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Growing Your Practice on Facebook, Part 5: Patient Confidentiality Considerations

In our last blog, you learned how to capture your audience with engaging content and analyze the results. Now that you understand what it takes to connect with your patients, we’ll take a look at common obstacles medical practices face when posting on Facebook.

Social media and the healthcare industry can seem in opposition at times. One is about sharing and transparency, while the other hinges on patient confidentiality and privacy. But the irony is that the medical industry is not immune from the benefits and trends of platforms like Facebook.

Facebook is a wonderful resource for any industry looking to grow their business. Potential clients and patients desire access to the goings-on of a medical facility or hospital, and similar to peeking in on the page of a friend or associate, patients expect to see their doctor’s office online, too. Uploading staff happenings or posting about a new procedure is invaluable to the cause. But what happens when patient confidentiality is violated? In the era of “clicks,” the two opposing parties of health care and social media must become friends. Although there’s a fine line to walk when working within HIPAA rules, here are some helpful tips to consider when using Facebook for your medical office.

Get Written Permission Before Posting

Nothing can replace the power of pictures on your Facebook page. According to a Hubspot survey, Facebook posts with images receive 53% more Likes than those without. Images serve as testimony to what your practice can do and how you can help other patients achieve their desired results. They are also a way for your patients to discuss and identify symptoms that may need a doctor’s immediate attention. However, posting photos without explicit consent from all parties can lead down a very hairy path—even if the image isn’t of someone’s face.

According to Privacy Rule requirements, physicians must obtain a signature from the patient that specifically spells out the what, when, and where of the shared item. Some medical facilities have recently opted to send out a blanket consent statement, but this is not best practice. Be sure the statement includes details such as a full description of your purpose in using the image, an expiration date on the image consent, as well as a note describing the patient’s right to revoke consent. Send a copy of the signed document to the individual and keep one for your records as well. Working this into your protocol prior to posting photos will keep a clear line of communication between your practice and patients, and it will also create a streamlined process for your social media marketing needs.

Avoid Talking About Specific Patients

Posting about patients can be helpful to your practice. You can highlight testimonials, success stories, and interesting procedures that can be used to engage new and current patients alike. However, when posting on Facebook, even if given permission to use a patient’s medical situation, you’ll want to be explicit in not identifying the individual.

Confidentiality and privacy are two sides of the same coin. Confidentiality limits the details of a patient’s health exclusively to the medical team unless given informed consent. Privacy, on the other hand, relates to the patient’s right to be treated with respect and dignity. HIPAA goes even further, stating that information given about a patient in a public forum should not disclose individually identifiable information. This information includes anything that could be used to hone in on a specific person, such as past, present, or future physical or mental health details. Understanding the difference between the two, and how they relate to the language and images used in Facebook posts, will help you and your staff to find that happy medium.

Don’t Take Pictures Around Sensitive Materials

Where you take the picture can matter just as much as the picture you take. When capturing images to share with your patients, be aware of any medical records or other confidential materials laying around. With zoom features on devices, potentially threatening information can become more decipherable when viewed from apps on a cell, tablet, or another mobile device. Avoid this mistake by thoroughly surveying the area before snapping a shot around the office. Put away any files or paperwork containing information that is private or for medical office use only. It may also be a good idea to only take more candid photos in certain areas of the facility where sensitive items are least likely to be an issue. Also, be sure to avoid taking pictures that may have a patient in the background. Having a designated spot for photo ops can minimize the chances of mistakenly exposing information that would break patient confidentiality and put your office in a compromising position.

Facebook doesn’t have to be a no man’s land for physicians and medical practices. Healthcare and social media can play on the same team. Building your brand online and strengthening relationships with your patient base is invaluable, especially with Facebook’s almost 2 billion monthly users. Don’t be intimidated by HIPAA; instead, embrace the rules, implement best practices for your staff, and walk the line to marketing and confidentiality success. The exposure you’ll get will be well worth it.

Check back next week for the final installment of our medical industry blog series, which will walk you through one of our case studies and show you how to put everything together!

If you are ready to chat about your digital marketing opportunities today, contact one of our experts.

Images:

Tablet

Patient Records

June 27, 2017
Growing Your Practice on Facebook, Part 4: Reach Your Audience

Now that you’ve gained valuable insights on the many uses of Facebook paid ads, the importance of engaging with your followers, and why all of this matters in the first place (spoiler alert: yes, social media is worth your time), we’re going to get into the specifics of understanding and capturing your audience. After all, if you don’t understand your users, how are you ever going to reach them?

We’ll share how to use the Audience Insights tool on Facebook to analyze when your users are active and what’s catching their attention. Then, we’ll share some surprisingly easy ways to update your Facebook page and grow your followers—as well as your actual patients.

Ready for the PhD-level course on using Facebook to grow your medical practice? Download our free e-book today.

How Can You Use Audience Insights to Grow Your Reach on Facebook?

With nearly 2 billion monthly users on Facebook, it’s important to narrow the scope and understand who is engaging with your practice, as well as what they are looking for from your page. That’s where the Audience Insights tool plays a vital role. Audience Insights allows page administrators to understand their users and target their reach according to demographics, purchase behaviors, geography, and activity on Facebook.

By creating a custom audience using this tool, you can target your ads to a specific group of users on Facebook. Say you know that your typical patient is a female in greater New Orleans with an average household income of $150-250K and a bachelor’s degree or higher. You can create a new custom audience using these demographics and build an ad campaign on Facebook to target that audience. While that’s a pretty narrow scope for a medical practice that isn’t quite so sure of their ideal patient, experimenting with a few different test audiences to gather data on successes and misses is a great first step.

On the other end of the spectrum, you can also use Facebook insights to gain more knowledge about your active users and cater your posts and ads to the types of demographics that are most engaged with your page. You can even learn the best times of the day and week to post and the type of content that achieves the highest engagement. Perhaps you see a spike in engagement when you post patient testimonial videos on your page and dedicate more marketing spend on creating videos. Or, maybe your analytics show that users are more engaged in the mornings, so you schedule your posts in advance for time slots between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. to capitalize on your users’ behaviors.

