One industry that my firm is doing more and more business with lately is the healthcare industry.  All areas of this field – from recruiting, hospital groups, medical facilities and clinics, to individual physicians and practitioners – seem to be jumping on the social media scene.  With the Age Wave and Baby Boomers demanding better, cutting edge, state of the art care – their ways of learning, communicating with their practitioners, and telling their friends about that care will advance too…and social media is the vehicle!

 

As we are always ones to keep up with the latest and greatest in marketing for all business segments, we have been compiling a list of resources to use to keep up to date with all the trends.

 

I shared this list with a healthcare client of mine and they went through the roof and suggested that we share it with all of you.  As you can guess – I loved the idea!

 

So below is a list of all of (my) favorite healthcare and medical marketing websites and blogs that have the sharpest and most informative content to help those in healthcare market their businesses more effectively.

 

Enjoy and make sure if you like the blogs, let them know I sent you!

 

• KevinMD.com: http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/
• The Healthcare Marketing Exchange: http://www.healthcaresuccess.com/blog/
• Weekly Probe Marketing: http://www.weeklyprobe.com/category/marketing/
• MedTouch Blog: http://blog.medtouch.com/
• Dose of Digital: http://www.doseofdigital.com/
• Medical Marketing: http://blogs.estcomedical.com/
• Hospital Impact: http://www.hospitalimpact.org/
• KBM Group: http://www.kbmghealth.com/blogs.aspx
• Medical Marketing Blog: http://www.mednet-tech.com/newsletter/
• The Healthcare Marketing Community and Blog: http://healthcaremarketing.ning.com/
• ePharma Rx: http://blog.intouchsol.com/
• Healthcare.Marketing: http://hospitalmarketinganas.blogspot.com/
• Quaintise: http://blog.quaintise.com/
• Health Care 3.0: http://healthcareandthesocialweb.ning.com/
• ND&P
• Enabling Healthy Decisions: http://georgevanantwerp.com/
• Healthy Conversations: http://www.trajectory4brands.com/blog/
• Medical Marketing Blog: http://omnimedicalmarketing.com/blog/
• Gandolf’s Marketing Magic: http://www.gandolfsmarketingmagic.com/
• Medical Web Experts: http://www.medicalwebexperts.com/blog/
• HealthBlawg: http://healthblawg.typepad.com/
• RX MD Marketing Solutions: http://rxmdmarketingsolutions.com/healthcare-marketing-blog/
• Hospital Marketing Journal: http://hospitalmarketing.blogs.com/my_weblog/
• Health Care Leadership Blog: http://www.healthcareleadershipblog.com/
• Kru: http://blog.kruresearch.com/
• The Healthcare Marketer: http://thehealthcaremarketer.wordpress.com/
• Dan Dunlop: http://www.wellsphere.com/dan-dunlop/134463/posts
• Healthcare Marketing Success: http://healthcaremarketingsuccess.blogspot.com/

 

Are there any more that you would like to add to this list?

It probably won’t surprise you to hear that not every business in existence has a marketing plan.  But the question is: WHY NOT?

 

The honest answer is the fact that many of us have an aversion to the word PLAN.  It immediately scares and intimidates us.  Also, who knows exactly what needs to go in it and how you pull it all together?

 

Hard questions, but I think once you dive in and identify your goals and pinpoint your target market – you are ready to examine what is actually the toughest part, the marketing mix.  Sometimes we can get overwhelmed with so many options, but here are some of my favorites and ones that I suggest to get my clients.

 

These are a mixture of online and offline marketing tools – ‘mixture’ being key.  Notice that there are 10 items on the list, not 1.  A marketing plan includes a blend of different tactics….not putting all of your eggs in one basket.

 

1.  Email Blasts:  Email blasts are great for getting your information in front of your target audience on a consistent basis.  Make sure that they are packed with good information and that you schedule them on a regular basis.

 

2.  Article Marketing:  A great way to increase SEO and awareness is to share your blogs and articles on article marketing sites.  Make sure that they are keyword heavy and really show off your expertise!

