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 [...]
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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 [...]
Infographic Friday: To Market Your Practice, Think Beyond Facebook
So many social networks, so little return for your efforts. If you ever needed proof that marketing your practice via the major social networks isn’t worth the time you spend (or the agency fees you pay), this infographic from JumpThru puts the issue in sharp focus. The fact is that even though women dominate Facebook, [...]
Is Answering Questions Online Bad for Your (Business) Health?
With hundreds of thousands of doctor answers, RealSelf has a fair sense of how doctors view participating in online Q&A with patients. Most plastic surgeons, dermatologists, cosmetic dentists and related specialties see it as a legitimate extension of their online marketing efforts, or simply, a way to help consumers make better informed decisions about cosmetic [...]
Making Time for Social Media Saves Time for More Important Things
After a full day of consults, surgeries and staff meetings, you could be forgiven for thinking that adding more to your workload by maintaining a presence in social media is a time suck you just can’t afford. Truth is, though, that approach has it exactly backwards because social media can actually save you time in [...]
Facebook Faux Pas: It’s not about Acquiring New Patients
As the world’s largest social network, Facebook is all about connecting people with one another. Unfortunately, for small businesses, including cosmetic surgery practices, it’s often the setting for a major disconnect, as well. All too often, business owners view the site as a way to generate new business rather than as a means to build [...]
Cosmetic Surgery: the Cure for Unflattering Profile Photos?
Remember the old saying, a picture is worth a thousand words? These days, a good photo may be worth a lot more than that, especially when it’s posted as part of an online profile on a social media site. From making new friends to landing new jobs, people are discovering that how they look online [...]
Infographic Friday: Achieve Great Internet Results with SEO, PPC and Social
To the uninitiated, the intricacies of Internet marketing can be a confusing alphabet soup of unfamiliar acronyms. SEO? PPC? Chances are you already know that they stand for search engine optimization and pay per click, respectively, but digging deeper into their meaning can leave you feeling overwhelmed and ready to give up. That’s why we [...]
Claim your Google+ Profile for Increased Credibility and Better Search Rank
If you’re a socially savvy doctor, you probably already have a Facebook page and, perhaps, a Twitter feed or some photos up on Pinterest. Claimed your Google+ profile yet? If not, you should. Although the search giant’s social network doesn’t generate the media buzz that its competitors often do, it’s growing fast. In fact, according [...]
The Future of Healthcare Marketing: 4 Trends to Watch this Year
Wondering what the coming year portends in terms of marketing your practice? The folks at healthcare marketing agency Franklin Street have given it some serious thought and identified four trends that will reshape how consumers find, select and interact with their providers in 2013 and beyond: Mobile Matters It’s official: There are now more smartphone [...]
Infographic Friday: Are You a Good Friend on Facebook?
With more than a billion users, Facebook is many things: A messaging service for keeping up with friends and family. A place to share photos and funny videos. A way to reach out to old flames and former classmates. For businesses, though, it can also be a minefield: Misunderstand how and why people use the [...]
Paging Dr. Google: Search Still Matters for Patients and Doctors (but Social Does, too)
You don’t have to be a software engineer to realize that millions of people turn to the Internet every day to research products, services and the businesses that provide them. That’s true for shoes, consumer electronics and, increasingly, for health information. In fact, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center, 72% of [...]
4 More Takeaways from Nielsen’s Latest Social Media Report
When it comes to tracking consumers’ views on media — traditional, social or otherwise — few companies have a better handle on the current state of affairs than the longtime trend-trackers at Nielsen. So when they publish a report called “State of the Media: The Social Media Report 2012,” rest assured there are plenty of [...]
Positive Outcome: Nielsen Report Highlights the Bright Side of Social Media
Why do consumers participate in social media? To hear some doctors tell it, they do so mostly to grouse and gripe but the reality is that the majority of people are not complainers online. In fact, if you were to ask people to describe their feelings after engaging in social media, 76% would respond [...]
3 Steps to Social Media Management and Measurement
At RealSelf, we often talk of taking a three-step, Crawl-Walk-Run approach to engaging with online consumers through social media. As CEO Tom Seery explains, Most doctors are at what can be called the Crawl stage, where they see the value of protecting their online reputation but aren’t ready to promote on the web. A growing [...]
