For Doctors: SEO is Dead, Social is Alive

S
SEO is dead.
Social is alive.
  Shifting to a Patient-Centric Marketing Strategy



                         Tom Seery, CEO/Founder
                         July 2012, Cosmetic BootCamp
For dermatologists, marketing was once never a consideration.
Patients came via word of mouth or doctor referrals.



                      Do you like your
                      dermatologist?


                      Dr. Taylor at the
                      PolyClinic is great
Yellow Pages was the first step into marketing, because she
could find you without relying on a friend’s recommendation
Then came the WWW, and doctors built a website to reach
her with greater detail than afforded by phone books
With the first search engines, it became clear ranking mattered
Google shifted doctor’s entire online marketing attention
to pleasing the robot, away from her information needs




                                            Image: Robot courtesy of SEOmoz
SEO consultants made big
promises: #1 Google ranking

…but never explained how
they got robot love
With SEOs driving, doctors developed a web presence solely
to please the robot (Google)



               Link                 Keyword
             schemes                stuffing




                        Multiple
                        websites
Stuffing
Link Schemes
Copy written to trick the robot…
And terrible articles designed to get a free link, not to inform
Many of you still have link schemes that hurt you, live on your site
Google has 1000 PhDs determined to outsmart an SEO consultant
Evidenced by SEO-scheme sites traffic pattern
Social media is back to WOM, but on steroids. The robot and
you feel marginalized or stay marginal




                          Social media
What’s taken share from SEO-plays? Social (RealSelf is the
leading social site in cosmetic aesthetics)
RealSelf is patient-centric, which focuses doctors on helping her,
not the robot




                Doctor                   Patient
                 Q&A                     stories




                            Photos
“The world is in the middle of an
ongoing conversation. A marketer’s
challenge and job is to enter that
conversation.”
             --John D. Hayes
               Chief Marketing Officer, American Express
It’s easy to conclude social media is silly
…or downright inappropriate
Social has significant value to aesthetic consumers who want
to reduce risk of making a bad decision
3 REASONS
Practices Should Become Socially Engaged
Your reputation
Doctors dread these
Leaving doctors to often see the web as a mob that’s
determined to burn reputations
There is no angry mob

87% of RealSelf doctor
reviews are positive
Online reviews contradict the law of
"large numbers" that would imply a
normal distribution




           http://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/14951/3/usedbook1.pdf.txt
The answer to
  bad speech
is more speech



                 Matt Cutts, Google
Aesthetic consumers are also social buyers
We all use social data to make decisions
Social information is inescapable in search because
people love it
Over half of women 18+




share both good and bad
experiences online
36% share to help
others make smart
purchases
Clearly, doctor reviews are important to
the decision making process




  90%+ consider doctor
  reviews important or
     very important

                                           Source: RealSelf survey, 2012 Q1
✪ Tips

Making the Shift to Patient-centric marketing
For Doctors: SEO is Dead, Social is Alive
✪ EMBRACE REVIEWS, THEY ARE
 YOUR BEST WOM MARKETING
Post-op patients are your most important form of marketing




SOURCE: http://www.hotelmarketingstrategies.com/marketing-an-hourglass/
Embrace reviews because
 your patients are happy
 87% of RealSelf doctor
 reviews are positive
Make it easy for patients to post with cards or emails
sent pre and post-op
Review quality when started   Review quality when
Post-op                       started Pre-Op
RealSelf makes it easy for patients to start talking before
their treatment or procedure
87% positive
✪ OWN YOUR “NAMESPACE”
Even if you hate them, update your bio and contact information



          LinkedIn
          Twitter
          Facebook
          RealSelf
          Four Square
          Yelp
✪ BE HELPFUL (not promotional)
Power comes from sharing
 information, not hoarding it…

 To gain influence and status, you have to
 give away your expertise and content.




Gary Hamel, Strategist
Power comes from sharing
 information, not hoarding it…

 To gain influence and status, you have to
 give away your expertise and content.


                         you must do it quickly;
                         if you don’t, someone else will beat
                         you to the punch—and garner the
Gary Hamel, Strategist
                         credit that might have been yours
Answering questions is a great way to be helpful and to signal
you’re patient-centric
Answering questions is never seen as advertising (which is good)
“I think a surgeon who takes the time
to respond to patient questions on a
forum without any fee is a good
indicator of integrity.
I am interested in lipo of
abdomen…would like to know how to
proceed with consultation.”
--A real patient inquiry to a plastic surgeon active on RealSelf.com
Constant self-promotion in social media never works




           FAIL
✪ FACEBOOK IS UNPROVEN
1 IN 10 SEE YOUR POSTS
POSTS LAST UNDER 20 HRS
NOBODY VISITS YOUR PAGE
LIKES ARE SCARCE
✪ INVEST IN LEAD TRACKING
 SOFTWARE
Call back in <2 hrs
Twice as likely to schedule consultation




                       Source: mymedleads
Thank you.