 

3.  Advertising: While not an option for everyone, advertising in the media can reap wonderful benefits.  Whether it is a free ad placed in Craigslist or a two page center spread in Fortune magazine, advertising is a wonderful way to get your message seen.

 

4.  Social Media: PR is offline public relations and social media is its online sibling.  While a relatively new addition to the marketing mix, this powerful medium not only helps you engage on another level with your target market, but humanizes your brand.  It is a great way to engage your audience in real time.

 

5.  Content Marketing: This is a very important, while widely ignored, aspect of the marketing mix.  At the end of the day, if you have nothing to say or share – what reason does anyone have to listen to you.  Press releases, blogs, articles, blurbs, announcements and the rest need to be a part of your strategy so that you have enough wonderful content to push through your various channels.

 

6.  Public Relations: Another tried and true method of getting your brand name in front of the masses is through a media centric public relations campaign.  Using talk radio, television, newspaper and magazines to get your content and brand out there is a wonderful way to grab attention and get more people interested in you and your message.

 

7.  Video Marketing: Video is one of the greatest ways to engage with your audience.  After all, YouTube is the second largest search engine (after Google).  The biggest problem?  The myth that it is expensive and time consuming. As more and more videos hit the web, there are more companies coming along, offering seemingly cost-effective solutions.  Also, the technology for video is so advanced that you can even buy a couple pieces of equipment and hit the ground running yourself!

 

8.  Contests and Promotions:  These are very important aspects of your marketing mix as they drive traffic and interest like wildfire.  Make sure that these “customer grabbers” are part of your strategy and be careful to not overuse them!

 

9.  Podcasts: These are another one that, much like video, people tend to shy away from.  But with sites such as iTunes and BlogTalkRadio out there….it is simpler than ever before.  By following the instructions you can have yourself out on the airwaves in no time and into the iPods and speakers of your target audience.

 

10.  Events:  There are two sides to this one.  You can attend an event or hold an event.    Make sure to take part in events that are cost effective, not cost prohibitive.  If you are going to spend $15,000 for a three day exhibition, have the average customer bring you $150 and think you can score 5 new clients – skip it!  Brands like Sony and Simon & Schuster can handle it, but if you are a smaller business, make sure to do your homework and count the cost before!

 

This is by no means an exhaustive list.  There are many more things that you can throw into your own marketing mix.  In order to make the perfect marketing plan, look at the 10 items listed above (in addition to your own suggestions), put them against your strategy and objectives and then match them up with your budget.

 

As a lifelong marketer, I know how small these budgets can be.  Anytime I hear “marketing budget” I’m always reminded of something a fellow marketer said to me once. “My boss wants me to create a Taj Mahal campaign for 50 cents.” Pretty much sums it up right?

 

So start off with the least costly items and then add in the rest.  These are not written in stone so if something stops working, drop it and plug something into its place.  Just make sure to never replace a successful activity with an unproven one.  If your $25,000 quarterly advertising spend is garnering $100,000 in business…..keep it going!  I’ve known many companies to jump at the latest marketing activity to the detriment of their successful marketing activity.

 

To end here, planning is not something that should bog you down and is also not something that can only happen at the beginning of the year.  As the landscape for us marketers is constantly changing, be adaptable and be informed.  An educated flexible marketer is a successful one!

 

It’s exciting to see more and more healthcare organizations buzzing about social media marketing over the past year.  Social media marketing is such a wonderful way to connect with members of your target market (including your customers, referral sources, patients, and their families and caregivers) I’m happy to see healthcare organizations are beginning to adapt their marketing plans to include a social strategy that extends beyond the traditional ‘face to face’ and old school collateral brochures.

 

As my firm Go! Media handles many healthcare clients, the trend that we have seen when speaking with these various organizations is that many are struggling to get things off of the ground.  Whether it be red-tape such as writing social media policy and procedure clauses, dealing with HIPAA guidelines or just superiors who are reluctant to invest time and money in this ‘new med‘ – push back has been a common problem.

