This course provides an overview of how public relations, including the latest social media tactics, can be used to help grow a refractive surgery practice. The latest techniques will be covered, with best practices illustrated through brief case studies. Special attention will be paid to how traditional publicity and online word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing can be used together to build brand awareness and improve the bottom line.
- 1. Growing Your Practice withPR and Social MediaASOA Symposium
& CongressApril 12, 2010 Erik Deutsch, ExcelPR Group
2.
- Large/boutique agency experience
- Worked as trade media journalist
- Launched ExcelPR Group in 2004
- Specialize in healthcare PR
- Instructor UCLA Extension PR Program
- PRSA-LA Vice President (2010)
- MA in Communications Mgmt. - USC
Erik Deutsch WHO IS THIS GUY? 3. If youre tweeting this
session
- Other Appropriate Hashtags:
4. Today Well Focus on: Traditional PR Publicity in
print,broadcast and onlinemediaWord of Mouth (WOM)via online social
media 5. What is Traditional PR? Its not advertising (paid
media)Its earned mediaPublic Relations (abbr. PR)n :1.
Communication with the purpose of creating a favorable relationship
with the public.2. Communications often in the form of news
distributed to media for which the sponsoring organization does not
pay a fee. 6. Theres an old expressionAdvertisingis something
youPAYfor. PRis something youPRAYfor . 7. If a young man meets a
young woman and tells her what a great guy he is, thats
advertising. But if the girl propositions the young man because she
heard from her friends that hes a great guy, thats public
relations. 8. Dramatic Changes
- Decline of Traditional Media
9. Rise of Social Media, Peer-to-Peer Networking and Citizen
Journalism 10. PR Need Not be Complicated PR Requires time,
planning and ongoing commitment 11. Traditional PublicityWhat is
newsworthy ? Hard News(new procedure, remarkable case/patient) Soft
News (human interest features, news you can use,profile, seasonal)
12. Which is newsworthy? 1) Our surgeon is a great guy and really
knows his stuff. 2) We finally got our hands on an Intralase so we
can offer All-Laser LASIK. 3) Our practice is the first in our area
to offer a new treatment option for patients who until now were not
good candidates for refractive surgery. 4) We just opened a second
surgery center in another part of town. A short quiz: 13. Another
Short Quiz Which is newsworthy?
- Our doctor just performed LASIK on the guy who came in third on
Survivor last season.
3) Our surgeon will perform free surgery on a soldier returning
from Iraq or Afghanistan if someone in the media will first commit
to doing a story? 2) Our doctor is treating the guy who came in
third on Survivor with a new and exciting treatment option likely
to be approved soon by the FDA.4) Our surgeon has been providing
free vision correction for soldiers returning from Iraq and
Afghanistan for some time. One such patient who has an interesting
personal story is scheduled for treatment. 14. Traditional
PR/Publicity Process:1) Identify (or create) a viable story idea 2)
Assemble media contact list3) Formulate the pitch4) Send news
release or pitch letter 5) Follow-up6) Understand journalists
needs/speak their language 7) Pray 15. Publicity Example #1 16.
Publicity Example #2 17. Publicity Example #3 18. Publicity Example
#4 19. Welcome to Social Media User Generated, Two-Way Content No
traditional media gatekeeper Individuals and Brands as Publishers
Viral DistributionUnprecedented opportunity to build AND destroy
your brand 20. Social Media Platforms
- Microblogging (Twitter, Posterous)
- Wide-Appeal Social Networks (Facebook)
- Niche Social Networks (LinkedIn, etc.)
21. The social media universe 22. Its a Brave New World 23.
First Steps
- Protect your identity/reserve your name on major sites
- Make it easy to find your practice
- LISTEN, monitor and gather info
- Dive in, engage and join the conversation
- Empower consumers to spread your message
- Link to one another and the mother ship
24. Where are your prospective patients?general interest social
networking micro bloggingvideo sharinglocal business reviews
25.
- Largest, most used online social network
- More than 400 million active users
- 50% of active users log on to Facebook in any given day
- Average user spends more than 55 minutes per day on
Facebook
26. 27.
- Groups (causes/organizations)
- Fan Pages (personal and corporate)
Three Types of Pages on Facebook 28.
29. A word about Vanity URLs
- http://www.facebook.com/XYZVisionCenter
-
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/XYZvisioncenter/179170228445?ref=ts
30. Facebook Advertising
31. Facebook Example Loden Vision Center 32. 33.
- A tool for "micro-blogging" or posting very
- short (140 character) updates, comments or
- A cross between instant messaging (IM) and
- Follow and engage with consumers in an
34. Who do people follow on Twitter? 35. Dr. Cary Silverman (aka
TheLASIKDoc) http://twitter.com/TheLASIKDoc 36. Dr. Cary Silverman
(aka TheLASIKDoc) http://twitter.com/TheLASIKDoc 37. Twitter
Tactics
- Make yourself easy to find
- Communicate as a person, not a faceless brand
- Follow others AND ENGAGE in order to get followed
- Provide useful information and insights
38.
- Video sharing site where users can upload,
- Post news stories, patient testimonials, surgeon
- Search-optimized title and description
39. 40.
- Yelp enables consumers to post and share
- reviews of all sorts of businesses - from restaurants
- Businesses can setup a free account or paid
- About 20 million searches each month
41. 42. 43. Additional Tips for Social Media Success:
- Let your personality show
- Bring value to the conversation
- Cross-link and promote on all marketing materials
44. 45. Questions?Erik Deutsch ExcelPR Group www.excelpr.com
[email_address] @ErikDeutsch
