Bringing in Patients Through Social Media: Case Studies from Practitioners

[AdminWolf]

You can view the page at http://www.odwire.org/forum/content/...-Practitioners

[Paul Farkas]

Dr Bazan and Dr Bonilla Warford have just completed a Podccast where I had the privilege of being interviewed about the origin and workings of ODwire.org.

To listen to the Podcast...http://peripheralvision.info/2011/01...s-from-odwire/

[Nathan Bonilla-Warford]

Thanks for being our guest on the Podcast, Paul!

I am looking forward to the webinar! I need to find out if presenters can enter to win the Apple TV.....

[Nathan Bonilla-Warford]

A quick suggestion for anyone who is signing up. If you haven't listened to it yet, check out Dr. Alan Glazier's Webinar on Social Media on ODWire. It covers a lot of foundation information that will be helpful for this one.

[Nathan Bonilla-Warford]

A few hours before the webinar, one lucky registered attendee will be selected to receive a free promotional event set up on their Facebook account. Dr. Justin Bazan will demonstrate how easy it is to do by setting up he event live during the webinar.

Don not miss out on this education and promotional opportunity. Click Register Here at the top of the page to join us!

[Alan Glazier, OD, FAAO]

Looking forward to this webinar - these guys rock social media for small business daily so expect tons of great take-home info.

[Nathan Bonilla-Warford]

Thanks, Alan! Looking forward to it!

[AdminWolf]

this should be an informative webinar for sure -- anyone with their own practice should probably register for this one. You'd think ODwire.org members would be very hip to social networking

[AdminWolf]

Thanks everyone for attending tonight, it was a really educational show. We'll get the archive up as soon as we can & do the drawing for the Apple TV tomorrow

cheers
adam

[Bob Main]

enjoyed the session. thanks to all and Cooper

[Raymond Brill]

Thanks for the Case studies. It puts a face(book) on what all of the ruckus is about. The only limit is our imagination. Thanks to the Drs and CooperVision.

[Alan Cabrera]

Thanks for the webinar. It was very informative.

A couple of questions. Did you merge your personal facebook page with your business facebook page? I recently unmerged them because I didn't like mixing my personal info and friends with the business. However, now I cannot 'create a deal' to reward my patients for participating in my business facebook page. Also, I have two facebook business pages now. One, which is unmerged and has all the data and photos in it and another merged page which has no data or pictures but bares the business name and has me linked as the admin. How do I get rid of that page?

Thanks again!

[AdminWolf]

Here is a copy of the powerpoint deck.

cheers
adam

[Nathan Bonilla-Warford]

Alan,

I'll admit the splintering/merging of Facebook pages is one of the most frustrating problems. You are right to want to separate personal from business, as I do with all of my social media accounts.

First let's clarify something. Very, very few people should have a personal FB page, only a profile. Read this for more info. This is a useful distinction because profiles have added privacy measures that do not affect pages.

You should be able to delete any page that you created, but if it is a community page, you will not be able to. You can make a new business page and merge the community page with it and then keep the personal stuff off of it.

Let us know how it goes.....

-Nate

[Emily Thomas]

Hello! Thanks for the info in the webinar. It got me excited to try some new things with my office Facebook page!
Quick question: Does anyone know how to invite friends to "Like" your office page? It seems to me that current fans can only "Share" the current post, and don't have the option to select their Facebook friends from a list to get an invitation to "Like" our whole page. I have this option as the administrator, but no one else can suggest the page to friends. I hope I'm just missing something here!
Thanks again!

[Jason Hershorn]

I'm still a little confused about the difference between a facebook "page" and a facebook "group". I have both at the moment but it seems like more businesses are using the "page" than the "group".

I've been thinking about deleting the "group" if there is a way to delete it.

Thanks!

[Nathan Bonilla-Warford]

Jason,

For a variety of reasons, I recommend a Page over a group. If you have both, you can delete your group by 1) sending and message and posting an updating directly all members to your Page 2) Deleting all members on the group and finally 3) deleting yourself. If the group has no members, it will vanish.

If you want more info on groups vs pages, read this. http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-...-pages-2010-02 It is a little out of date and the recent changes make it even more valuable to have a page.

[Nathan Bonilla-Warford]

Emily, I'm glad to know you are excited!