 

While time will force these problems to vanish, there are quite a lot of advantages to being an early adopter as a healthcare organization.  After extensive research, we have found many healthcare companies fall flat when it comes to their use (or misuse) of social media.

 

Here are a few of the reasons why healthcare organizations shouldn’t wait any longer when it comes to executing a social media marketing campaign:

 

1.  Facebook is not just for Starbucks.  With its millions of active users (and I stress the word “active”), Facebook has a sea of people that you can engage with from your healthcare organization.  These people are consuming information in every category, not just the mega-brands.  Everyone has their space on Facebook.  Even better, with Facebook Pages you can categorize your organization fully, and configure locations and other valuable information for your target audience.  Whether your business is local, national or international, Facebook has the ability to create real connections, support customer/patient communications and will help you let your audience know about any events, or exclusive information with just a few clicks.

 

2.  Your audience (and competition) is on Twitter.  The healthcare and medical community is not only on Twitter…they are active!  Doctors, medical companies, hospitals and many more are offering updates, event news, guidelines and much more on a daily basis.  Yet another massive and active community, Twitter is a hot spot for sharing information and you need to be in the mix!

 

3.  There is a LinkedIn Group to fit your needs….or 50! Just adding your hospital or company to LinkedIn is wonderful and important step…but what if you could also add an additional audience of 50,000 to 1 million+?  With LinkedIn Groups you can engage with potential customers/patients based on subject and location and get in front of them on a daily basis.  Now that is coverage!

 

4.  YouTube is the portal for promotion. Using video as a promotional tool is a must in the healthcare industry.  Having the ability to illustrate what your company is capable of in addition to the skill of your team or products is imperative.  Now imagine having the ability to place this video on the second largest search engine out there: YouTube.     Fully branded and packed with information, this vehicle does nothing but build your profile, credibility and positive sentiment.

 

5.  Act now or be left behind. As there are many organizations that are understaffed or unable to give the appropriate time to either do the social media or even pitch the idea of a campaign to the CEO….the organizations are simply trickling in.  But this speed will begin to increase at a faster and faster rate.  By being an early adopter, you can gain more market advantage and make a splash as one of the first organizations in your area to have a wonderful Facebook Page, an active Twitter account, a linked in LinkedIn account and a sharp and slick YouTube page.

 

I like ending with number 5 as there are many healthcare marketers out there that have received a lot of push back on social media from their organizations.  But for every one, there are numerous others who are getting their campaigns approved and are launching effective social media marketing campaigns and claiming their social real estate.  My advice is to get your plan together quickly so you don’t miss the boat!

 

Need help making sense of social media for your healthcare organization…and want to get started FAST?  My firm Go! Media can help!  Get in touch with us to find out how we can make social media work for your organization while saving you time, money while delivering outstanding value.  You can reach us toll free on 866-926-2636 or via email at info@gomediaonline.com.  Our professional healthcare marketers can help your organization today!

 

 

As someone who specializes in the online marketing arena, I meet and chat with people everyday who are interested in using social media to market their business.  Not a big surprise right?  But what you might be surprised to learn, is many of these medium-to-large firms have a major problem: they don’t know how to start.

 

While social media marketing advice can be found on every corner of the internet, most of it doesn’t address this problem or offer ways to enhance or “reinvigorate” an existing campaign.

 

So in this article I want to push aside the “Go Get ‘Em Tiger”s and technical mumbo jumbo and provide you with a fool proof step-by-step 101 list to get your social media marketing campaign underway in no time flat!

 

Let’s dive right in:

 

Step 1: Write Down Your Objectives

The first thing you’ll want to do is really identify what you are trying to achieve through using social media to market your company.  Keep in mind that more leads is not your only goal.  Think about possible objectives such as; engaging your current customers/clients, offering better customer service, building brand recognition, getting more local exposure….these are the types of objectives that you should be looking at.

