At last month’s ASAPS conference in New York, I was encouraged to see the number of doctors who are coming to understand how valuable social media can be in promoting their practice. Slowly but surely, more and more aesthetic professionals are realizing that engaging with consumers online is the future and that they can do [...]
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Infographic Friday: Listen Up, Doc, but Don’t Be Intrusive
There’s a reason they call it the “art” of listening. Trying to ascertain what consumers want is definitely more of an art than a science and nowhere is that more true than in social media. As this infographic from NetBase.com suggests, such “social listening” is especially tricky, in large part, because consumers aren’t sure how [...]
Go with the Flow: 3 Channels to Connect with Aesthetic Consumers
We spend a lot of time at RealSelf talking about the “consumer decision journey” for a very simple reason: When people begin considering cosmetic surgery, they really are embarking on a journey. It can take weeks, months or years as they consider and evaluate their options and it can extend long after the fact as [...]
Openness, Engagement and Trust: The 3 Essentials of an Effective Code of Conduct
After our presentation at the 2013 ASAPS Conference in New York, a doctor came up to me with concern about establishing a Code of Conduct (CoC) for her team. “My world is already surrounded by rules, policies and regulation. Doesn’t a Code of Conduct just create more rules for my team? Isn’t social media supposed [...]
Infographic Friday: Generate Buzz with Brand Advocates (not Online “Celebrities”)
Imagine Jennifer Aniston standing on the red carpet thanking you for her new nose or Victoria Beckham telling Oprah about how delighted she is with her new breasts. Well, “imagining” pretty much sums it up. Even if you were the doctor who performed those procedures, the reality is that celebrity endorsements are not all they’re [...]
As Doctors Embrace Social Media, Creating a Code of Conduct Is Crucial
It’s only been 3 years since I’ve joined RealSelf as the EVP of Doctor Community, yet it’s amazing to me the tremendous shift that’s taken place in how doctors are embracing the world of social media, online reviews and the empowered consumer. Social Media is no longer considered to be just a fad and has [...]
Doctors Don’t Need to Be on Facebook (and other good news)
Facebook and social media are not lead generation tools. These services provide an opportunity for prospective patients, fans and followers to get to know you…at an appropriate arm’s length When I presented about the social media-empowered patient at the recent ASAPS and ASDS conferences, one statement I made got audible sighs of relief from doctors: [...]
Infographic Friday: The Search for Health Info Goes SoLoMo
Not familiar with the term SoLoMo? You should be because it’s rapidly redefining how consumers get their healthcare information. Increasingly, people are turning to Social media for insights, searching for Local providers who can fill their needs and doing it all on their Mobile devices. SoLoMo. It’s the connective tissue that’s helping aesthetic consumers navigate [...]
For Doctors, the Future of Marketing Is on Demand
If you’ve ever found yourself thinking that consumers are just too demanding, brace yourself. According to the folks at McKinsey, you ain’t seen nothing yet as evolving technology and rising consumer expectations are setting the stage for the next great stage in marketing. It’s called on-demand marketing and doctors who ignore it run the risk [...]
Infographic Friday: Get Social to Counter Patient Complaints
Are you giving lip service to customer service? These days, if you’re ignoring social media as a channel to respond to customer complaints, you probably are. Worse yet, you’re also ignoring an excellent opportunity to turn those complaints into accolades that will net you new business. The fact is that customer service should be a [...]
For Doctors, Providing Relevant Content is the Key to Social Success
If you’ve ever found yourself frustrated by Facebook, you’re not alone. Between disappearing posts, questionable conversion rates and a steady stream of platform changes, it’s not surprising that many doctors find the site a mixed blessing at best. Case in point: The site’s latest update which entails giving users far more flexibility in determining what [...]
RealSelf 100: Socially Savvy Doctors Earn Honors for Helping Aesthetic Consumers
There’s no escaping the fact that social media has given aesthetic consumers greater control over their medibeauty decisions but that doesn’t mean doctors can’t play a major role in the process. In fact, smart doctors recognize that social media enables them to play a larger role than ever by facilitating engagement with consumers in the [...]
Infographic Friday: Successful Social Media Starts with Strategy
“If everybody jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you jump off it too?” If you’re like us, you probably heard that line a lot when you were young and about to do something that was destined to have an unpleasant outcome. These days, it’s just as relevant for doctors who see their peers engaging with [...]
Recent HIPAA Update Adds Requirements for Marketing Your Practice
As a board-certified aesthetic professional, it goes without saying that you go to great lengths to protect patient privacy. However, it now appears that you may need to go even further. Earlier this year, the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced new HIPAA rules than not only update the Act’s privacy and security [...]
The 5Cs of Social Healthcare: Keep the Commitment to Stay Top of Mind (Part V in a series)
Content, conversations, channels and code of conduct. As noted in previous posts, these four concepts form the pillars of successful social media marketing. Yet in and of themselves they won’t help you grow your practice without the fifth C of social healthcare: Commitment. Unlike buying an ad or mailing out brochures, social media is not [...]
The 5 Cs of Social Healthcare: Create a Code of Conduct for Online Interactions (Part IV in a series)
No doubt, you’ve heard the horror stories: In Missouri, an OB-GYN is reprimanded for posting inappropriate comments about a patient on Facebook. In Rhode Island, a doctor is fired and fined after revealing identifiable patient information on the site. And in St. Louis, a cosmetic surgeon is sued for negligence after the digital information in [...]
The 5 Cs of Social Healthcare: Choose your Channels to Connect with Top Prospects (Part III in a series)
When it comes to social media, all platforms are not created equal. And when it comes to marketing cosmetic surgery and other aesthetic procedures via social media, choosing the wrong one can result in a lot of wasted time, misspent marketing dollars and minimal return on your investment. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest — they all boast [...]
Infographic Friday: To Market Your Practice, Go Where the Patients Are
According to legend, the late bank robber Willie Sutton once answered a reporter’s question of “Why do you rob banks?” with the now-famous rejoinder “Because that’s where the money is.” In a way, it’s the same with social media marketing (although obviously without the criminal element): Why should you be marketing your practice on social [...]
The 5 Cs of Social Healthcare: Enhance Your Authenticity by Encouraging Conversations (Part II of a series)
At RealSelf, we often hear from doctors who say they have a hard time convincing patients to post reviews after their procedures. Frankly, we’re not surprised; after all, having completed their aesthetic journey, what incentive is there for a patient to take the time to write a post-procedure report? Compare that to the non-stop stream [...]
Grow Your Practice with RealSelf’s 5 Cs of Social Healthcare (Part I of a series)
As the owner of a small business, you’ve probably heard of the 4 Ps of marketing: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. It’s a time-honored concept that works well when you’re selling widgets or washing machines but it falls short when your “product” entails a medical service, an emotional decision and the growing influence of social [...]
