head on. Competition and patients have changed and are always going to but you must start with a plan! Without a plan your practice will go nowhere.

Know your strengths. There’s a lot of competition so know what you offer and what a patient needs to make your practice the optimal choice. Be SMART about your goals and objective. This acronym will spell out what you need in a comprehensive goal that is sound and worth reaching. A goal should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. You wouldn’t want to reach for a goal that could never be achieved, you need to know if you’re close to achieving it, and you need to know exactly what you’re hoping to achieve by setting this goal. Now that you’ve set a SMART goal your office needs to understand that this new goal will tap into your budget, no matter how much or little it is important to count this when discussing the target. Another helpful acronym to utilize is a SWOT analysis; this is simply strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This will help you get a better look at how well you are meeting your target and maybe let you see your practice from a different perspective or change your plan to meet this goal.

Back to a threat, look at your competition. Every practice, business and institution are different; although they are in the same field it is important not to copy another group because something is working for them. Instead, acknowledge what the competition is doing and not doing. See how that affects your business and where their strategies may be able to benefit your group. When branding it is essential to make your name stand out. The general public may not be familiar with the new direction healthcare marketing is going so it is imperative you try and make a name (brand) for yourself that the consumer can recognize and seek out.

Now you have a plan, a goal and you’ve looked at competition. How are you going to get your name out there? Referral marketing, internet marketing, branding, internal marketing, external marketing and public relations are how to do this. Word of mouth is a very powerful tool that most practices don’t have control of, therefore internal marketing and past patient experience can really help you build your brand. The internet and its marketing capabilities are the wave of the future so get yourself online and work on SEO whenever possible. Congratulations! You’ve met your goal. You’ve followed these important steps and your practice is going strong, what now? Keep an eye on your progress and remember to occasionally conduct a SWOT analysis to make sure your business is staying on point, or make a new goal!

Twitter Can Improve Your Marketing Efforts

 
With over 230 million active accounts and over 500 million tweets sent each day, Twitter is one of the largest social media platforms in the world. Twitter allows businesses to communicate with their customers instantly with the simple push of a button. While many businesses have tried to incorporate Twitter into their digital marketing programs, few have used this social media outlet to its full potential. It is vital for companies to maximize customer engagement if they wish to get the most from digital marketing.

Maximizing your presence on Twitter is key to expanding your exposure online. It is essential to create a Twitter handle that accurately represents your company and is easy for customers to remember. Make sure to include the important information about your business in a clear and concise way. You should include a concise bio about yourself and the company along with contact information. Potential customers should be able to find a wealth of information about your company with minimal effort.

Setting clear goals for your company’s digital marketing plan will help to ensure that you use Twitter effectively. Is the purpose of your Twitter account to increase awareness about your business? Is your goal to improve customer engagement? Determining what you hope to achieve by using Twitter can help steer you in the right direction when it comes to posting content.

While many people consider Twitter to be one of the most cost-effective marketing tools available, it should not replace your current marketing efforts. Using other social media outlets, such as Facebook or Instagram, along with Twitter will help to increase exposure and improve customer engagement.

Creating an effective strategy for social media marketing means making adjustments as they become necessary. If you make changes to your company, make sure your Twitter page reflects these changes. Monitor your customer’s responses on Twitter and take their suggestions seriously. If you follow these guidelines to using Twitter effectively you can reach your marketing goals.

Going Viral Digitally

Viral websites, like Upworthy, Buzzfeed, and ViralNova, are gaining traction– fast. As in, zero to one million visitors in under a year fast.  Content that resonates easily with its audience is far more likely to “go viral” and get liked, shared, commented on, re-tweeted, and blogged about. All of which increases your brand’s visibility. While getting your content to go viral is no easy task, as it is pretty much like hitting the lottery, there are several things you can do to increase the conversation about your brand.

Keep it simple. This doesn’t always mean short and sweet. With videos called ‘vines’ at a maximum of six seconds, you have only a few brief moments to making a lasting and share-worthy impression on your audience. But with articles, blogs, and other web content, readers are willing to spend a few more minutes reading a longer article as long as they can understand it from start to finish if they feel it is worth their time.

You’re probably not going to win the lottery. While you may not become an overnight internet sensation, your website content, photos, videos, tweets, blogs, or Facebook page could. Any subject matter you create that is easily shared on an electronic device, or on any social media platform, could become popular within the right group of people. If you have a storefront, content resonating to the community within driving or ordering distance from you can be considered a large success.

Engagement is key. Make sure your audience is engaged. Why do they care about what you’re saying? Could they benefit in any way from your message? Keeping messages upbeat or tying into their heart strings will not only keep your viewers coming back, but it will motivate them to share your message. Positive articles and uplifting messages encourage people to be open-minded and have an enjoyable experience, which also leads to more sharing.

Be informative. Views directly from your website or Facebook page are those probably already know about you. Giving your readers new or better information is interesting, informative, and highly shareable. That being said, don’t forget to share this to your audience!

 For more information about how Prescription PR can help your healthcare practice please call (631) 392-4255.