 

Step 2: Know Who Your Target Market Is

A social media marketing campaign that is laser focused has the ability to reap better results than a broad shoot campaign.  You don’t want to waste time here wading through unqualified leads….you want the real deal.  Make a list of 5-10 target markets that you want to hit and keep it handy throughout your campaign.  Having this list will help you keep your “eye on the prize”.

 

Step 3: Look at What Your Competition is Doing on Social Media

Many of us do a competitive analysis when we put together our marketing plan….so why don’t we do one when we are developing our social media marketing strategy?  Usually the easiest way to begin this exercise is to go to their website and follow their social media links from there.  If you can’t find the links there, login to sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and search for their company name.  When you find them, see what they are doing and if it is successful.  Are they getting lots of comments?  Do they use lots of graphics and design elements?  Are they posting often?  Taking a look at these items can even give you good solid ideas of what you need to do…and what you don’t need to.

 

Step 4: What Are You Going to Say?

This is one of the trickiest things to come by as many organizations don’t have a wealth of available info to share.  If your company does – the battle is nearly over!  If not, it has just begun.  Make sure that you are able to come up with content that is timely, engaging, entertaining, thought provoking and educational…or one of those 5.  Also, think out of the box!  If I was a healthcare organization, I would go to the website for the medical association that is within my niche and share some of their updates and tips, as they would be relevant and interesting to my audience.  Sharing is caring….not stealing!  But content is king folks.

 

Step 5: Choose Your Sites

Once Steps 1 thru 5 are complete, it is time to choose the social media sites you want to start using in your marketing campaign.  Every business is different and some will find success quicker on one site than the next.  There isn’t a hard/fast rule on this (while many say there is).  All of the sites are constantly evolving and making it easier for businesses to get involved everyday.  The playing field has changed greatly over the past years (and even months!) and there is a spot for everyone on all of the social media sites out there.

 

Step 6: Find a Good Support Site

Search and find a site to help you manage your accounts. There are free sites out there such as HootSuite, TweetDeck, SocialOomph and others that allow you to track, search and even schedule profile updates on the fly.  When you create your plan, these sites will make it a little easier for you to manage your overall campaign.

 

Step 7: Create a Daily Plan to Ensure Consistency

Plans save time and money and ensure consistency, which is key in a successful social media marketing campaign.  Your daily plan should contain a combination of Steps 1-6 and have daily time constraints attached.  Also make sure that you identify who will be the touchpoint for the communications that you get as a result of the campaign.  For example if you have a marketing team of 5, decide beforehand who will be in charge of delegation and qualification of the leads, information requests, comments, etc.

 

Step 8: Create a Form of Measurement

This is tricky, so I would suggest waiting until after your first month of social media marketing.   At this point you will be able to see what sorts of results come in: website hits, likes, comments, messages, leads, etc.  Once you get a handle on this, you will begin to understand what gives you the best results.  Create a quick spreadsheet and track these measures on a weekly basis.  As all of the sites have wonderful archives, it makes it a cinch to go back through the week’s activity to find what you need.  If you are going to use your website to track effectiveness, make sure that you have an analytics program installed that can monitor where your traffic comes from.  If you don’t, Google Analytics is a free and easy option to use (and the results are tracked wonderfully).

 

And you are on your way!  The best part about social media marketing is that it is an organic process that can change from time to time.  Don’t forget to audit your campaign monthly to see if any of your measures or activities need changing or updating.  Staying consistent, organized and informed will help you not only launch effectively, but promote your brand successfully.

 

 

This December, many of us are scrambling to get our marketing strategies ready for 2012….and with good reason.  With January being the month where everyone is thinking about the “New Year” and the “New You” – it is the perfect time to begin engaging your target audience via social media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Facebook.

 

This time of year is a big hit with the following markets (among many others):

 

*Recruitment

*Self Help

*Fitness

*Wellness

*Small Business Services

*Psychology

*Law

*Real Estate

*Education Related

*Medical Related

…..and many more!

 

At Go! Media, we deal with companies like your’s everyday and we understand that you need a fast and painless social media service that you can trust, rather than a slow and painful execution with lots of hidden surprises.