These insights can all inform your future social media marketing strategy to focus on what works and build on your successes.

How Can You Connect Your In-Person Audience With Your Social Presence?

While tools like Audience Insights allow you to understand your online audience, it’s just as important to understand and connect to the people visiting your office and living in your community. The more you can bridge these two segments, the better your chances of building a loyal fan base and creating meaningful social media content.

Events are a great option for bridging these two audiences. If you’re hosting an event at your office, like a drive for flu shots or a fundraiser for a local nonprofit, be sure to create a Facebook event so guests can RSVP, invite friends, and receive reminders as the date approaches. If your event is public on Facebook, the platform will also suggest it to other users based on friends who are attending. Now your online users also have a reason to visit your office and speak with you in person about a subject they are already interested in.

Community events that focus on the values of your practice are also important for building trust and humanizing your online presence. By showcasing the causes that are important to your industry, work, or community, users can connect with your page through those similar interests. For example, if your company is participating in a community event like March of Dimes or you have a team participating in a local 5K, share updates on your fundraising efforts, highlight photos from the event, and link to informational articles about the cause. All of these strategies help create dynamic social media content while also connecting you to the broader community of users with shared interests and passions.

How Can Fan-Building Campaigns Help Engage & Grow Your Audience?

Now that you have a better understanding of who your target audience is and how to build a bridge between your online and IRL communities, it’s time to increase the number of actual fans connected with your page. The first step may seem obvious, but it can’t be overlooked. You have to have an active, established page with helpful content and consistent posts. Make sure you’re dedicating time to posting new content as well as responding to inquiries to build engagement.

Another great tactic to generate new followers is through a fan-building initiative such as a “Like for Lives” campaign. Remember when we said that connecting your social media content to your values and industry is important? “Likes for Lives” does just that. The basic premise is that for each additional Like that your page receives for a set period of time, your medical practice will make a donation or take an action to help save a life. This could be a monetary donation to a charity, a volunteer commitment, or any other creative action your practice can take to help others.

The goal is to generate excitement on your page and in your office, giving you plenty to post about in order to raise awareness about your campaign and encouraging your fans to share your initiative with their friends in support of a good cause. Be sure your staff is informed of the campaign, and encourage or incentivize them to share the information within their own networks on Facebook. If you work with a nonprofit to raise money, they may also want to share the content, further increasing your reach.

With a combination of tactics like these and consistent posts on your Facebook page, you’ll start seeing your audience steadily grow. By targeting the right demographics, you can also see this growing audience translate to more patients. Remember, social media is here to stay, and leveraging its power and reach can have a big impact on your medical practice.

Stay posted for the next update in our series where we’ll discuss the importance of patient confidentiality on Facebook.

Eager for more tips and tricks to grow your social media IQ, or ready to get started with digital marketing campaigns for your business? Contact an expert from our team.

June 22, 2017
Growing Your Practice on Facebook, Part 3: Advertising

In our previous blogs, you’ve learned that Facebook is crucial for promoting your medical practice and that shareable content is the number one component of your social media strategy.

As the next step in your journey to increase your social presence, Facebook ads are another highly effective way to promote your practice online. In this blog post, we’ll answer your questions about the importance of paid promotions on Facebook, the difference between promoted posts and ads, the primary advantages of Facebook ads, and whether your ad copy complies with HIPAA and other guidelines.

Why Not Just Use Free Posts?

With so many opportunities to post for free on Facebook, it might seem like paid promotions aren’t necessary. However, due to recent Facebook algorithm updates, overtly promotional posts are receiving less organic distribution on the platform. This is due to a Facebook survey in which users named highly promotional posts as the number one thing they would like to see less of in their news feeds. As a result, your followers will be unlikely to see any of your posts that push products, urge people to enter contests, or reuse advertising content. Below are some examples of highly promotional posts.

However, in the same survey, Facebook users reported that they aren’t bothered by promotional content when it has been identified as advertising. This means that paid promotions are not only ways to get around Facebook’s algorithm updates and reach your target audience, but also ways to engage your followers without coming across as annoying or spammy.

What’s the Difference Between Promoted Posts and Ads?

The two main types of paid promotions on Facebook are promoted posts and advertisements. Understanding the difference can help you determine where each best fits into your social media strategy.

Promoted posts are formatted like traditional free posts, but they are marked as sponsored content and appear higher in your followers’ news feeds. The main advantage of promoted posts is that you can test them out as free posts before investing in them. If one of your free posts is performing especially well, Facebook will often prompt you to “boost” or promote it. Promoted posts can also be easier to use because they follow the traditional Facebook post format.

Advertisements, on the other hand, can follow a wide range of formats. Facebook’s Ads Guide allows you to customize based on your campaign’s objective, be it brand awareness, lead generation, website traffic, or one of many others. The guide can also walk you through the different ad placements, focusing on which fields will be included in which type of ad. As shown in the images below, mobile and desktop news feed ads have space for social information, business name, text, images or videos, and a call to action.

Right column ads, on the other hand, only have space for text and images or videos:

While all of these options make advertisements a bit more challenging than promoted posts, they also allow ads to achieve more diverse objectives. Promoted posts are great for growing brand awareness and driving engagement, but if you have goals outside of social media—for example, getting potential patients to fill out a consultation form on your website—then Facebook ads are the better way to go.

What Are the Main Benefits of Facebook Ads?

The reason why ads are more effective than promoted posts for driving off-Facebook conversions is the call to action (CTA) button. While exact numbers vary based on the industry, type of content, and action the reader is being called to do, statistics show that conversion rates increase dramatically when a CTA is present. While CTAs can be included in the text of a promoted post, the CTA button in ads allows your message to stand out even more. More importantly, it explicitly tells readers what action you want them to take, and allows them to accomplish it with just one simple click. Facebook also provides an easy drop down menu of popular CTAs for you to choose from, ranging from “Contact Us” to “Download” to “Watch More.”