Healthcare Marketing 101

When dealing with healthcare marketing basic attitudes can quickly define the success or failure of your business. When being offered new ideas it is reasonable to be uncertain but don’t be afraid of “being sold” when there is little to no cost involved with marketing professional’s suggestions. Remember, marketing professionals are trying to help your business grow, they are not out to make a quick check and leave you hanging. Try to keep an open mind, because having a fearful attitude is a barrier to progress which may lead you away from new opportunities. No one wants to reach a plateau in their business.

Courage is Key

What keeps doctors from being successful is being risk adverse, it is the number one factor. The biggest challenge to overcome is to have the courage to accept risks. This helps you achieve success. Your business has potential so why continue to stand on the sidelines in fear? You are in a competitive field; while your business is struggling to grow another local practice is outshining you, he has expanded his practice to several locations across the island and recently expanded with a freestanding Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC).

The Lesson

Bridges or barriers may be built between you and growth opportunities based on your attitudes. As marketing professionals we aren’t recommending unwarranted risk-taking or needless buying. If you would like a highly predictable outcome that is completely unrewarding then continue to stand on the sidelines in fear. As William Faulkner said, “You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.” What makes all the difference is a combination of courage and determination.

For more information about how Prescription PR can help your healthcare practice please call (631) 392-4255.

Building a strong foundation for your practice

Feet are the foundation to the body, so it makes sense to take steps to build the groundwork of a successful practice. But which is this right path for you? If traditional advertising has not gotten your practice where you want it to be, it is time to expand your marketing plan. In the age of the Internet, changing healthcare, and patients who are learning to advocate on their own behalf, you want to be on the forefront of their brain when they think about their podiatric needs.

If a patient is given a list of healthcare providers, why are they going to choose you over the other guy? Whatever your response is, you need to put that answer in front of everyone you can.  In order to do that, you need to change the way you think about promotion. This begins with developing a strong marketing plan that includes: establishing your brand, developing high visibility, and developing your referral network.

The beginning to any successful practice is branding. In order to build your brand, you need to establish who you are and what you’re all about. Do you specialize in Podiatric Rheumatology or reconstructive foot and ankle surgery? There are also those with athletic injuries, structural deformities, and diabetic needs that require your services. Each of these is a market that is looking for a provider that can help them with their particular problem. Once you establish what problem you are a solution to, it is time to make it known.

You need to be as visible as possible. First impressions come from whatever information a person can easily find on your practice. If you typed the name of your practice into Google, what would you find? How about your type of practice and the town you are located in? In order to rank higher in search engines, you not only need to have an online presence but your marketing plans needs to include a strong search engine optimization strategy. Your website, Facebook page, and internet reviews all reflect upon your practice. If you do not make time to focus on these tools, your site’s ranking will drop. Having a highly visible practice is the next step toward increasing referrals.

Most importantly, you need to focus on your referral network. Networking is vital in any industry, but healthcare referral marketing is a whole different ball game. Now that you have built your visibility and established credibility, you want to establish a connection to other healthcare providers. Reaching out to other providers requires time, effort, and constant nurturing of those relationships, but more often than not physicians are too busy with the day-to-day activities of their business to focus on these connections and develop rapport. Establishing a physician liaison to represent your practice allows you to continue focusing on your patients while still cultivating connections to other potential referral physicians.

Successful marketing for your podiatry practice requires dedication to your connections, credibility and visibility. As you develop your online presence and reputation, don’t forget to nurture the relationships between you and your patients as well as your fellow providers.

Engaging Customers Through the Marketing World of Twitter

Ever hear the phrase “A little bird told me?” Well, this particular bird is reaching out to audiences all over the world, inspiring and sharing messages, everyday. He goes by the name of Twitter. The social media site with over 230 million users sending 500 million tweets a day, continues to grow. What a fast and efficient way to spread awareness about your business. So much to say, but only 140 characters to do it. That is where effective Twitter Marketing comes into play and why businesses must take a proactive approach.

Like any successful business knows, you must always have a strategy and game plan for the best outcome. Making your Twitter profile so that it is easily identifiable will maximize your presence. Choosing a Twitter handle that is short, clever and easy to remember is the best way to go. Designs and colors that represent your business for the profile picture and header will make the audience remember who you are and what you represent. Always include the statement message and purpose of organization as well as a URL to the official website. These details allow your Twitter account to stay noticeable, recognizable and prevent your tweets from getting lost in what we call the Twitterverse.

Establish important goals in your strategy. When developing the strategy plan, there should be goals in which the purpose of your Twitter account is defined. Are you trying to increase awareness about your business? Want to generate engagement of customers or gain more leads? Figure out the exact purpose so you can determine what kind of audience you are trying to capture. This way, your business can produce the best message to relate to your audience and get the most responses.

Remember that Twitter is not a new marketing plan for your business, but rather an effective tool for the overall outcome. A Twitter handle, a live feed on your website, a blog, promotional events, contests and other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are important tools to use for your overall strategy. They put all the pieces of the puzzle together and make it one masterpiece.