 

With this in mind, I wanted to tell you a little about our Small Business Social Media Launch Service!

 

With this package, you will be able to enjoy a custom built social media marketing service that has a bite without the heavy costs associated with it.

 

The best part?  We will suggest the best sites for you to use, and the campaign length is flexible to fit your goals.  You are able to choose from Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter and Youtube (to name a few) in addition to combinations of these sites.

 

BUT REMEMBER: THERE IS NO TIME TO WASTE!  ALL CAMPAIGNS LAUNCH WITHIN 24 HOURS!

 

2012 is coming up fast….and time is running out to get the social media marketing portion of your marketing plan in place and ACTIVE.  Our team is ready to get your campaign off the ground within 24 hours and fast track your social media roadway to success!

 

Call us today on 727-288-6721 or email us directly at info@gomediaonline.com to discuss pricing and to find out what campaign would be the best fit for you!

 

With campaigns starting from as low as $499…there is no time to waste!

 

Halloween.  Thanksgiving.  Christmas.  New Year.  Valentines’s Day.  Easter.

What do all of these holidays have in common?  They are wonderful marketing opportunities for your business.

While some of you may already be sighing, thinking that “aren’t these commercialized enough?”  My answer: absolutely!  But that is not my idea here.  This is not about commercialization or fooling consumers into purchasing products or services that they don’t need or want.  What this is about is aligning your marketing message and position to the emotion of the season.

I know it sounds a bit airy-fairy, but by tying in your message to a particular holiday season you may see yourself grab the attention of a consumer who may have otherwise passed you by.

So look at your marketing materials and plan, then see what holidays are happening around the same time.  For example in the USA, Thanksgiving is universally known as a time of giving.  Perhaps in your email blasts you can send out 10 tips to giving back during this holiday season.  Or in your print advertisement you can give an exclusive discount to those who order before a certain date, then give a certain amount to a related charity.

Also, offering discounts and specials around the December holidays will really grab the attention of your marketplace.  While this is not an extremely shocking thought…do you know that many small business owners overlook this?  Offer solutions and helpful tips to making it through the holidays – you will be surprised at the response!  A great example was last year I took a chance and sent out an email blast not of marketing tips, but of holiday recipes that people could try with their families.  While, of course, I received some snarky replies, no shocker there right?  What was shocking was that 20% of the responses were extremely positive and, throughout this year, the dialogue continued with them week on week!

At the end of the day, it is good to tap into the emotions of your audience during each holiday season.  By offering them solutions to their problems, you will not only grab their attention – but you might just grab their loyalty as well.  While this may seem like a fairly elementary article, I really wanted to share it with you to drive home the effectiveness of this marketing strategy.  Hope it makes you think twice when doing outreach to your target audience!

Unless you have been unplugged this summer, you have definitely heard about Google+: Google’s foray into the wonderful world of social networking.

But one of the things that you might not have heard is that in its first 30 days, more people joined Google+ than joined Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter during the course of course of the last few years.

But, is this just another fad?  Just another thing to take our attention off of the tasks at hand?  Especially in this tough market – we need to focus on creating successes and leads, not wasting our valuable time with useless tools.

The good news?  Google+ might just surprise you.

There are two wonderful things about Google+ that every small business professional out there can take advantage of:

1. The Power of SEO and
2. Aggressive Niche Marketing

When you think of search engine optimization, images of hours of time spent, confusing terminology and costly campaigns are conjured up.  But think about why you do it:  to appear on the first page of Google.  Every post, page and profile on Google+ is indexed by Google – giving you a loaded boost to every activity that you complete in the site.

For example, if once you create your profile on Google+, the odds are that when you Google your name – the first thing that comes up will be your Google+ profile (unless you have a commonly used name combination).  For me, I typed in my name and for the first time in awhile, I was number one.  The resulting post also highlights my skills, which is a bonus – and something that you can benefit from as well.

Facebook on the other hand does not have this power.  The activity that happens within the site is not indexed by Google, rather it is held solely inside Facebook.  While your Facebook profile or Facebook business page may come up on searches, it ends there.