The second major benefit of Facebook ads is the platform’s detailed targeting options. These are available for promoted posts as well, and they can be set or altered within Facebook’s Ads Manager. While traditional advertising channels, like billboards or newspaper ads, can’t guarantee that your message reaches your goal demographic, Facebook ads can be carefully targeted to the people you want them to reach. For example, if you run a geriatrics practice in New Orleans, you can ensure that Facebook shows your ads to users aged 65+ in the Greater New Orleans area. Using Facebook’s targeting feature allows you to run a more efficient ad campaign. You can direct your time and money only toward the demographics that are most likely to become your patients, without wasting advertising resources on anyone else.

What Legal and Ethical Guidelines Govern Medical Facebook Ads?

As you’re certainly aware, the medical industry is heavily regulated. Everyone from the American College of Physicians to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to Facebook itself has rules for medical advertisements. If you break them, your ads will likely be taken down, and in some cases, legal action may even ensue. While Facebook’s Advertising Policies provide a detailed list of prohibited and restricted content, the two biggest red flags for physicians are misleading content and patient confidentiality violations.

Misleading content includes anything that could be considered deceptive or ambiguous to patients. The most obvious examples are photoshopped images or exaggerated guarantees; however, even subtle wording variations can lead to misleading content violations. For example, it’s generally okay for a physician to claim that Botox can contribute to a more youthful appearance. Yet, it could be considered misleading to claim that Botox will make patients look ten years younger or eliminate signs of aging. Although these statements are quite similar, only the first one is acceptable because it does not make any specific promises about the product’s outcomes. Some of the best precautions against misleading content include citing studies or journal articles whenever claims are made, and labeling all non-patient photos with the word “model.”

While misleading content might get your practice in trouble with Facebook, violating HIPAA rules about patient confidentiality can get your practice in trouble with the law. As with misleading content, some precautions are obvious. For example, you should never post any identifying information about patients, such as names or faces. However, many HIPAA violations are less apparent. For example, it is prohibited to post images that do not clearly identify a patient, such as a rash on someone’s foot, unless you have clear legal permission to do so. Similarly, be careful that no pictures of the office have patients or medical records in the background. To avoid any issues, require patients to sign a consent form before using their images, or stick to model-labeled images and stock photos.

Interested in learning more? Don’t forget to check back for the next post in our medical industry blog series, which will help you reach your target audience.

For more information about getting started with Facebook Advertising for your hospital or practice, contact us here.

Images:

Ads Guide Mobile Feed

Ads Guide Right Column

June 20, 2017
Growing Your Practice on Facebook, Part 2: Shareable Content
Now that you’ve learned why Facebook is such a crucial tool for your practice, it’s time to master one of the most important aspects of Facebook: engagement. Facebook is all about conversation and interaction. If you aren’t creating compelling content and engaging with your followers on a regular basis, your social media campaign will fall flat—making the next steps in this series much harder for you. Here’s how to polish up your content and keep your followers invested on Facebook.

1. Create Shareable Content

At one point or another, we’ve all come across a Facebook post that just speaks to us; one we couldn’t help but share with a friend or add to our timeline. The act of sharing a Facebook post seems simple enough, but for your business, these shares are crucial to your social media campaign.

According to Kissmetrics, more than 30 billion pieces of content are shared on Facebook each month. Facebook shares are powerful stuff for business because they help your message to grow exponentially. Friends share content with Facebook friends in a way you couldn’t have managed organically on your own. So, how do you help make this happen?

Well, if your practice wants to be included in those 30 billion pieces of shared content, it’s essential that you start writing interesting and relevant posts your fans will really want to read. If you’ve followed our blog for a while, you’ve probably heard us quote the great Bill Gates saying “Content is king.” This saying holds true across websites and platforms, and Facebook is no exception. Compelling, authentic, and viral content is what earns you those valuable shares, which in turn means more fans and more social influence.

Just one thing to clarify: we’re not saying Likes aren’t valuable in their own way. They can be a sign of popularity, a mark of agreement, or a note that “I agree,” or “I’m with you.” However, if your goal is to get your content in front of more potential patients, you should always be on the hunt for the ever-elusive Share. Got it? Let’s get started.

How to Create Shareable Content

The tricky thing for medical practices is that you’re busy, and your staff might not always have the time or expertise to sit down and brainstorm ideas for compelling content. But don’t worry—here’s a list of tips to get you on the road to those shareable posts.
- Keep it short and sweet. The ideal length for Facebook is around 40 characters.
- Don’t use too much industry jargon. The medical industry is notorious for its jargon. Just don’t forget to consider your audience when posting. Complex terms can be off-putting, and your busy readers will appreciate your effort to break things down.
- Don’t make every post promotional. Patients will find it helpful to know your biggest and most relevant updates, including new staff members, upcoming events, and special deals. But keep in mind that no one wants to read a revolving door of the same products and services your practice offers. This type of repetitive content is unlikely to be shared.
- Know when to post for best results.
- Use images whenever possible. According to Hubspot, Facebook posts with images get 2.3x more engagement than those without images. Consider adding more personal images as well, such as photos of your office, your team, or your patients. This lets readers get a glimpse at the faces behind the computer, and it adds a personal, familiar touch to your posts that can’t be gained with stock images alone.
- Consider creating a weekly themed post. This gives your fans something unique and interesting to look forward to on a regular basis. Maybe you want to highlight a recent article you read, inspirational images, or products your practice recommends.
- Share or repost interesting updates from other businesses. Give your readers a range of information by sharing relevant information posted by other practices, industry leaders, or medical associations. This can also be a good way to help build a referral network.
- Share something silly every now and then. It’s true that the medical industry has a reputation for being serious, but adding silly content to your page just for the sake of sharing the joy can make you more relatable. Funny yet relevant comics, relatable e-cards, cute videos, and even animated reaction GIFs might seem off-topic, but these types of posts are often widely liked and shared. These can be great for extending your reach if your practice’s name is attached to the content.
- Come up with interesting topics. Don’t be afraid to change things up! If you need help with this, try one of our favorite tools, Answer The Public, which can help you get an idea of what your patients might be searching for or interested in.
These tips can go a long way in shaping your existing Facebook posts into something your fans will naturally be interested in. It can take time to master all of this, but even small steps can help increase your content’s shareability—and don’t forget that we’re always here to help!