So your Twitter account is created, up and running. Now it’s time to monitor, measure and make adjustments when necessary. Measuring behavior is crucial when determining your outcome and can be done so by using sites like Klout, Twitter Analytics, Demographics Pro, Sprout Social and Hootsuite. These will help you to see the influence you have made, who is following and interacting and what type of demographics your audiences possess. Don’t be afraid to change things around or re-word messages. That is the beauty of social media, it is always changing and most of the time for the better. So the next time you hear someone say “A little bird told me,” it may not come as a surprise to whom it is.

Best Apps in Healthcare

In the fact pace of today’s world, it can be easy to get distracted and forget what your body needs to stay healthy. Thankfully, the same device that can act as big a source of our daily distraction can also be used to maintain our personal health. If you have a smartphone, there are many handy healthcare apps available for you to download. The following apps are some of the best out there that can help to promote a healthier lifestyle.

NEJM This Week is a free, regularly-updated app that features many prominent studies and articles from a trusted source – the New England Journal of Medicine. The app also includes weekly audio summaries and videos on some key medical procedures. It’s a great way to stay up-to-date in the healthcare field and to keep yourself educated on a wide variety of topics.

If you find yourself or a loved one in a state of medical emergency, you’ll be glad to have the Pocket First Aid & CPR app. This app can be a real lifesaver, with an easy-to-use emergency guide that has information on CPR, AED, First Aid basics and more. All of the content in the app comes from the American Heart Association, including many videos and high-resolution illustrations.

Another great app in the field of healthcare is called Symple. This app allows you to keep track of your medical symptoms, as well as keeping daily notes or photos. The information it captures can be very helpful in allowing you to better manage and report the symptoms of a disease or condition to your doctor.

If you ever find yourself in need of reliable information about certain medications, simply look to the Drugs.com app. With this app, you can track what medication you’re taking and receive important information about them. As the leading online drug resource, Drugs.com is there for all of your medication-based needs.

When it comes to exercises such as running or cycling, it can be hard to stay motivated. Thankfully, the Garmin Fit app is here to help. This handy app allows you to keep track of how far and how long you’ve been running. In addition, the app will tell you how many calories you’ve burned and will save a record of your running history. This feature allows you to look back at where and when you’ve run recently. Garmin Fit is a great way to stay motivated, so get out there and give it your all!

What you may not know about healthcare marketing and social media

Building reputation and good-standing of any brand can be a difficult challenge. When it comes to healthcare marketing and social media, professionals try their best to communicate with patients, listen to feedback, engage patients to stay involved and consider other incentives, while also creating a better reputation and trust of clients. It is all about building trust and creating meaningful relationships. Here are a few things you may not know about the marketing of healthcare.

According to a study from 2013, about 62% of emails were opened on mobile devices. In fact, checking emails on mobile devices is the top mobile activity among smartphone and tablet users. Advertising and promotion through email is always a proactive approach when reaching the largest audience.

Images and visual stimulation are processed in our brains 60,000 times faster than an original text. Visual instructions related to your brand, whether is be for brand identity, reinforcing ideas or improving medication adherence, visual marketing is the way to go. It is responsible for about 90% of the information transmitted to our brains; let’s not make it go to waste.

The majority of health-care consumers include that of the elderly, but what may shock you is that the fastest growing demographic on Twitter is actually grandparents! Now there is another powerful tool to reach the larger target market. It looks like social media is here to stay.

Digital coupons from the internet have been a huge hit as well. Since 2014, more than 50% of internet users (102.5 million people in the U.S.) have redeemed online coupons. This is a strategy that can be used for retail clinics, pharma companies and other service providers for cost-friendly benefits for clients.

When it comes to final purchase decisions, social media influences about 93% of shoppers. This leads to previous patients leaving reviews which can be the greatest success for the outcome. About 90% of consumers admit that they trust peer recommendations and would be more likely to choose an option based on what they have read.

Healthcare marketing is taking off with so many opportunities through social media. It is a platform that continues to grow and is statistically proven to be a success for businesses. Explore the world of technology, it will always be there for you.

Hashtags Can Help Your Digital Marketing Plan

The word “hashtag” was only recently added to the dictionary yet it has played a major role in the digital world since the creation of the wildly popular social media outlets Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Hashtags are metadata that allow people to search and find related information on social networking sites. If you are on social media, odds are you encounter many hashtags everyday. This component of social media holds the power to drive traffic to a particular website just as search engine optimization, or SEO, helps to increase organic exposure in the search engine result pages (SERP’s).

The comparisons being made between search engine optimization and hashtag engine optimization have people excited about the digital marketing possibilities of hashtags. Hashtag engine optimization focuses on finding trending hashtags, creating relative content around them, using the hashtags effectively to get a wider exposure in social media channels and bringing heavy traffic into a website or landing page. HEO is still a very new marketing strategy, which means that your company can be a pioneer in this marketing concept.

Hashtag engine optimization has already been shown to generate more immediate results than other digital marketing strategies. If your company posts blogs or other important information to its website then you can guide traffic to that information through the use of hashtags on Twitter or Instagram.