There isn't a simple one-click invite friends to the "like" your page that I know of. I think FB wants to encourage you to pay for ads. However, you can be creative. You can obvious email your patients and have flyers and signage at the office. You can also have a "virtual grand opening" and create a FB event (like Justin walked through) and the use this tip to invite all your friends: http://funkyplumbo.com/2009/04/21/ho...ent-in-one-go/

Good luck!

-Nate

[Justin Bazan]

I have this option as the administrator, but no one else can suggest the page to friends. I hope I'm just missing something here!
Thanks again!

Up until a few days ago, Fans had this option. Currently its only available for admins, but the rumor has it, it will be back soon so your fans can have their friends like your page.

http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-...eature-2011-01

[Ally Stoeger OD]

Thanks for great info on your case studies and the other topics you covered. Well done!

[Nathan Bonilla-Warford]

Thanks for great info on your case studies and the other topics you covered. Well done!

Thanks, Ally! If you have any questions, let Justin or me know!

[AdminWolf]

I got an e-mail from an attendee last night --

"Thanks for the webinar. I did find it eye-opening, but I have some basic questions. Firstly, how long have you both had web sites, blogs, and social media presence (facebook, twitter, etc.)? I would think you must first establish that presence, before you can really gain any benefit from social media marketing. Secondly, one of you indicated that you spend 15 minutes/wk w/ staff updating, accessing, monitoring the internet presence. That doesn't seem realistic -- so what is the reality of the time requirements for such avenues? And finally, which web site maintenence cos., and EMR systems do you use? Thanks so much for your time and expertise!"


Nate or Justin, care to expound?

[Justin Bazan]

Does anyone know how to invite friends to "Like" your office page?

The feature is back! Fans can invite their friends to like your page with the "suggest to friends" option. Top left side (old layout), top right side (new/preview layout)

[Justin Bazan]

would think you must first establish that presence, before you can really gain any benefit from social media marketing.

This is a myth and absolutely false. The benefits from SMM exist from day 1. I built a huge following of "Dr. Bazan" (and now Park Slope Eye) advocates who are extremely loyal and a great referral sources by utilizing a blog. When you don't have a huge fan base, make an effort to get the 1 on 1 interaction. When you make it a point to "wow" them with your blog (I used to show them a pertinent post right in the exam room and then email the link) you are going to see immediate results. They will talk you up to their friends and family. I don't think there are too many better benefits than a new patient, do you?


[/QUOTE]Secondly, one of you indicated that you spend 15 minutes/wk w/ staff updating, accessing, monitoring the internet presence. That doesn't seem realistic -- so what is the reality of the time requirements for such avenues?[/QUOTE]

15 mins was probably a bit high! Lets say under 10 mins a week per staffer to participate at a basic level. I can teach somebody to manage their SM sites for a time commitment of about 5-10 mins a day if they utilize a management system like postling.com. One of my greatest pleasures is helping people learn how to over come the lame excuse "I don't have the time" :P I made a video showing that it takes me less than 1 min to do. It can be found here https://www.facebook.com/video/video...50099319796983

[/QUOTE]And finally, which web site maintenance cos., and EMR systems do you use? Thanks so much for your time and expertise!"[/QUOTE]

Sitecube.com and Revolution EHR. Thanks for tuning in, it was our pleasure!

[Richard_Hom]

This is a myth and absolutely false. The benefits from SMM exist from day 1..."

I think there is a continuum associated with social media and marketing. I think it depends upon the target markets you want to reach. Personally, I've built up my own web site based upon an existing "brand name" (e.g. Grand Rounds for ODs or "GrandRounds4ODs").

If you start with an existing brand and have a strong identity,then the growth rate can be much faster and will accrue from day 1. On the other hand, branding doesn't come quickly if you have none or have a damaged one. But since growth has to start somewhere, applying the social media to everything you do for 15 minutes per day will grow benefits eventually.

[Nathan Bonilla-Warford]

To the attendee: I'd like echo the statements by Richard and Justin with a slight twist. I do think that 15 minutes a day is a very realistic estimate for an OD who wants to take advantage of the power of social media and makes an effort at being efficient. The difficultly is not that social media takes too much time, but that it is often so effective and beneficial that people want to spend more time than they originally intend (think about the time spent on ODWire - compelling content is engaging).

And while their can be immediate benefits as Justin points out, the benefits only multiply as you get more skilled, your practice employs multiple channels, and your online audience grows.

My point - yes social media takes time and effort, but that should not dissuade anyone from becoming involved.