Email:   toms@realself.com
Blog:    mediBeauty.biz
1 of 61

More Related Content

What's hot(20)

Dental Reviews and Its ImportantsDental Reviews and Its Importants
Dental Reviews and Its Importants
Repmedia LLC314 views
2011 06 11_presentation_nic_apowerpoint2011 06 11_presentation_nic_apowerpoint
2011 06 11_presentation_nic_apowerpoint
Courtney Holmes310 views
The currency of online trustThe currency of online trust
The currency of online trust
Angela Gilbert Raab503 views
Reputation ManagementReputation Management
Reputation Management
columbus imPRessions299 views
Social Media in Veterinary MedicineSocial Media in Veterinary Medicine
Social Media in Veterinary Medicine
McKee-Pownall Equine Services1.4K views
Online strategyOnline strategy
Online strategy
Jumapili Ikuseghan215 views
A Runner's Guide to Social MediaA Runner's Guide to Social Media
A Runner's Guide to Social Media
Sweet Tooth Communications, LLC621 views

Similar to For Doctors: SEO is Dead, Social is Alive(20)

Healthcare Social Media / Inbound MarketingHealthcare Social Media / Inbound Marketing
Healthcare Social Media / Inbound Marketing
Sertac Doganay, M.D.2.6K views
Developing Your Social Media Business StrategyDeveloping Your Social Media Business Strategy
Developing Your Social Media Business Strategy
St. Thomas University (CA)685 views
Volunteer   social reputation -handoutVolunteer   social reputation -handout
Volunteer social reputation -handout
Viveka von Rosen289 views
Healthcare Social MediaHealthcare Social Media
Healthcare Social Media
PROPEL (formerly Human Workplaces)1.8K views
socialmediapackagesocialmediapackage
socialmediapackage
Carrie Wingfield86 views
2010 nonprofitinstitute2010 nonprofitinstitute
2010 nonprofitinstitute
Andrew Heilman234 views
Communication Strategies for Social MediaCommunication Strategies for Social Media
Communication Strategies for Social Media
Hareesh Tibrewala839 views
Tie overviewTie overview
Tie overview
Hareesh Tibrewala346 views
Social media overview Social media overview
Social media overview
GetEvangelized387 views

Recently uploaded(20)

HEAT TRANSFER.pptxHEAT TRANSFER.pptx
HEAT TRANSFER.pptx
AneriPatwari178 views
HYDROCOLLATOR PACK by Dr. Aneri.pptxHYDROCOLLATOR PACK by Dr. Aneri.pptx
HYDROCOLLATOR PACK by Dr. Aneri.pptx
AneriPatwari106 views
NMP-4.pptxNMP-4.pptx
NMP-4.pptx
Sai Sailesh Kumar Goothy32 views
Melanie SquireMelanie Squire
Melanie Squire
Melanie Squire18 views
Depression PPT templateDepression PPT template
Depression PPT template
EmanMegahed618 views
unstable trochanteric fracture unstable trochanteric fracture
unstable trochanteric fracture
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal8 views
TQM ASSIGMENT 3.pdfTQM ASSIGMENT 3.pdf
TQM ASSIGMENT 3.pdf
د حاتم البيطار7 views
LMLR 2023 Back and Joint Pain at 50LMLR 2023 Back and Joint Pain at 50
LMLR 2023 Back and Joint Pain at 50
Allan Corpuz314 views
Biopharmaceutics.pptxBiopharmaceutics.pptx
Biopharmaceutics.pptx
TsegayeNigussie511 views
Referral-system_April-2023.pdfReferral-system_April-2023.pdf
Referral-system_April-2023.pdf
manali905434 views
 CAPSULE CAPSULE
CAPSULE
Ganapathi Vankudoth60 views

For Doctors: SEO is Dead, Social is Alive

Editor's Notes

  1. Analog word of mouth
  2. SEO consultants.They can’t tell you how it’s done. They make lots of promise. They say you’ll get found in the maze of online options, typically as “we’ll get you top ranking for ____”
  3. This is how it manifests
  4. 1000s of phd’s looking at 1000s of factors for ranking search results
  5. SEO is dead as you knew it. Google is penalizing sites that optimized for the robot vs. the consumer
  6. Digital word of mouth
  7. RealSelf vs. the traditional doctor listing sites
  8. Social media is…
  9. It’s easy to see SM as a goof ball place for teens
  10. Or inappropriate
  11. but it does have relevance to your practice marketing
  12. TOM
  13. Angry mob
  14. Purchase bias People buy products that they believe they will enjoy. So, the reviews are written by people that are more likely to like the productUnderreporting bias Those with extreme ratings (5-star or 1-star) are more likely to express their views to “brag or moan” than those with moderate views
  15. TOM
  16. TOM: reason #2
  17. Be strategic…
  18. Claim and update information on these sites
  19. They are at their highest point of interestYou know they’re available!First to respond gets the highest likelihood to close