2. Engage With Your Audience

Now that you’ve created your shareable posts, it’s time to sit back, relax, and watch the Shares and Likes roll in. Just kidding! The hidden “Part 2” to your shareable content journey is the engagement factor. Your audience will react and respond to your content, and they’ll also voice their own questions, comments, and concerns. Everyone wants to feel like they’re being heard, and responding to these inquiries shows your patients and potential patients that you’re invested in the discussion.

One thing to keep in mind with Facebook is that if you’re in the habit of responding quickly, users will see your estimated response time right on the page. This estimate shows your attentiveness, which can be a great signal for potential patients on Facebook. So, don’t forget that taking even a few minutes to respond to your followers can go a long way.

With the skills you’ve learned in this post, you’re already on your way to growing your medical practice on Facebook. Next time in our blog series, we’ll teach you how to enhance your Facebook campaign with promoted posts!
June 16, 2017
Growing Your Practice on Facebook, Part 1: Why Facebook Matters

It’s no secret that Facebook isn’t going away anytime soon. Even with predictions a couple of years ago that the social media giant would lose a significant portion of its users to other contenders like Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Snapchat, they’ve managed to see steady growth. Since that prediction in 2015, they’ve gone from 1.2 billion monthly users to nearly 2 billion.

So, let’s address the elephant in the digital room here. Is your practice on Facebook?

In this series, we’ll break down the ins and outs of the best ways to reach your patients through Facebook, going over everything from advertising and shareable content to privacy rights and how to find the right images.

Before we get into details of using Facebook to bring in more patients, let’s break down a broader question: Why is Facebook so important for your practice?

Social Media Humanizes Medical Practices

When’s the last time you talked with your patients outside of the office? In a report from the Health Research Institute, Ed Bennett, who oversees social media efforts at the University of Maryland Medical Center, notes, “If you want to connect with people and be part of their community, you need to go where the community is.”

By using Facebook to interact with patients, physicians can create a dialogue that builds trust. Some patients may feel uncomfortable scheduling an appointment when all they wanted was to ask a personal medical question. Sometimes questions are just easier to ask through a direct message or comment rather than over the phone or in person.

By commenting on, responding to, and answering questions directly through Facebook, unforeseen walls begin to break down. The best part? That starts to become what your practice is known for. Your medical office gets a reputation for being the place to go where people won’t feel afraid to ask about a diagnosis or procedure, how it affects them, or what their options are. It becomes the ideal venue for open communication. You’re no longer just a resource for patients when they come to your practice; you’re there for them at any time.

Think about it this way. The average user checks their Facebook account daily. Will your practice be there to start a conversation when they log on?

Expertise, Industry Experience, Specializations—Go Ahead and Tout It

To go along the philosophical questioning of whether the falling tree in the forest makes any sound, are a physician’s best certifications and qualifications of value to patients if nobody knows about them?

According to Search Engine Watch, nearly 90% of respondents aged 18–24 said they would trust medical information shared by others on their social media networks. This is also coming from a demographic that is more likely to share this information. Facebook gives physicians the tools to share their specific knowledge and expertise. Got a recent press release or blog post about a new technique offered exclusively at your practice? Put it on Facebook. It will demonstrate your expertise in your field while providing a great avenue for your patients to engage with and share this information.

Also, in a time where anyone can share information and claim it as fact or scientifically true, physicians have the capability and responsibility to make sure accurate, helpful information is reaching their current and potential patients.

It’s All About Relevance

Just as you shouldn’t make updating your Myspace page or LiveJournal your top priority anymore, you should be posting and staying up-to-date on Facebook to make your medical practice more relevant to what’s going on in your patients’ lives. It shows you’re a part of the online community, and ideally, it garners more traffic to your website and office.

Ultimately, Facebook is more than just a place to share family pictures, an exciting recipe, or an awkward political conversation with an uncle. It’s a powerful resource for medical practices to reach their patients on a more personal level. Your patients are already there. We can show you how to utilize social media to find them and make them advocates for your practice. Reach out to us to learn how to implement a social media plan for your practice.

For more information, stay tuned for our next blog post, which will teach you how to create and share content that moves your audience.

June 14, 2017
Put a Ring on It: Turning Inquiries Into Lasting Patient Relationships

Let’s envision an ideal scenario. Your private practice has a dynamic social media campaign, your website is optimized for all the right keywords, your blog showcases helpful and engaging posts, and maybe you’re even showing up on page one of Google’s search results. Basically, you’re an online marketing all-star. Well, to be honest, the real payoff relies on what you do next.

How do you respond when all of this great marketing generates a lead? After all, you put a lot of hard work into building new patient relationships. But while all of this marketing could be seen as the courtship, handling the inquiry is the proposal. You better time it right and create an experience worth remembering.

At this point, the prospective patient is taking the initiative to make contact, which means they are serious about taking action—they’re ready for a commitment. Even if you’re just posting your first Facebook status or still need some SEO guidance, every inquiry is the potential for a new patient to make the jump from interested to committed.

Responding to inquiries is your first real engagement with a prospective client. They responded to your presence online, but how does it stack up to your presence IRL? In the healthcare industry, competition is high, and patients may be willing to travel great distances for the right provider—but that prospective patient may just move on to the next option if they don’t hear from you quickly or get the right answer.

So, what’s the best way to ensure a “yes” to your proposal? Here are three tips to turn inquiries into actual patients.