Another thing that can be a bit tricky with Facebook is niche marketing.  With the many changes they have introduced over the past few weeks, it is more challenging to hit your target market.  Within your company page on Facebook you used to be able to send updates to your audience which were fairly targeted.  With their last update, Facebook killed this feature.

While Facebook lost this feature, Google+ has picked it up with gusto in their creation of Circles.  Circles are basically niche groups that you create and add people to.  Think about it as if you were taking your connections and putting them into categories.  For example if you cover a certain geographic area, you can add people into the circles created from each different area.  Then when you have a new property or news pertaining to the area, you can write an update and choose the corresponding circle to receive the message.  Even better?  The circle you choose is the ONLY person who will see it.  And that is just the tip of the iceberg!

When it comes to marketing, Google+ is currently gaining lots of attention and with good measure.  It not only trumps Facebook on SEO but also on the opportunity to niche market.  My advice?  Get on there now and start using it to ride the wave, rather than crash underneath it.

 

Can you believe that by the time you finish reading this, over 800 new people will have joined Google+?

I know, pretty staggering but very realistic when you look at the growth rate that Google+ is experiencing.

 

Can you believe that in its first 88 days it gained over 50 MILLION users?

Why is this significant?  Consider this, to reach the same numbers of users it took:

 

• Twitter 1,096 days
• Facebook 1,325 days and
• LinkedIn 2,354 days

 

As you can see…the growth rate is staggering.

 

Now pair this with the power of Google, the #1 search engine on the web, and you have a new social marketing site with endless promise.

 

Why?  The first, and most important, reason is Google has the proven ability to send traffic to your website or online point-of-sale.  When you think about SEO (the best way to get traffic to your site), let’s be honest – what you are really thinking about is how to get on the first page of Google so your customers and clients are able to find you much easier through organic searches.

 

But what can Google+ do for me?

 

Aside from the 50 million+(and growing) users, this site offers you something that the sites such as Facebook and Twitter don’t easily offer: outstanding niche marketing.

 

Google+ offers “Circles” which are niche groups that you name and populate.  You can easily create one for each of your market segments.  For example, if you were an entrepreneur with numerous irons in the fire, you are able to create “Circles” to suite each market base such as “advertising firms”, “production companies”, and “potential investors”.  Then when you post on Google+, you are able to choose which market to hit with your message.

 

Possibly one of the best attributes of Google+ Circles?  You are able to market on the site and keep your personal and professional content completely separate!

 

Honestly, this is just scratching the surface.  There are numerous ways that Google+ can not only enhance your business, but how you hit your target market in addition to how you communicate and offer customer service.

 

Also, in the near future Google+ will be adding company pages.  It all makes your head spin, but it makes me very excited.  Google+ will present a new way to engage with your audience to build your business and create relationships that last.

 

Lots of people have expressed interest in 101-style information on Google+, so I will be holding a free webinar entitled: Google+ Power 101: Your Jump Start Action Plan. It will be held on October 11th from 8-9pm Eastern Standard Time.  If you are interested in joining in – please register here….spots are limited for this session.

First off, I think there is no end to the irony of starting this discussion here as I came across an article on a blog that I thought was worth mentioning. It was a great article tackling a very real topic: is posting other people’s content on your blog stealing?

Here’s the full article: http://tinyurl.com/3k8pl6q

When I posted this in a few of my LinkedIn groups….the discussion really took off – and it was very polarized.  Now it is your turn to have your say.  While the article makes some wonderful points, do you agree?

I was forwarded an excellent article by a good friend that was recently published on Forbes.com. The topic? The ten myths of social networking for business. Obviously, I was intrigued as I see lists like this cross my desk all the time. This one was different – it made good points while not sensationalizing anything. It was straightforward and had great points.
Here’s the link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/nealrodriguez/2011/08/10/ten-myths-about-social-networking-for-business/

I would love to hear what you think: do you agree or disagree with the points that Neal makes?