by Sally McMahon | Feb 11, 2015 | Content Marketing
Content marketing is all the rage right now, and there’s a good reason for it. The age of advertising is now shifting to digital; meaning that marketing efforts, transactions and even relationships are taking place strictly online. When it comes to marketing your business online, you have to do it effectively to see results. This comes from integrating several online signals. Whether these signals are your social media outlets or your company web site all depends on your goal. Start at the End: Your Goal Define your goal, no matter how small or big. Many folk underestimate the power of defining goals. When you want to be sure your marketing efforts are well spent, you should define one. Is your company’s goal to increase online sales? To acquire more email subscriptions? It starts with creating content (articles, blogs, etc.) that highlights your business’ main selling points. Start by identifying what your business is best known for. What products sell the most? What services are most utilized? Who is your target demographic? These are all very helpful to be aware of when crafting your online messages. Social Media Tips Get people engaged by hosting contests Success stories Ask followers to share your page Post videos and photos (these are very engaging) Post special of fers with a compelling call-to-action Link to your company web site Use bit.ly links instead of long, unappealing URL’s Share news, events and special promotions Invest in your page by boosting important updates Web Site Tips Take note of a competitors site and see where they shine (or don’t) Make sure headlines are keyword-focused Don’t have duplicate content on multiple pages Perform a web site audit to see what parts of your site need improving Include maps, directions, phone numbers, names and emails Include a FAQ section Update Your Web and Social Media Exist...
by Sally McMahon | Feb 10, 2015 | Content Marketing
Regardless of your status as a network physician, a practitioner in a private practice or even one with a concierge practice, your ability to generate income is directly related to your ability to treat more of the right kind of patients. Increasing your ideal patient load may no longer rest exclusively on the activity of your referral network. Individual Practitioner as a Brand You’ve trained in your specialty. You’ve build expertise. Yours is the reputation earned through years of practice, study and delivering successful results. When it comes to increasing your revenue, how many others know about you? In a business environment, referrals are a critical part of ongoing success. If you’re solely focused on the charitable referral, you (and your practice) are missing income opportunities. While your classmates from medical school and other colleagues may send their cases to you, the vast majority of those cases will occur outside of your connections. Unfortunately for those patients and their primary care providers, you may not even be in consideration – even though you’re the most qualified person to handle the case. Personal Branding Here lies the importance and power of personal branding. You may be the rock star of your physician group. You could be the up and coming physician who’s still in the process of building your reputation. Either way, the best way for you to increase your income is to find a way to treat more of your ideal cases. The greatest challenge, then, lies in your ability to ensure that more of those prospective patients and the referring physicians know about you. That’s the essence of personal branding. Connect With Individuals As an individual practitioner, consider efforts to develop yourself – and your expertise – into a brand. Leverage the tools and systems available to connect with individuals. Influence, to the extent that you...
by Sally McMahon | Feb 10, 2015 | Content Marketing
Marketing has changed substantially over the decades, perhaps most rapidly over the last decade with the widespread use of social media. Content marketing is believed to be the future of marketing. Press releases and mass marketing emails no longer cut it. Consumers these days see the value in authenticity and want to do business with brands that go out of their way to build personal relationships with customers. Content marketing involves many different facets, but it is probably most widely associated with blogging and social media. These mediums of communication opened up a whole new world for individuals, giving them a fast and easy way to stay in touch with one another. From sharing pictures and stories to measuring Klout and keeping up with celebrities, there is something for everyone in the world of social media. In this fast paced digital age people want a lot of information fast, while also entertained in the process. Reaching Consumers Social media has been an indispensable tool for businesses to reach and engage with their customers. Social media made it possible to connect consumers and suppliers with one another, putting them on a playing field that has never been so level. Consumers are through with commercials and blatant ads, they want something with substance and entertainment value. Why not give them what they want? The infographic is a creative and effective way of marketing, without seeming like a heartless corporation. Instead of pushing the tried and true methods of advertising onto consumers, meet them halfway with an interesting, fun and informative infographic. The idea is that you create content that is useful or entertaining to your audience instead of focusing on a sales pitch. Infographics take a large chunk of information and chop it up into an easily digestible, well-organized narrative that is visually appealing. Research Matters Infographics aren’t magic, though. It takes more than just a bunch of words and pictures thrown together...
by Sally McMahon | Feb 4, 2015 | Content Marketing
Are you wondering what content marketing is (and isn’t)? Are you trying to figure out how to get started or how to justify a content budget within your organization? Or maybe you are already working with content marketing…but you want to get better results? You’ve come to the right place. Let’s review first. What is content marketing? Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action. Basically, it is the art of communicating with your customers without selling. There is a dizzying array of guides, checklists, tools and adaptations available online that explain how to begin your own content marketing plan. Because of the vast quantity, it is hard for some to connect the dots while sifting through this enormous amount of information available. One simple guide for newbies is “The CMI Content Marketing Framework: 7 Building Blocks to Success.” This guide includes resources, tools, methodologies and more that will provide a framework for success. Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute, said that there are no silver bullets or onesize- fits-all plans that apply to every organization. However, there are some core, common elements across successful content marketing programs. Taking time to complete each of the seven steps with key members of your organization can set you on a path to developing a successful content marketing plan. You will learn the following: • What questions your content marketing strategy (i.e., “plan”) should answer • How to engage your audience early, and often, throughout your...
by Sally McMahon | Feb 4, 2015 | Content Marketing
By Ben Keeton You are an expert, now you need to let your clients know it. In the world of new media, the challenge is how to catch somebody’s attention in a crowded and noisy arena. The key to success is in developing a solid content marketing plan that will help you build your brand while getting the attention of your desired audience. Let’s establish one simple truth of today’s media environment: there is more information available to us every day than we can digest in a lifetime. Breaking through the noise and establishing credibility with the right audience is your key to success. If you try to be an expert for everybody on everything, you will fail. However, if you build your credibility with a specific audience, you will be able to build your brand, demonstrate your expertise and win new clients. The question remains, how do you credibly build your brand in an increasingly noisy environment? We believe there are three key elements to building a content marketing plan: Amplify Your Message First, you have to want to amplify your message. Each of us is an expert in our field. We have spent years training, practicing and perfecting the work we do each and every day. Often, we have unique access to information that we take for granted. The first step in developing a content marketing plan is to take that information out of your brain and find a way to tell your story. There are many ways to share this information in a noisy environment, from Twitter and LinkedIn to blogs and industry newspapers, the opportunities...