Respond Quickly

Quickly can’t be overemphasized. In fact, according to The Lead Response Management Study conducted by Dr. James Oldroyd of MIT, the odds of qualifying a lead are 21 times less likely when comparing a response rate of 5 minutes vs. 30 minutes. Similarly, according to research from Harvard Business Review, companies that follow up on leads within an hour are 7 times more likely to have a meaningful conversation with the decision maker. This isn’t all that surprising when you consider our fast-paced culture of instant gratification. That same person who reaches out to your practice is likely contacting your competition, scouring through Google results and online directories to weigh the best healthcare options. They may already have their appointment scheduled at the office next door if you don’t respond quickly.

You can increase your response speed by creating a short cheat sheet or script for answers to common questions, especially pertaining to pricing. This will empower an administrative team to handle inquiries confidently and quickly without consulting with the doctor or dentist before every response. Don’t forget that inquiries on social media, like questions through Facebook messaging, should be treated with the same level of professionalism and timeliness. Other features like online chat and online appointment scheduling make the conversion happen even more quickly. Many users are opting for digital communication, and it’s important to talk to your prospective patients in the format that they prefer.

Track Your Leads…and Your Successes

So how do you know what your patients prefer? You can start by collecting valuable information about the behaviors of your current and prospective patients to meet their needs better and make communication as seamless as possible. Online and call lead tracking will allow you not only to understand which communication methods work best, but also what led interested parties to your practice in the first place. Are they interested in a specific treatment page? Are they looking for plastic surgeons close to a particular location? Tracking this behavior can help tailor your response and deliver the right information.

A tracking system also allows you to keep a detailed record of your correspondences and successful conversions. Use these metrics to determine what’s working and where to focus your energy. Maybe you see the biggest conversions through your online appointment scheduling feature, or maybe most of your new patients are searching on mobile and calling the office—use the data to build on your successes. For example, if you see a lot of phone call conversions, you can tailor your online marketing campaign to feature your phone number more prominently in your ads and website copy. Either way, you can’t make improvements if you don’t have the data. Learn more about the value of lead tracking and analytics.

Listen to Their Needs and Make It Personal

Now that you have systems in place for generating prompt replies and tracking your successes, you can focus on the actual response. This part might seem obvious, but it’s the most important aspect—especially in the healthcare industry where your customers are trusting you with, well, their health. Make sure your response includes questions, and spend more time listening to the inquiry than dishing out information. While phone scripts or automated email responses are great timesavers, be sure you consider multiple lead types and create responses that can fit different common inquiries like procedure costs or consultation requests.

Remember that your response should show that your office is competent, knowledgeable, and compassionate. This extends beyond the healthcare professionals to the caring and attentive administrative staff answering the phones and making the appointments. Each employee is a representative of your brand and can create a memorable first interaction—whether it’s a phone call, email, or social media post. Your staff or a marketing agency should be equipped and ready to handle responses appropriately through multiple channels.

Essentially, your response should be crafted to potential patients’ needs from the very start. While it may seem simple, ensuring that these steps are built into your systems and training will result in consistent and successful conversions. When it comes to healthcare, patients are looking for the gold standard in quality. So if you’re popping the question (you know, the “do you want to schedule an appointment?” question), be sure to time it right and execute a thoughtful, personalized message. Of course, if you’re still working on your online marketing all-star status, we’re always here to help.

Images:

Ron Burgundy

Beyonce

May 19, 2017
Google Paid Search vs. Facebook Paid Social: Team Players or Adversaries?
When it comes to choosing between Facebook and Google advertising, it’s important to note what your business’s goals are. Both platforms are beneficial to business in their own ways and often work in conjunction to help businesses achieve maximum online visibility, gain more customers, and increase leads and sales. In order to best understand the opportunities with these two advertising channels, it’s important to know what each has to offer.

Google Paid Search and Facebook Paid Social

No one can deny that as far as search engines go, Google takes the cake. With more than 3.5 billion searches being conducted every day, Google is by far the world’s most popular and widely used search engine. Because of this, advertisers are able to reach a broad potential audience who may be seeking their products or services. Google AdWords, the PPC advertising platform for Google, allows advertisers to utilize the Search Network and the Display Network. Through the Search Network, advertisers can bid on keywords and phrases to trigger certain Google searches. The Display Network offers visual ads and can reach those who are not just searching on Google, but on other sites as well (i.e. a banner displaying your business’s logo on YouTube).

Considered the pioneer of paid social advertising, Facebook has refined its process and has become an important part of many businesses’ marketing strategies. Like Google, Facebook is an extremely prominent website, with more than one-fifth of the entire world’s population active on the site monthly. Because Facebook users tend to share a lot of personal information—interests, relationship status, political views to name a few—Facebook advertising can target very specific demographics, showing Facebook users what they want to see.

What Types of Ads Does Each Channel Offer?

Both Facebook and Google include a variety of ad formats to appeal to a variety of audiences.

Google Ads:
- Text – These ads are only words, and can immediately reach customers as they search on Google.
- Responsive – Size, appearance, and format can be adjusted depending on the ad spaces.
- Image – Graphics that are static or interactive, and can be animated in .gif and Flash format. These can show on websites that partner with Google through the Display Network.
- App Promotion Ads – As the name states, these ads can drive app downloads and engagement for your business. These will only show on devices that can support the app.
- Video – These can stand alone or show in streaming video content on websites that partner with Google.
- Product Shopping Ads – These show a photo, title, price, store name, and other details about a product you are selling.
- Showcase Shopping Ads – This type of ad shows a product but expands when it’s clicked on to show related products and store information.
- Call-only Ads – Ads that include your business’s phone number to drive phone calls. These types of ads only show on devices that support phone calls.
Facebook Ads:
- Domain Ads – With a simple format, this ad displays on the right column. This type of ad does not display on mobile.
- Page Post Link – The most common of all Facebook ad types, this type of ad links to your external website and includes a large image for grabbing the attention of Facebook users.
- Carousel Ads – A relatively recent development in Facebook advertising, these ads allow e-commerce advertisers to showcase up to five of their products, each with its own picture, link, and title.
- Dynamic Product Ads – These ads target based on past actions on your website, also known as remarketing.
- Lead Ads – Allows Facebook users to fill out a form on either desktop or mobile directly from Facebook.
- Canvas – Only available on mobile, customers can interact with the ad by swiping through the carousel, zooming in and out or even tilting the images.
- Page Like – This allows users to immediately like a Facebook page.
- Page Post Photo and Video – Showcases pictures and videos from your business. Video advertising is especially engaging as Facebook video receives up to 8 billion video views per day!
- Mobile and Desktop Apps – Similar to Google’s app promotion ads, these drive installs of a business’s app to mobile and desktop.
- Event – Allows a business to promote their event to visitors.
- Offer – This type of ad can only be created on a page with at least 50 likes, and it allows a user who clicks on the ad to redeem a special promotion.
Google and Facebook: Friends or Foes?