While many experts agree that hashtag engine optimization has the potential to be a highly effective digital marketing strategy it is not the easiest tactic to implement. You must devote a lot of time to creating the right hashtags for your company. The most effective hashtags deal with the present and the popular and therefore can generate a high volume of interest rapidly. However, trending hashtags fade quickly so it is important to continually monitor your company’s hashtags in order to maximize HEO’s effectiveness.

Physical Therapy and the Use of Push and Pull Advertising

Advertising is an art in itself and when colliding with successful businesses there are things to know, avoid and remember. The difference between push and pull advertising is one of them. There are ways to get around the madness and use the right form of advertising when it comes to promoting your practice.

Push advertising basically involves forcing information about your practice to the audience in a way that is obvious and in their face. This traditional, yet not so successful way of advertising, is often used in much larger companies. Coca-Cola, Walmart and Sears are examples of companies that have the energy and resources to engage in push advertising or otherwise called, brand advertising. In small, physical therapy practices, this freedom is limited because the measurement of success is much smaller than that of a large company. Push advertising for your practice would include advertising in a local newspaper and telling patients or about your practice and its features. In return, you would hope that your audience will be interested in what you have to offer and visit you for physical therapy. However, this form of advertising does not work for most patients.

Since push advertising is not the best way to go here, let’s talk about the benefits of pull advertising. This involves the encouragement of your audience to take initiative and find out more about your practice and what it can offer them. This may include coupons or other special offers that would get them interested and generate more calls or visits to your practice. This form of advertising generates high quality, compliant patients who are likely to refer their friends and family.

Incentives that would be appealing to potential clients would be an invite to attend a low back pain seminar, a coupon for a free massage, a complimentary evaluation, or a referral form for your patients to write down contact information of their family and friends, and in return, receive a $20 Starbucks gift card. This creates better communication and trust between clients because they are being welcomed in a way that is comforting and promising.

The most important difference between push and pull advertising is the quality of your patients. In push advertising, you are throwing your information out there in hopes that clients will be interested and contact you. With pull advertising, you are putting useful energy and resources together for clients that have already shown interest in your practice. The secret for successful marketing in this case, is to focus on pre-qualifying potential clients while avoiding an audience that would unlikely seek and benefit from your service. Dedicating your time, communication and resources to the right clients will make your practice more successful when it comes to gaining loyal patients and referring their family and friends.

Hashtags Can Help Your Digital Marketing Plan

The word “hashtag” was only recently added to the dictionary yet it has played a major role in the digital world since the creation of the wildly popular social media outlets Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Hashtags are metadata that allow people to search and find related information on social networking sites. If you are on social media, odds are you encounter many hashtags everyday. This component of social media holds the power to drive traffic to a particular website just as search engine optimization, or SEO, helps to increase organic exposure in the search engine result pages (SERP’s).

The comparisons being made between search engine optimization and hashtag engine optimization have people excited about the digital marketing possibilities of hashtags. Hashtag engine optimization focuses on finding trending hashtags, creating relative content around them, using the hashtags effectively to get a wider exposure in social media channels and bringing heavy traffic into a website or landing page. HEO is still a very new marketing strategy, which means that your company can be a pioneer in this marketing concept.

Hashtag engine optimization has already been shown to generate more immediate results than other digital marketing strategies. If your company posts blogs or other important information to its website then you can guide traffic to that information through the use of hashtags on Twitter or Instagram.

While many experts agree that hashtag engine optimization has the potential to be a highly effective digital marketing strategy it is not the easiest tactic to implement. You must devote a lot of time to creating the right hashtags for your company. The most effective hashtags deal with the present and the popular and therefore can generate a high volume of interest rapidly. However, trending hashtags fade quickly so it is important to continually monitor your company’s hashtags in order to maximize HEO’s effectiveness.

When is it time to outsource your social media?

Having well maintained social media is vital for any business. Many customers make decisions based off what they see on company’s website, Facebook and Twitter. But sometimes keeping all of these platforms updated while running your business seems overwhelming. Luckily outsourcing your social media is a great way to save time and keep your online presence at its best. But how do you know when it’s time to outsource your social media?

Before outsourcing it’s best to start your accounts and lay the groundwork. While you can outsource your online presence from the beginning it’s best to give your outsourcer something to work with. Setting up your Facebook and Twitter accounts with the name of your company. Post a few things and decide on what message you want your outlets to give. Deciding on a style for your posts will give some guidelines to the people running it. While outsourcing may feel like giving up control of your social media by setting up the accounts in the style that you want your outsourcing partner will be able to follow your lead.

If you’ve already started your social media accounts but haven’t yet made any plans to outsource it may be time! As you see yourself losing track of your online presence you should immediately start to outsource. Letting your accounts go dead by no longer posting can create a negative image for customers. Always make sure to continually post on your pages. By outsourcing on your social media you will make sure that your pages are always up to date with the best material possible.

Outsourcing something as major as your social media can seem scary at first. But if you time it right you can guarantee a seamless transition. Keep an open dialogue with your outsource partner to post the best content and you’ll notice the positive effects it has on your business.

Think it might be time for you to outsource your social media?  Give us a call (631) 392-4255, we are happy to help.

