Eye care professionals are busy. You have a full schedule of appointments, orders and answering questions from previous patients. Neglecting your social media can be tempting, but it’s important to keep in mind that your digital presence is often the only way patients get to know your practice.
In honor of this, here are five quick tips to ensure you find success with your practice marketing on social media:
1. Embrace Multiple Social Media Accounts
Ensure that you have a presence on the top social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter. They’re the most popular and are essential for every eye care practice. Other networks like Instagram and Pinterest can also be helpful, as they let you showcase the styles of eyewear your practice carries, as well as inspire users and followers to look to you for style and eye care tips.
2. Use Promotions Wisely
Social media is a great way to post sales and promotions your practice is currently offering. After all, it lets your social media audience keep up with your in-store offers in real-time. Just be sure to pick which channels you use for promotions and keep in mind how often you post them. Too many promotions in a short period of time can seem “spammy,” while some channels like LinkedIn are more appropriate for educational content instead of promotional content.
3. Stay in Touch with Industry Experts
Follow other eye care authorities on all channels in order to get and share industry news and information with your audience. This positions you as an industry authority and helps you leverage social media more effectively. Plus, there’s always the fact that the more accounts you follow, the greater the likelihood that your practice will be followed in return.
4. Respond to Posts and Reviews
Be mindful that these channels allow your followers, patients and potential customers the ability to communicate with you and share their opinions of your practice, as well as what types of experiences they have had with your practice. Pay attention to what customers are writing to you, what they’re writing on your Facebook wall and how they have reviewed your business on Yelp. Respond to both positive and negative reviews. This shows your audience that you care about what they have to say. Never delete a negative review. Instead, respond to it and communicate to the reviewer about how you may be able to make the situation more positive. It’s all about engaging with your patients appropriately.
5. Share Experiences
When attending conferences or tradeshows, share your experience with your social media audience. Use hashtags the conference has established in order to extend your practice’s social reach. All of this, again, demonstrates your expertise and the fact that you are an authority in eye care.