As previously stated, it’s highly common for Facebook and Google to be utilized together in a marketing campaign for their different advantages. Many marketers are drawn to Google because of the search volume and opportunity for exposure there. Google allows for targeting based on location, keywords, demographics, devices, and languages, as well as re-marketing, which can target users based on searches that have previously been conducted. While PPC ads are text-based, advertising opportunities are versatile. Extensions, user reviews, map data, and shopping ads are just a few examples of how Google advertising can be further optimized.

Facebook advertising is not only extremely targeted but also highly visual, which many see as an advantage over Google. Facebook ads are essentially unavoidable, appearing in your target audience’s News Feed or the right column of their page. Because advertising on Facebook is based on specific insights and interests, chances are that the ad will be more engaging to the user.

Perhaps the biggest difference between each platform is the behavior of the users. When searching on Google for products or services, users have an idea of what they are looking for. Facebook, on the other hand, is not typically used to seek a product or service. However, the likelihood of a Facebook user to be exposed to a product or service that appeals to them is very high.

While Google and Facebook are often seen as adversaries in the marketing world, the possibilities with each vary greatly. Try this team together for utmost potential in maximizing any campaign’s performance.

Image Sources:

Don Draper & The Future Of Advertising

The Internet Shaking Hands
May 17, 2017
Grow Your LinkedIn Network With These 3 Optimizing Tips

With over 400 million users, LinkedIn has become a social networking must for companies large and small. While other platforms like Facebook and Twitter are commonly used in marketing and SEO campaigns, LinkedIn can have a significant impact on online visibility and SEO opportunities. Instead of neglecting your LinkedIn account, utilize it to grow your business’ traffic and network.

1. Be Consistent

For your traffic to increase, customers have to know it’s you. One of the biggest mistakes a company can make is not maintaining brand consistency across all marketing platforms. LinkedIn provides you with the opportunity to upload banners, background images, videos, and photos. Utilize all of these to tie back into your brand, logo, tagline, and color scheme.

This also applies to the written content on your LinkedIn profile. If your business’ website uses a formal tone, don’t be overly casual on your social media. This creates brand confusion and can lead to customers not connecting with you because they think you’re someone else. Don’t lose out on growing roots with a client because someone can’t figure out if your profile is the right one.

2. Engage Your Network

While you may have a lush profile, if it’s not active, no one is looking at it. It’s important to create, share, and like fresh and relevant content to your industry. Shower your followers with content at least twice a day and watch your network grow. This keeps your profile engaging as well as current. When creating or sharing content, make sure to add variety. For example, it can be good to post an interesting article in the morning and then ask an engaging question in the evening. This allows for different types of client interaction and can make a profile look more personable.

As I’m sure you’re aware, blog posts are great when it comes to a site’s SEO. By posting your company’s blog posts on LinkedIn, you not only help your profile, but you also improve your website’s ratings, which can lead to more business.

3. Let Your Keywords Shine

While your company can be searched on LinkedIn by name, it can also be found by keywords. The keywords used in your SEO campaign are the same words you should be using on your social media platforms. Your keywords should shine through your content from your posts, to your description, and to your headline. While it’s still important to stay natural, try to fit in a keyword or two in the first 156 characters of content on your profile. Google previews these first characters, and with the help of keywords, your profile can be more easily found.

By not growing your LinkedIn network, you’re leaving opportunities like referrals and website traffic in the dust. Social media platforms are crucial to interacting with current and potential clients. As LinkedIn’s numbers grow, so can yours. Make sure your profile is the cream of the crop and optimize.

Image Sources:

Devil Wears Prada Image

Aziz Ansari On Social Media

LinkedIn Superman

May 9, 2017
Grow Your Business With These 7 Digital Marketing Tactics

Members of the Search Influence team gave their insight on tried and true digital marketing strategies. These strategies apply to every industry, from plastic surgeons to attorneys, and many can be implemented across different channels of marketing. Using a mix of or all of the 7 tactics below is a sure-fire way to optimize your business’ online potential.

1. Mobile

Before updating the aesthetics or adding content to your site, it’s of the utmost importance that you make sure your site is responsive and functions properly on both desktop and mobile. More than half of users say they wouldn’t recommend a business if they encountered a poorly designed mobile site.

“To me, the biggest trend (and this is as much a wish as it is a prediction) is that small businesses begin to take mobile optimization more seriously. I’m still surprised by the number of businesses I see in my day-to-day life that haven’t reacted to the continuous uptick in mobile search by having their site optimized for mobile users.

My main focus, in terms of a trend, is the expansion of mobile search as a primary source of information. The trend will be more companies utilizing tools like Google AMP in order to improve the mobile user experience. Currently, far too many don’t take the number of leads they can get from a mobile-optimized site.” – Cory Agular

Later in this post, I’ll go over AMPs and some more specific mobile moves, but I really want to emphasize that mobile should be incorporated in every aspect of your online marketing campaign. Google has stated that not only are 60% of users unlikely to revisit a mobile site they had difficulty visiting, but also 40% will then go on to visit a competitor’s site. You’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but if you can’t open the book, you’re not even going to try reading it.

2. Schema Markup

Schema markup, coding that can be added to a page on your site, makes information more easily readable to search engines like Google. This code labels pieces of important information on the page. Search engines not only understand the information better but they can also provide richer search results to users.