Digital Marketing Tools

When creating a business online, it is important to use digital marketing tools for ensuring effective outreach to the public. Experts turn to these tools to enhance their image and reputation of the company, through computers, smartphones, tablets, game consoles and more. In today’s technology world, it is the best way to do it.

Infographics- A picture is worth a thousand words, so why not incorporate that when relaying an important message. Infographics can be used to visually show what the business wants to tell the audience by showing creativity and purpose. Pictures capture attention more-so than a passage and can be used to explain your company, what you do, how you do it, and what products and services you have to offer.

Google Search- One of the most popular and most-used search engines is a great place to advertise your business. With such a competitive site however, you must use the most effective keywords to benefit from it. Using the right keywords and phrases can lead your ad to the most people when they are searching in the tool bar.

LinkedIn Ads and Social Selling- Active in business to business sales? This is the perfect channel to help with that. By setting up a premium LinkedIn account, your business can use specific tactics to reach out to other companies you are interested in. Targeting an audience with advertisements and information relevant to them gives you an advantage and more personal communication.

Facebook- Another site that will bring success to your company’s outreach is of course, Facebook. Paid advertising on this social media site allows your company to be seen by an audience out of your reach. Therefore, it will generate more interest and potential clients to work with. Using contests or giveaways on Facebook will build your contact database and marketing automation. In return, you will receive the names of the people interested in what you have to offer.

Twitter- The speedy way to reach an audience is non other than Twitter. Twitter allows a company to pay for retweets and shares on whatever product or service they want to make known. The company has the option to search for terms or hashtags related to your image and can actually reach out to those people, personally. It could be an inspiring message, a comment or a discounted offer. Even if the person you try to reach does not see it or respond, it is still out there to be seen by all and can definitely make a huge contribution. The power is right at your fingertips.

Building a Healthy Doctor-Patient Relationship

In healthcare it is so easy to mainly focus on getting new patients. While getting referrals and new patients is an important part of your business maintaining a good relationship with your current patients is also extremely important. If patients like you and feel comfortable with you they can actually help you get more patients. Having a good relationship with patients will lead them to recommend you to their friends and leave good reviews online. Sometimes, having a good relationship with patients is easier said than done though. So how can you build on your existing doctor-patient relationships?

One of the main ways to help strengthen your relationship is by giving the patient all of your attention. When you are in the room with them make sure to turn off your cell phone or beeper so it is not a distraction to you. If your office is noisey make sure to close the door, if appropriate, so you and the patient can hear each other better and listen to what each other is saying. Speaking of listening it is important to focus on not only what the patient is saying verbally but what their body language is saying. By taking into account body language you will be able to tell if a patient is nervous, in pain, or other emotions. Pay attention to your body language also. Maintain eye contact with the patient as much as possible and be sure not to cross your arms as it makes you seem unapproachable. When conversing with patients allow them to correct or interrupt you until they feel you have a good understand of their issue. If they feel that you are really listening and have a good understanding of their symptoms and problems they will trust you and feel more comfortable around you.

Building a healthy relationship with patients takes time. But by investing in those relationships you can obtain a good reputation in your community. Look at how you interact with patients and find different ways to relate to them more. By building a trust and understanding your patients will feel comfortable with you and will keep coming back.

The Importance of Marketing for Doctors

Many doctor’s spend their days helping patients and running their business. But the job of an MD is not just to treat patients, many are also entrepreneurs. In between patients doctors have to deal with the behind the scenes things that keep a business running. Many doctors deal with so much in a typical day that their entrepreneur role may not seem as important. Marketing often falls to the sidelines and is forgotten about as it seems time consuming and overwhelming.

Some doctors don’t like marketing their practice as they feel that it is too much like selling their services. In today’s world, marketing is the first thing a customer sees or knows about your practice. Their first impression comes from online or in the media, so it is important to regulate this to make the best first impression possible. Entrepreneurial doctors are ones that have already accepted that marketing is an essential part of running a company and have started to use this in their favor.

Marketing helps to create a business and focuses on the importance of the customer, which in healthcare is the patient. Without customers a business would not be sustainable so it is crucial to a business to cater to their needs. A successful business is one that can identify the needs of the customer and then provide a proper solution to those needs. By addressing all the potential needs of a customer a business can build trust with them to create a relationship.

As a doctor and entrepreneur it is important to always think of the patients first. Looking at the company through the eyes of the patient allows the doctor to see any shortcomings that may exist in the way they currently market the business. It might seem like a lot to not only be a doctor but also a marketer but it allows your business to thrive and accommodate all of the patients needs.

Avoid Making Common Mistakes on Social Media

Social media is an excellent way for businesses to market their goods and services. Firms can communicate with potential clients on various digital platforms by promoting their services. They can also quickly evaluate customer feedback and make necessary changes to the company. While social media can be a great tool for businesses, it must be used properly otherwise it can actually have a negative affect on business.

It is very important for businesses to promote their accounts on as many digital platforms as possible. If a firm has accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr it should include links to its Twitter and Tumblr accounts on its Facebook page and visa versa. It is wise to include links on email signatures and business cards as well.

