Thursday, May 24, 2012

Minimally Invasive Spine Doctors: Social Media For You


So you’re a doctor specializing in minimally invasive spinal procedures. You’ve got a great product offering, but how do you get the word out about it? Television is expensive and might not have the ideal target market. Radio is a little less expensive. There’s print, but it is getting a bad rap. There’s outdoor advertising. However, the most burgeoning force out there is digital media. And there are a lot of different ways to get the word out digitally.

Social media isn’t just for the hottest technological products targeted at the young. Young at heart nonagenarians are getting in on the action. The nonagenarian du jour is the Sun Maid Girl, an advertising icon born in 1915, just three years after the birth of the Sun Maid Raisin brand. When a person thinks of what brands are social media ready, a raisin brand isn’t the first type of brand that comes to mind. But the Sun Maid Girl and parent brand Sun Maid are challenging that notion, and you should as well in your spinal practice.

The Sun Maid Girl has not posted very much, but already there are signs that Sun Maid is taking this awareness and engagement building tactic seriously.
Her most post recent post shared her recipe for Chocolate Chunk Raisin Oatmeal Cookies. This type of post is a fun post, one that would be useful to someone who likes to cook and bake and seeks a healthier snack option. Helpful medical content would build engagement for a spine surgeon. The Sun Maid Girl has also talked about the design of the Sun Maid raisin boxes and giving away a copy of the book commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Sun Maid brand. If she can keep her content fresh, this can be a good top of mind awareness campaign, with a viral similarity to the California Raisins TV campaign of the 1980s. This example, though very different from a medical example, offers a key blueprint as to what can be done in social media. Sun Maid has over 6,000 followers on Facebook.
Social media also does not begin and end with Facebook. YouTube is a great place to make an impact in social media. Video is becoming more important as a promotion tool. Google is giving more weight to websites with video content, and YouTube allows for cross pollination. With a YouTube video, you can have a presence on that site (the 2nd largest search engine), a enhanced presence on Google and content for Facebook and Twitter.
And I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface. There’s Google Adwords for driving targeted traffic that has a keen interest in buying, and other paid forms of Internet advertising that have lower costs and the potential to drive brand awareness, positive brand beliefs about minimally invasive spinal surgery and drive revenue for a practice.
The social media marketing mix is an essential part of an advertising campaign for a minimally invasive spinal practice. If you’re not active in social media, chances are that your competition is and they are taking your potential business. The bottom line is that social media is good for your bottom line.
To enhance your bottom line via social media and digital marketing, contact David Mitchel of ViralMarketing.Biz today…

Phone: 214-659-1163