“As far as I’ve noticed, Schema’s been underutilized… however I’m seeing a lot more talk acknowledging it for its on-site SEO value and correlation with rich snippets and Google’s knowledge graph. And as we’ve seen, Google’s been working to improve its algorithm and knowledge graph to really ‘understand’ content to better predict user trends.” – Kiersten Kampschroeder

“It’s been increasingly popular to integrate schema into your content. I think that providing meta information using schema markup not only helps SEO, but it also aids the programmer and contributes to making better semantic websites. 2017 will be the year where instead of thinking how we can ADD schema to existing sites, we instead shift toward creating websites with schema markup baked into their design and writing content with schema markup in mind. I’d compare thiscoming year with what happened with responsive design 3–4 years ago. That was the shift where everything became mobile first. 2017 will be the year schema is integrated into the general development workflow.” – Member of Web Development Team

A search for “breast augmentation new orleans” shows how review schema implemented on Dr. Kinsley’s site appears in results:

3. GIFs

While 2016 saw a rise in GIFs, an acronym for Graphics Interchange Format, they were first debuted by Steve Wilhite of Compuserve in 1987. They are the epitome of #thirtyflirtyandthriving. These dynamic, digestible pieces of content are easy to create and share and provide a more engaging user experience than a single static image.

“GIFs are important to any brand aesthetic, be it personal or public, because they offer a truncated version of the desktop’s fluid experience (i.e. video).

GIFs are a better option now since they’re more pervasive and different social media platforms accept them or give you a way to use them easily. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Facebook Messenger are all compatible with GIFs now.

Twitter actually integrated, similarly to Facebook, a GIF search within the post tool. [It has] allowed for a closer relationship between Facebook and Twitter, as well. You’ve always been able to link the two accounts, … [but] now, it looks like Twitter, when auto-posted to Facebook, is fully integrated into Facebook’s platform and presents the post as it would be presented on Twitter.” – Member of Graphics Team

There are so many reasons you should incorporate GIFs into your marketing strategy this year. As mentioned, the fluidity of GIFs can make the creation of cross-platform content so much easier. They’re easy to create and even easier to share. Most of all, it’s a fun and unique way to reach your consumers!

So, why not shake things up a bit?

4. Social and Mobile Paid Advertising

In 2016, we saw a rise in mobile advertising, but this year, with more than half of searches on mobile devices, it will be an essential component of an effective and well-rounded search engine marketing campaign. Expanded ads are now easily translatable between desktop and mobile, but it’s almost important to mobile users’ needs when determining the content, location, and timing of your paid ads.

Social advertising like Facebook Paid Ads are showing increased popularity and effectiveness. The level of granularity continues to rise with Facebook audience targeting, and we have seen an increase in conversions even as CPCs remain low.

“With the introduction of ‘new’ campaign objectives, such as lead generation and local awareness, Facebook really does seem to be a place for lots of growth. With Facebook trying to essentially phase out Fan Building campaigns, local awareness campaigns present an interesting opportunity for smaller budget clients who want to focus on a local market.” – London Fougerousse

While Facebook ads are more cost-effective than traditional paid ads, that’s not a reason to rely on them solely. The decision to use Facebook vs. Google Adwords or a mixture of the two is truly dependent on a variety of factors, such as your location, industry, and goals. I recommend hopping on the mobile train sooner rather than later. Forecasters are predicting that by 2019, 72% of digital ad spend will be on mobile advertising!

5. Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, mobile should be a consideration for all of your online marketing efforts. Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMPs) are a way to take that focus even further. AMPs are not a ranking factor in Google (for now) but they can positively impact impressions, clicks, and user experience.

“Since the rollout of AMPs in mobile SERPs this past spring, pages have typically only been found at the top of the results page in a carousel—which is still prime real estate—however, Google recently announced that AMPs will soon also begin showing in the organic results and supporting more content types. We’ve all heard the mobile-friendliness search stats, and adopting AMPs is another way to bring content to your consumers instantly and on the go.

“Historically, AMPs have been utilized mainly by news publishers, but with the expansion to the organic results, I can see a future for almost every type of industry. Shopify, eBay, and Fandango recently announced their integration of AMPs, so this is a good trend for e-commerce clients especially to be conscious of. And Google also hinted that they will begin supporting more content types like live videos, galleries, etc., which can also open more doors for clients to take advantage of.” – Member of Account Management Team

The increased speed of Accelerated Mobile Pages leads to a better user engagement, and those (potential) customers/clients are more likely to return to your site if it was able to quickly provide them the information they were looking for. A recent study shows that with AMPs, The Washington Post saw a 23% increase in mobile search users who return in 7 days. If you’re a business receiving the majority of your site traffic from mobile devices, AMPs could be a strategic way to boost your online presence above and beyond your competitors.

6. Video

Video is not just for YouTube. It should be incorporated into as many of your online marketing efforts as possible: product/procedure pages on your site, email marketing, display ads, social platforms, and everything in between!

“For online marketing rich content could include native video content and paid video ads on both YouTube and Facebook Video Display ads. Also, I think brands will begin to utilize Facebook Live more for events and branded content to engage their fans.

“I believe these videos will be prominent cross-device! Today, people are constantly moving between devices throughout the day and advertisers need to be innovative and streamline their message to engage users across all devices.

“For Facebook Live, I would recommend this for brands and businesses that have a strong Facebook following. Facebook Live is a tool to engage your audience, not necessarily build an audience. These videos are best for events, conferences, speaking engagements, big company announcements, etc. There are so many options to deliver creative, curated content!” – Sophie Kirk

Rich video content is content that keeps on giving. One video can apply organic, paid, and social campaigns across devices, and can be broken down and repurposed to create a number of assets. Videos are not only attention-grabbing, but are also a great way to establish your brand’s message and have lasting effects in terms of brand recall.

7. Links

Links might not be the most exciting item on this list, but they’re certainly one of the most important. Link building is an essential aspect of a well-rounded SEO strategy! When the search engines crawl pages on your site, links are used to identify how it relates to other internal pages and other sites. Links connecting one site to another can indicate that a particular page/site is the authority on a given topic. But, as you should know, not all links are created equal!