Once a company creates an account on social media it must continue to use it to keep people interested. Account inactivity is a major reason why companies don’t see the boost in business they expect from social media. On the opposite end of the spectrum, over-posting can also cause problems. People can become overwhelmed or annoyed if a company creates too many posts. The ideal number of posts for a business is two to three per day. This will keep followers interested but prevent them from becoming exasperated.

While promoting the activities of a business is important it is also critical to pay attention to users. People may use a company’s social media page to write reviews about their experiences or make suggestions for how the company could improve. Just by responding to posts, companies can make their customers feel that their opinions matter.

Posting quality content is extremely important because what a company posts can impact how often people view their posts. Companies shouldn’t try too hard to sell their goods or services over social media. Instead, they should inform people about how their services can help them. If companies follow these rules for social media marketing they will see a positive impact on business.

Five Easy Ways To Improve Patient Experience

Five Easy Ways To Improve Patient Experience

---

Medical practices understand the importance of providing a positive experience to their patients. Patients who leave a hospital or doctor’s office unsatisfied are unlikely to return in the future. Moreover, patients who were not pleased with their doctor’s visit may write negative reviews online, which could then cost the doctor more patients. Medical practices who have had a difficult time improving overall patient care should consider implementing these five steps.

The first step to improving overall patient experience is to create a vision of what patient care should be. By taking suggestions from staff and patients alike, doctors or hospital administrators can learn what the expectations of the people involved in their practice are and then work to bring their dreams to reality. Once a practice makes significant changes to the way it handles patient care, the next step is to advertise its message through digital means. Patients must be informed about the new vision of patient care and social media outlets are a great way for doctors to spread their message.

The next step is to document actual patients enjoying their doctor’s visits. By taking videos of current patients, potential patients can see for themselves the great experience that actual people are having at a particular doctor’s office. Seeing other patients enjoying their experience can be even more effective than positive reviews in recruiting new patients.

Once measures are taken that actually improve overall patient experience, it is important to increase accountability to make sure that standards do not fall. Doctors should gather evaluations from as many patients as possible. All patient complaints should be analyzed quickly and it must be determined if there is one common source for the complaints as this may be grounds for further changes to the practice as a whole.

The final step in improving overall patient care is to be transparent. Practices should allow employees and patients access to annual reports so that they can see the progress being made as well as the challenges still facing the office. In doing so, doctors will be motivated to maintain high standards and continue to work to improve patient experience.

How Medical Apps are Changing the Face of Healthcare

 In today’s technological world, we seem to have devices that are capable of almost anything. The advent of touch screens has opened the door for a whole new wave of hand held medical devices. People are now able to determine things like their blood pressure, body temperature and heart rate simply with the touch of a button.

In the past, most electronic medical devices were designed for doctors to use when treating patients. However, recent technological advances have shifted the digital medical market towards patients. People can now access important personal medical information by using certain apps on their smartphone. Currently there are nearly 44,000 healthcare related apps available for download; 69% of which are intended for consumer use. While the majority of these apps are simplistic in nature, there are a number of them that can analyze data and perform other sophisticated tasks. The most popular apps involve vision care and medical sensors

Major medical device manufacturers have been a driving force behind the growing electronic medical market. Bayer currently holds 11.2% of the market share, and they are followed closely behind by Merck, Novartis, Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim. The vast majority of apps and devices produced by these companies are compatible with the Apple iPhone and this trend is expected to continue with the iPhone’s increasing popularity and continued technological advancements.

Studies from the marketing firm Manhattan Research show that in 2013 nearly 95 million Americans either used their smart phones as healthcare tools, or to search for healthcare related information. The market for medical apps is growing at an incredible rate and some economists believe that it could be worth 26 billion dollars in the United States alone by 2017. People love medical apps because of the convenience they provide. While they are no substitute for doctors, these apps and devices give people the ability to monitor their health from the comfort of their own homes. There is no doubt that the medical app market is revolutionizing medicine.

Strengthen Your Heart: The Advantages of Aerobic Training

 Different types of exercises strengthen different parts of your body. Bodybuilders and weightlifters attempt to increase muscle size and strength by performing anaerobic exercises. These types of exercises involve explosive movements that do not require an increase in oxygen consumption. Long distance runners and bikers on the other hand, participate in aerobic exercises that create a need for more oxygen circulation around the body.

Aerobic exercise increases stamina and endurance while strengthening the entire cardiovascular system in the process. Avid runners tend to develop a strong heart and lungs and oxygen is able to flow freely and quickly throughout their bodies. In addition to being stronger, the heart becomes more efficient, beating less often while still delivering oxygenated blood throughout the body.

Any activity that raises the heart rate for a prolonged period of time is considered to be a form of aerobic exercise. To ensure that you’re getting the most from your aerobic workout you must keep track of your heart rate. During your workout you should take your pulse to measure your heart rate. A good goal is to get your heart rate to 50-80% of your theoretical maximum heart rate for at least 30 minutes. To find your theoretical maximum heart rate, or TMHR, simply subtract your age from 220. It is recommended that you should repeat this process of elevating your heart rate through aerobic exercise three to five times per week in order to get the most form your training.

