No matter how much internet marketing you’re doing, chances are you’re missing out on a lot more business for your practice because you’re not taking advantage of certain websites and social networks. Why? Because no one has explained to you the value of using these online tools.
You can get a lot doing your SEO (search engine optimization), and Facebook can be a great way to drive traffic and sales, but even being visible on the top 2 websites in the nation (Facebook and Google) may not be enough, and you can still double or triple your business if you start utilizing a few websites that your competitors aren’t using or at least aren’t using right.
Yelp, YouTube, and Google+ are some of the most powerful and underutilized social networks that can bring a tremendous amount of traffic and business to your practice. Below, we’ll break them down to explain why they are so valuable and how you can dominate the search results for your area by using these and using them well.
Yelp Tips for Aesthetic Medical Practices
Yelp, love it or hate it, is a powerful tool for a few different reasons.
- Active Yelp users are ready to buy and they’re ready to buy right now.
- Yelp is now powering GPS inside of luxury vehicles, your primary target market (and now General Motors is even looking to integrate Yelp into GPS)
- Yelp powers the Apple iPhone Maps app.
Looking at just these three points, you know that:
- Your target market is on Yelp, and
- They are ready to buy!
Finally, Yelp users are some of your most important customers, no matter how much they are spending with you, because they are what are called “Brand Ambassadors.” They willingly share their experience in your practice, driving more business to your door.
Does this mean that you HAVE to advertise on Yelp? Not necessarily, though it helps. But many business owners won’t even claim their Yelp business page (or set one up), brand it and maintain it while driving existing clients to the page to leave reviews. By simply nurturing this online space and paying attention to it while asking patients and customers to leave reviews and check-in, you’re already ahead of the majority of your local competition.
YouTube Video Marketing Power
YouTube is the next underutilized social network, and it’s likely because many people think that it it requires a lot of money or time to generate good videos. While it does take a bit of planning, good videos can generate a lot of positive SEO (search engine optimization) value, as YouTube is owned by Google and is often found in search engine results pages. YouTube videos are also tremendous sales tools as they allow people to get to know you and your practice before ever setting foot in your practice while also showing them demonstrations of different procedures. Having a well-maintained YouTube channel gives your website incredibly strong back links as well as great educational tools you can post everywhere else online including Facebook, Twitter and Google+.
Best of all, not all of your videos have to be professionally filmed, cut and branded. You can film 30 second-3 minute videos using your mobile device, a camcorder or even just using your webcam and produce a ton of useful content for your patients and potential patients. Then, start uploading one of these videos each week, publishing all over your social media channels and your website to boost your SEO value and social media engagement.
Google+: The Misunderstood Social Network
Google+ is under-appreciated and underutilized, largely because most people don’t understand how to use it.
Google Plus was created as a social media platform to rival Facebook; it’s for this reason that many people only see it as a social network and they fail to see the other wonderful benefits that come with having a Google+ page.
While your demographic does not necessarily use Google Plus as a social network, it’s still incredibly valuable to your business to have a well-branded Google+ presence, a verified Google+ Local listing (it’s the new Yellow Pages) and to post regularly on your Google+ page. It gives your website tremendous value as Google favors these backlinks. Posting daily to Google+ will also help drive more traffic to your Google+ Local listing, even if potential patients are doing a simple Google search and not actively using the social network or Google maps. Finally, your Google+ page will integrate with your YouTube channel, adding even more power to your Google search results, placing you higher on the search engine results pages (SERPS).
If you need help putting together a strategy to better use Yelp, YouTube and Google+ for your aesthetic medical marketing needs, please contact Total Social Solutions for a free consultation.