Google first launched its Penguin Update in spring of 2012 and rolled out its final update, Penguin 4.0, this past fall. Penguin is Google’s effort to catch sites that are using “black-hat SEO” techniques like spammy link acquisition to affect search rankings.

“In 2017, ‘link’ will no longer be a dirty 4-letter word. For far too long, bad link building has been lumped in with quality link earning. Everyone got freaked out by Penguin and the industries either shied away from “linkbuilding,” or, if they were doing it, were hush-hush about it.

“Google’s initial differentiator was to focus on links as votes, which is at the core of PageRank. Google has, in the past, described their foundational algorithm by stating: PageRank works by counting the number and quality of links to a page to determine a rough estimate of how important the website is. The underlying assumption is that more important websites are likely to receive more links from other websites.” – Paula French

Google truly is looking for quality over quantity when it comes to link building, but that’s just part of the SEO puzzle. If your site is suffering from technical issues or lacking rich, natural content, links will not save you. Make sure your online marketing strategy includes both on and off-site efforts.

These 7 online marketing tactics are an inexpensive way to boost awareness of your practice and bring in new, revenue-generating patients. With a little strategy and effort, you can have a comprehensive SEO campaign that brings your practice’s website up to speed!

Image Resources:

Cell Phone Image

Facebook Emojis Image

Social Network Image

May 4, 2017
Marketing to Males: How Can Your Cosmetic Surgery Practice Draw in More Men?

In a society that remains focused on physical appearance, plastic surgeons have plenty of healthy competition to appeal to the audience in their community. Because plastic surgery procedures are being purchased overwhelmingly by women—in 2016, women purchased 90.7% of plastic surgery procedures compared to 9.3% purchased by men—most marketers target female prospects. However, research shows that doctors could be doing a lot more with their marketing strategies when it comes to targeting men.

A New York University Medical Center study demonstrated the highly female-centric marketing campaigns being implemented by plastic surgeons. After analyzing 453 websites and 4,239 images on plastic surgeons’ websites, only 5% of the pictures included males, and 0.9% depicted both men and women together—not to mention that only 22% of these websites included any services related directly to males. In fact, some plastic surgeons completely ignore the male market in online marketing efforts or minimize them significantly.

While popularity in some procedures has risen in male patients, plastic surgeons are seeking appealing and effective ways to market their services to men. What exactly is drawing in the men who are getting these procedures? Research shows that the following factors could help influence men to feel comfortable undergoing plastic surgery procedures for issues they want to resolve, ultimately helping them to gain more confidence.

Pay Attention to What’s Already Popular

When it comes to marketing to male consumers, it’s important to note trends. At the top of the list of surgical procedures performed on men in 2016 were liposuction, breast reduction, eyelid surgery, nose surgery, and facelifts. Popular non-surgical cosmetic procedures included injectables like Botox and Sculptra, as well as skin rejuvenation procedures like dermabrasion. Choosing to focus on these procedures and providing a plethora of before-and-after photos of men who have had these procedures done could prove beneficial to your plastic surgery ad campaign. Plus, the images can demonstrate the natural results that men may be seeking if they associate cosmetic procedures with highly noticeable and dramatic results.

Focus on Youth and Energy

The last thing that any male—or person, for that matter—wants to hear is that they look “tired.” Appearing to lack energy can be detrimental in a lot of ways, especially in a busy workplace that may be riddled with young people vying for the next promotion. By decreasing wrinkles and folds through plastic surgery, the fatigued look improves dramatically. Many men want to restore that youthful, energetic look that they had in their twenties, and this could provide effective fuel for your ad campaign. Again, consider highlighting before-and-after photos that demonstrate the great results men might not know they’re looking for!

Target the Dads

After years of raising kids, it’s hard for the stress and work not to take a toll on the body and appearance in general. Child raising years are common for the appearance of wrinkles and weight gain. Fathers are an excellent and relatively untapped market for plastic surgeons, in a similar way that mothers have been an effective marketing target. Try changing the dialogue in your ads to focus on hardworking fathers who deserve to treat themselves to a naturally younger look—a.k.a. the “Daddy Do-Over.”

Emphasize a Natural Yet Rugged Look

While many men may attribute plastic surgery to women and femininity, in reality, strong, masculine features can be enhanced with procedures that can provide natural-looking results. Some of Hollywood’s most notable and masculine heartthrobs haven’t come by their looks completely naturally. Even Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson confessed to having liposuction performed on stubborn flab, and George Clooney admitted to having an eyelid lift to help achieve his youthful glow. Men’s grooming is increasingly popular and less taboo than it has been in previous years, and the idea of shaving off ten years is now a highly acceptable idea.

Market to Couples

Perhaps one of the more effective tactics is to reach men through their girlfriends or wives. It isn’t uncommon for a husband or boyfriend to use his girlfriend’s or wife’s products and to become hooked on the results. This can translate to cosmetic procedures as well: if a female significant other comes back from a cosmetic treatment with a refreshed glow, this becomes a recommendation in itself. Target your marketing to couples by age, encouraging them to enhance their bodies together or to reclaim their youthful looks.

Pay Attention to Male Shopping Trends Online

Men are increasingly turning their shopping experiences into social experiences, comparing prices and discussing them with others via social media. While this type of online behavior has been typically associated with women in the past, it is becoming increasingly popular among males. An online study from ManScan shows that 72% of men compare prices online, 56% read reviews of products and services, and 44% share this information with others. In many cases, the products and services discussed involve health and wellness. This information bodes well for the sharing of information about potential surgical procedures. By using a cost/benefit analysis with cosmetic procedures, plastic surgeons may see positive results with the male market.

The male market provides an excellent opportunity for cosmetic surgeons to grow their practice through online advertising. By focusing on trends and behaviors, targeting men in ads can prove highly beneficial when done well. Consider these ideas and get more clicks to your website.

April 11, 2017