It is important to ease into and out of aerobic exercise by warming up before you begin and cooling down after your workout is finished. A good warm up should consist of some stretching as well as some light walking or jogging to elevate your heart rate above its resting level. A cool down concludes your workout by slowly bringing your heart rate back down to its normal rate through stretching and breathing exercises. Aerobic exercise can be a great way to strengthen your heart but if you have a history of heart or lung problems you should consult your doctor before you begin an exercise routine.

Beat the Heat

 As the weather heats up many people are flocking inside to exercise or skipping workouts all together. After being stuck inside all winter many people are now going for a run outside or a bike ride. But as the temperature rises it soon gets to be too much. Overheating and can lead to muscle cramps, exhaustion and even stroke. Here are some tips to prevent illnesses like these and still enjoy exercising this summer.

Wake up early: Instead of working out in the middle of the day when the sun is the hottest try waking up early. It’s always cooler in the morning so try going for a run or bike ride as the sun is rising. If you don’t mind working out in the dark you can also go out after the sun sets. Just remember to wear reflective clothing to avoid any potential accidents.

Don’t be afraid to get wet: Summer is infamous for sunny rainstorms. Use these to your advantage and workout outside during them. The rain will cool off not only the streets but you as well. Try some outdoor yoga in the rain or go for a run. Remember that safety is always first though and head indoors at the first sign of thunder or lightning.

Switch up the scenery: Sometimes it gets so hot that you have no choice but to go inside, but it doesn’t mean you have to go to the gym. The mall offers a cool environment, which is perfect for walking. Put on comfortable shoes and walk up and down the mall. It will get you moving while you stay cool and do some window shopping!

Take to the water: One of the best ways to beat the heat in the summer is by working out right in the water. Pools, lakes and oceans offer the perfect way to exercise and stay cool. Simply swimming laps gets your heart pumping and builds muscle tone. But you can also try exercises like water aerobics, surfing, paddle boarding and many others.

However you choose to exercise this summer don’t let the heat get the best of you. The warmer weather is a great time to switch up your workout routine and have fun. Be sure to talk to your physical therapist about more ways to beat the heat this summer.

New Technology in and Out of Doctors Office

As technology keeps on developing it finds new ways to make our lives easier. Recently technology has taken on the medical industry. Health related applications have been around for a while but with Apple’s recent introduction of their new operating system, iOS8, it will be easier than ever for patients and doctors to use this technology.

The new operating system will feature something called HealthKit. This will allow all the apps on a patient’s phones to share information with each other in order to create an overall health profile. This new system will also have a feature in which users can choose to share information from these apps with healthcare professionals. A doctor would be able to receive a patients heart rate, blood sugar, cholesterol and other information in order to reach out to the patient and provide faster care.

While iOS 8 is still in the testing phase this change in the way we use technology has been coming for a while. HealthKit will probably cause a surge in health care apps however, many apps that can help in the doctors office already exist. AliveCor is an app that allows patients to give themselves an at home EKG. By putting a finger on the monitors sensor the app reads a patients heart rate and can detect any irregularities. While it is still best to see a doctor, being able to administer this test at home can put a patient’s mind to rest until they can make an appointment to have a proper EKG. CliniCam is an app for doctors that allows them to take pictures of patients condition without violating any privacy laws. With the app a doctor can take a picture of a rash or such that is then directly uploaded to the patients electronic medical record. The pictures are not stored on the doctors phone so patients can be at ease that no one else is seeing their pictures.

All this new technology can help doctors and patients save time and get to a quicker diagnosis and treatment. However, these apps should be used at the discretion of both the doctor and the patient. They are not meant to replace a doctor, but simply to help them. As these apps improve, technology will continue to play a bigger role in how doctors and patients choose to interact.

Social Media Will Play a Major Role in the 2014 World Cup

Four years may not seem like a long time but the growth and development of Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites has been astounding since the last World Cup in 2010. Today, Facebook has over a billion users worldwide while twitter has nearly six hundred and fifty million users. The expansion of social media has created a number of possibilities for the promotion and popularization of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

FIFA, the international soccer federation, has taken on the onus of creating hype and publicity leading up to the greatest event in international soccer. In the last few months alone FIFA has created three new Facebook pages dedicated to different aspects of the World Cup. The FIFA twitter account is also gaining traction with four and half million followers worldwide. Once the World Cup starts, FIFA will Tweet out updates and other important information to its followers during the games so every soccer fan can remain informed on all things World Cup.

Along with Tweeting to its followers, FIFA will unveil its digital Global Stadium, which will allow soccer fans all over the world to share their opinions and excitement with each other. By using #Joinin and/or #WorldCup soccer fans around the world will have the opportunity to be actively engaged throughout the 64 games of the tournament. FIFA hopes that billions of people around the world will join in to be a part of the experience.

FIFA and other promoters have a number of incentives to expand social media access for this World Cup. They believe the interactive experience will expand their fan base for future soccer events. FIFA will also be able to advertise its World Cup related merchandise to billions of fans around the world. The social World Cup being created by FIFA and other promoters should improve the experience for fans and increase the profits made off of the event.

