It always amazes me when I talk with a business owner that is looking for new clients and building their business but they have so many objections to getting on line. After all – this isn’t personal. You aren’t looking to tweet or post about your daily coffee habit: this is about your business. And it’s paramount to business success that the only obstacle to getting online is how am I going to handle all the new clients? Why? Because that is where patients are looking for you: online.
As soon as you step outside your house you will see someone on their phone, tablet, or computer. Tweeting, pinning, posting, snapchatting or insta-gramming. The World Wide Web is EVERYWHERE and used by everyone. If you are not on line, you will fall to the wayside. Having what is called an on-line footprint will help your business.
Why is this important? Because it could be a mom in the grocery store on Pinterest looking up the last ingredient she needs for the recipe of a smoothie her Naturopath told her about. It could also be a young mother at a walk in clinic with her newborn. She is sharing on Facebook about where she is, mentioning that it is very clean and how the receptionist got her in right away. How’s that for instant positive reviews that will be shared across her network and the network of her 250 closest friends? Most of whom are in the area!
If this doesn’t demonstrate the value of social media to your business, then anarticle from Forbes Magazines predicts that social media will take on a whole new level of engagement for business in 2016. Things like:
- Access to “buy” buttons on your social media accounts will allow followers to purchase your supplements or health products right away instead of having to find them on your website.
- The ability to add full articles to your Facebook page instantly sharing your expertise with your audience.
- Engaging content created by streaming trainings or treatments (with a patients’ permission of course) can immediately provide an opportunity to build trust by showing exactly what you do and then having the patient discuss how the treatment is benefiting them. Live!
Healthy Look at social media like an adventure and be curious about it. Maybe starting with one platform is the way to go. Interested to find out which one might be best for your business? Great! HealthLocal loves answering these questions and helping health pro’s navigate the sometimes tricky world of social media as a marketing tool for business growth. Get in touch: [email protected]
I hope I’ve been able to demonstrate clearly why engaging with social media and making an effort to get online is so important for your business. Patients are looking online – make no mistake about that. If you aren’t there to find, they’ll find someone else. And then you won’t have to worry about how to handle all those new clients. Now that’s an obstacle that’s worth overcoming!
Namaste
