mommyjenlin

To tweet or not to tweet, that is the question? Faced with a dizzying array of possibilities from twitter to facebook to YouTube, LinkedIn, flicker and others, healthcare providers are struggling with developing a comprehensive social media strategy to engage their customers. Understandable really. Some of the concern comes from not understanding the power and uses of social media and how consumers are the new paparazzi. Some comes from trying to figure out how a social media strategy fits into the overall marketing plan. Some is purely from executive ignorance in not understanding the place and uses of social media in the life of the healthcare consumer. In many cases its all of the above and others, including and by far the most pervasive, the never ending paralysis by analysis planning loop and engaging in that quest for the perfect best practice before proceeding. It's not just a facebook page, LinkedIn, blogging, web site or twitter. This is an opportunity to experiment, to de...

To tweet or not to tweet, that is the question? Faced with a dizzying array of possibilities from twitter to facebook to YouTube, LinkedIn, flicker and others, healthcare providers are struggling with developing a comprehensive social media strategy to engage their customers. Understandable really. Some of the concern comes from not understanding the power and uses of social media and how consumers are the new paparazzi. Some comes from trying to figure out how a social media strategy fits into the overall marketing plan. Some is purely from executive ignorance in not understanding the place and uses of social media in the life of the healthcare consumer. In many cases its all of the above and others, including and by far the most pervasive, the never ending paralysis by analysis planning loop and engaging in that quest for the perfect best practice before proceeding. In these situations it is about internal marketing leadership. As the marketing expert in your organization, you ne...

A lot is being written about using social media in healthcare marketing. Most, if not all, pertains to driving patient volume and revenue. Though I am a heavy user of social media though facebook, twitter, LinkedIn and blogging, I really wonder if social media will ever drive volume and revenue? It may impact indirectly long term volume and revenue growth, but as of now, the jury is out. My guess is that it won't short-term, but it can be used to build your brand effectively, raise awareness and provide you with a no-cost, low-cost way to maintain a continuous presence in your market. After all, presence builds preference, and too much of healthcare marketing is a one shot, one or two communication channels effort that is limited in exposure and audience reach due to lack of funding and sustainability. So, if we assume the premise is correct that volume and revenue growth in the short term will not occur due to the impact of social media, that what should you do? Well, you need to ...