Twitter has become a major marketing tool used in a variety of industries. It allows companies to communicate with customers at incredibly high speeds. Businesses can introduce a new product or promote a sale with the push of a button. Customers also have the ability to share their experiences at a particular business with the entire world which can help a company to learn what it’s doing right and what it needs to improve. The speed with which customers can voice their opinions allows companies to act quickly and make necessary improvements.

The use of Twitter in the business world is so important because the speed with which a company can communicate with its customers can be a major advantage. A company using Twitter can advertise a new product or deal before a competitor who is using traditional marketing techniques can. The fact that Tweets must be short ensures that a company will get its message across efficiently. In today’s fast paced world, consumers want access to information quickly and easily. If a customer associates a certain company with easily accessible information then he or she is likely to look to that company first before its competitors.

In the past, the lag time between the release of a product (or use of a service) by a company and the reaction from customers caused an unnecessarily large amount of time and money to be spent on an unpopular good or service. Companies that pay close attention to the responses they get on Twitter can quickly make improvements to their services that eliminate waste and keep customers happy.

Before a company can make any changes, it can let disgruntled customers know that they appreciate their input and are working towards rectifying the problem. Twitter can vastly improve customer service in this way by making customers feel that their opinions are valued and quick responses from a company make customers believe that customer satisfaction is a company’s top priority. The open line of communication that Twitter creates between a company and its customers gives companies a number of opportunities to improve their businesses.

Social Media: Utilizing More than Just Facebook

Countless articles and blogs give attention to the topic of Facebook as a useful social media tool for businesses, primarily due to its massive number of users and ease of utility. Twitter, too, receives more consideration as the number of users continues to grow. Yet there are other platforms that receive less attention despite their potentially being more suitable for business contexts. A prime example is Google+.

Firstly, Google+ is hardly limited in content type: your business page can post pictures, text, links, and videos just like your Facebook page. Yet there are advantages to Google+ of which Facebook falls short. Having a Google+ account is crucial if your business is conscious of achieving search engine optimization. Most Internet users use Google as their preferred search engine, and the results of Google searches give additional weight or relevance to Google sites. So if you’re concerned with the likelihood of your business being found by potential customers, a Google+ account is a necessary advantage. Just like Facebook, Google+ offers a tool through which you can monitor the attention your account/page receives in order to better help you plan and manage your posts.

Google+ also has an extensive network of users that will enable your business to interact with current and potential customers and other businesses. The latter is particularly important, as business-to-business interaction is fairly limited across Facebook- not because it’s not possible, but because the platform is designed in a manner that doesn’t make this type of interaction inherently obvious or useful.

Google+ is not the only example of a digital platform that goes under-discussed or underutilized. Companies readily make pages on social networking sites, but somehow lag behind on sites that offer a formal review process like Yelp, Citysearch, or Local.com. Some companies expect to establish a presence on these sites once a customer takes it upon his/herself to generate a review, therefore generating a page for that company. Instead, companies should be proactive in creating business pages on these sites. Not only will this increase the likelihood of acquiring reviews, it will also better the chances of the company appearing in search results.

The number of digital platforms available to be used by individuals and businesses alike continues to increase, as do the number of account holders for these sites. Companies need to actively establish a presence on every site available, especially considering that this effort comes at no cost to the company.

In the New Age, Doctors Belong on the Internet

The scope of the healthcare industry has moved beyond the confines of face to face interaction and print: it has become more crucial than ever for doctors and other health practitioners to have an online presence. The Pew Research Institute Project offers some useful statistics that support this assertion:

47% of internet users look online for information about doctors or other health professionals

37% of adults seeking information about doctors consulted rankings or review online of doctors and other providers

If potential patients are using the Internet as a medium to find and learn about health practitioners in their area, then the best source of information stands as local health practitioners themselves. Practice websites offer a platform of practical information such as location, hours of operation, contact information, and basic info about the credentials of the health practitioner. Social media platforms take an online presence one step further by enabling a practitioner to communicate with current and prospective patients.

Take Facebook, for example. Facebook is the number one social networking platform and is used by 57% of all American adults. Not only is it an ideal platform to use to spread information, it also enables practitioners to interact with other users in order to foster a positive reputation and heighten branding awareness. One of the greatest advantages in acquiring attention through Facebook is that users interacting with a given practice will be within reasonable proximity, as will most of their own connections. Their connections, in turn, will see interaction with said practice and thus will be more likely to find, take interest in, and interact with it. The nature of social networking fosters growth and expansion for businesses in regard to awareness and client base.

An active online presence not only contributes to the potential for growth, but also empowers a practitioner in the realm of reputation management. What is said and shared by others on the Internet, whether it is positive or negative, cannot be controlled or removed. Commanding one’s own presence and responding to what is said about one’s practice is the most effective way of mediating reputation.

The best way to secure the attention and business of prospective patients is to cater to the manner in which these individuals find and utilize information. Since the Internet has become a primary medium of practitioner searching, practitioners who do not break into the digital world will be left behind.