How to take advantage of
online social media

Social media is the new marketing phenomenon.

There’s a strong temptation to use these services beacuse they seem to be everywhere. LinkedIn, Twitter, MySpace, FaceBook, YouTube are some of the biggest, and chances are you may have already tested the waters. But you need to be careful doing so.

Some companies have tried to use social media and online marketing and had never done any other marketing at all. That can be a big mistake.

Social media is generally an advanced strategy. The results are only effective when first having a solid lineup of basic marketing materials. The baseline for healthcare organizations, hospitals and practices of all types is the fundamentals. These include a great website, ongoing patient generation systems, and a well-considered marketing plan before delving into social media.

That said, Twitter…one of the fastest growing of the social network sites, can be an effective way to communicate with your target market.

Twitter is a real-time short messaging service that works over multiple networks and devices. Launched in 2006 as a free micro-blogging service, users can post and/or read brief text messages (known as “tweets”), limited to 140 characters.

The concept of Twitter is to build a community of followers. Messages or “tweets” are posted on the author’s profile page and are delivered to followers (subscribers). Users can also send and receive tweets or updates as phone text messages. You can follow others, and others can follow you.

Some people follow everyone who follows them, but we suggest you be selective about whom you follow because you simply don’t have time to follow hundreds or thousands of people. People should follow you because they are interested in what you have to say, and vice versa.

One of the great things about Twitter is that it is not like email. You won’t get a cluttered up in box with Twitter. There’s no obligation to respond.

Below are some Twitter DO and DON’T Recommendations for Healthcare Marketing

• DO – register your name so that you own it. If you plan to use it now or later; it’s free.

• DO – personalize your Twitter page. There are hundreds of social sites and millions of users, so move beyond the free customization that comes with Twitter. If you are serious about this, call us and we can design a branded page for you.

• DO – provide great thoughtful useful content. At 140 characters, it can be challenging. Many of our Tweets include interesting headlines, with links to content.

• DO – Monitor Twitter chatter about your organization and or services. Respond when it is appropriate.

• DO – include important keywords in your Twitter bio so that people looking for you or your subject can find you.

• DON’T – share anecdotes about your cat’s adorable new kittens. Unless you are a rock star or celebrity, other people don’t care.

• DON’T – try to follow thousands of people. Start with a handful of leaders in your field…maybe up to 100. This is a great way to get a lot of value out of Twitter.

• DON’T – use the automated services (bots) that follow thousands of others in the hope they will follow you. It’s not a popularity contest, and besides, what are you gaining when your robot follows their robot?

• DO – use helpful applications like Twellow.com (to look up people), TweetDeck.com (instead of twitters clumsy interface), maybe TweetLater.com if you want to spread tweets over time. To shorten URLs so that you can safely stay within 140 characters, use www.bit.ly.

• DON’T – start or expect much too fast. Commit to doing a little bit every day for a couple of weeks. Then, once you’re familiar, you’ll be able to better evaluate your experience.

• DO – tell patients and colleagues that you are on Twitter, and promote your Twitter address so people can easily follow you.

Twitter can be strictly personal, entirely business or something of a cross-over; in short bursts of text. It’s a network of user-generated pages that can be promoted within the network. Twitter (and social media) are advanced marketing strategies and may not be for everyone. You shouldn’t attempt it except as an adjunct to the basics, like a sound marketing plan and a solid website.

Check with us before you jump into the social media phenomenon, and watch for additional articles about Facebook and other services in the future. For now, you can follow Josh at @JMDesign_Studio. Or you can reach out to us by email or just pickup the phone. It may be old school, but it’s still highly effective to simply call us at: 561.596.9071.