The “hottest” buzz word on the internet today is Social Media. For those of you who would like to feel out Social Media marketing as part of your overall chiropractic internet marketing strategy, but aren’t really sure what all the buzz is about, let’s take a minute to talk about the “Who, What, When, Where, and How” of social media and you, that’s “Who.”
Social media marketing may seem familiar in some respects to other chiropractic marketing strategies you’ve thought about in the past, but also unfamiliar at the same time. In the “familiar” category, you’d never think of trying any sort of marketing plan without taking the time to understand what it is and what you want to get from it. It’s important to ask yourself, “What are my goals?” Once you know what you want, it’ll be easier for you to use social media to your greatest advantage.
Before you begin your social media effort, it will be highly important for you to make certain that you “own your name” on all the social media outlets, which is to say, be certain that your name or your clinic’s name is procurable so that you can use the exact same name on all of the social channels you decide to use. There is a free service to assist you with your search when you’re ready. That who is knowem.com. Knowem.com will check where your name is and/or if it’s attainable or not on a sufficient number of social media sites.
The next step, once you have all your social media accounts “locked up”, is to make a decision as to where you ought to be active. Because you have a clinic to run and patients to see, starting with only a few social media sites is best and may actually be all you’ll need. That way you won’t get unduly busy in too many channels. So, how do you choose the best sites for you? Choose the social media site where the most action is, which are facebook, twitter, linkedin, and Youtube
What successful social media activity will do for you is build a real presence in your community. What you should never do “sell” on your social media sites, in other words don’t sell your clinic, don’t sell services or products, don’t sell anything! The purpose of social media is for you to go out and network with the community. By all means, let them become aware what you do, but do it by becoming a participant. Social media works the same way as social networking offline. People on social media sites don’t want to be sold to, plain and simply. Social media sites are a lot like a neighborhood backyard barbecue. People are standing around chatting about who they are and what they do, and then a person asks you what you do. Or, maybe you start the conversation by simply stating, “Hello, I’m Dr. ____. With social media marketing, the same kind of interaction applies. Social media sites should be handled the same way you’d “work” offline networking opportunities to promote yourself, i.e., answer the questions and concerns that get potential patients interested in the who that’s you!