The Use of Social Media in Your Veterinary Practice

The Use of Social Media in Your Veterinary Practice Brenda Tassava, CVPM Broad Ripple Veterinary Management Solutions, Inc. VHMA Retreat, January 2010

Social Media Marketing Deﬁned You can buy attention (advertising) You can beg for attention from the media (PR) You can bug people one at a time to get attention (sales) Or you can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it online for free: a YouTube video, a blog, a research report, photos, a Twitter stream, an ebook, a Facebook page. ----David Meerman Scott, Web Ink Now

Social Media is... David Amano, Harvard Business Review says social media is: “a way of thinking and approaching business that requires passion and commitment and, above all, willingness to participate in social spaces honestly and freely and by the rules of the social network itself.”

Social Media is not.... a quick ﬁx purely a sales tool something to be automated customer-centered......it IS people-centered

Why social media? Shana Pereira, Tourism Queensland Regional Director: "Consumers don't want to be sold anything anymore, you want to feel like you've gone out and found it yourself and decided on your own that that's what you want to do, or that's what you want to buy. There's no better time to actually go out and really try new things, because you just never know what's going to work."

Step 1: Listening Google Alerts: create keyword speciﬁc alerts to be emailed when content appears online TweetBeep: monitors up to 10 keyword alerts SocialMention: tracks 80 social networks for your keyword; also monitors strength and inﬂuence of conversations

Social Media Venues Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Foursquare MySpace AIM Flickr Ping YouTube Skype Blogging Loopt

Step 2: Join the Conversation Where do you start?

Twitter Microblogging in 140 characters or less •Client service •Marketing •Education •Networking

Find your “voice” through microblogging

Begin to participate in “conversations”

Demographics of Twitter more than 6 million members growth rates of 1,382% year-over-year median age of Twitter users: 31 (Gen X, ages 28 to 45) 26% of users are 35-44 yrs. old 14% are “stable career” types Another 12% are “young cosmopolitans”, 40-somethings with household incomes over $250,000

Getting Started Twitter name, location and proﬁle are important!

Twitter “Control Panel”

@mentions How to tell you’re being “talked about” on Twitter

@________ to speak to someone, begin your tweet with @handle (no spaces after @)

Re-tweeting RT followed by @_______.....is reposting of someone else’s tweet

ReTweet vs. Reply

Direct Messaging “DM me...” means “send me a direct message”, which is private and won’t show up in the feed

Direct Messaging (DM)

Use of # hashtags (#) are used to search within the Twitter feed. Common use include: #meowmonday #woofwednesday #followfriday

Use of hashtags (#)

The WOW Factor:

Social Media Magic!

Recommended Reading Twitter Power by Joel Comm (@joelcomm) Twitter Marketing for Dummies by Kyle Lacy (@kyleplacy) “Tweeting for Pets” by Tamara Fox (@AAHAHelpingPets), Trends Magazine, January/February 2010 issue

Blogging Web+log=Blog Online Journal •Education •News

Blogging Rules There are no rules! •Handouts •Newsletter articles •Anything “new” in the clinic or with the doctors & staff

Brevity is king when it comes to blogging!

Blogging for success Have a plan or schedule Be consistent and develop a pattern Links are good! Reciprocate whenever possible Watch what generates trafﬁc and write MORE on those topics Divide longer “articles” into 2 or 3 posts Don’t apologize

Wordpress Stats

Analyzing Your Trafﬁc

Search Engine Results Optimization and key word searches

Facebook Largest social network in the world •Client Service •Education •Marketing

How do I create a Page?

You can assign multiple Administrators to do updates

What do I talk about on Facebook? Happenings in the Links to videos practice Links to photos Happenings in the Events community Links to new blog posts Staff anniversaries Ask questions Inspirational quotes about pets Speak with “one voice”

Link your clinic Facebook Page to your clinic’s Twitter account!

Are people interacting?

Who are my Fans?

YouTube: Create a Channel

LinkedIn Largest online professional network •Professional branding •Networking •Resume

You can connect your LinkedIn account to your personal Twitter account.

The Not-So-Distant Future of Social Media is Mobility

Foursquare Mobile Social App •Marketing •Client Service

DO NOT link your Foursquare Account to auto-post to your Twitter account!

“There’s an app for that...”

Step 3: Managing Your Social Media Program

Social Media Toolbox StumbleUpon: content resource extraordinaire! Minggl: can’t live without this! Tweetdeck: manages multiple Twitter accounts Evernote: a place to keep thoughts/ideas organized Google Reader: pulls all the blogs you want to follow to one place!

http://www.stumbleupon.com

http://www.minggl.com

Minggl Sidebar Manages multiple “identities” from many networks, all in a toolbar/sidebar format

Create groups, monitor mentions, etc.

Online and on your phone....auto-syncs your notes

Subscribe to blogs and read them all from one place

Put it all together, and what do you have?

My desktop on any given day....

Create your own social network with Ning!

Thank you!! Feel free to contact me with questions:) bktassava@sbcglobal.net http://www.twitter.com/bktassava

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The Use of Social Media in Your Veterinary Practice

by bktassava on Jan 29, 2010

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