Social Bookmarking for Medical Practices

Social bookmarking is a method for Internet users to organize, store, manage and search for bookmarked resources online. Unlike file sharing, the resources themselves aren't shared, merely bookmarks that reference them.

In a social bookmarking system, users save links to web pages that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, and can be saved privately, with specified people or groups, or other combinations of public and private domains. The allowed people can usually view these bookmarks chronologically, by category or tags, or via a search engine.

There are hundreds of social bookmarking sites available in the U.S. If you’re including the rest of the world, that number more than quadruples.

Valuable Medical Marketing Principles

Longevity

Your website visitors and social media followers want to be assured that your medical practice isn’t going to be a fly-by-night business. Besides reputation and results, stability is one of the most important factors the average patient places on their must-have list when searching for a new medical practice.

Statistics

Always use real, provable statistics with regards to your practice. Never inflate the amount of patients in your database, the number of success rates or any other statistical information pertaining to your practice. False information will only tarnish your reputation and cost you a lot more financially in the end than misleading data would benefit you.

Endorsements

Positive feedback from past customers/patients is one of the most valuable pieces of marketing you can own. Testimonials from patients ranging from discussions about services rendered, exceptional care given, or even how a physician went out of their way to make sure someone paid them some attention are critical to building a strong online medical reputation.

Social Media Networking for Medical Practices

In this age of instant information, we forget to make sure that all of our social and interactive media outlets actually talk to each other. You’ve got a spectacular website -- check. You've got a snazzy Twitter account -- check. You've even started using LinkedIn, built a robust Facebook page, and maybe even created a personal blog. Excellent first steps.

But do these accounts talk to each other? Do your Twitter followers know about your Facebook page? Do your LinkedIn contacts know you’ve started a blog? If not then you are sadly not maximizing the potential of your efforts. Remember, not all social networking is created equal, nor should it be. The most important factor in a strong medical SEO plan is understanding what you are using, not just how to use it.

Importance of Email List Management

Being aggressive in your database cleanup and medical email list management is a vital piece of your communications program. This is one area where a halfhearted effort is more harmful than helpful. List "scrubbing" should be treated as equally important as the initial list build. In this fast-paced computer and smart phone dominated universe, mistakes happen all the time.

Person A receives an inquiry from your website, Person B receives an inquiry via a contest entry form from a trade show and both input your personal information into their database not always checking for typos or even duplicates. This often means your database and email lists most likely contain errors and duplicate entries.

Medical Marketing on Facebook: What Users Want from You

Should you be marketing your medical practice on Facebook? Or, if you don't like that phrasing, "connecting" with patients and potential patients on Facebook or similar social media outlets? It's a bit trickier for doctors than private citizens or businesses not involved in crucial decisions about their clients' health.

It may be a bit more difficult for doctors to get patients or prospective patients to like them on Facebook. But when you do, you gain access and the attention of the people who make your medical practice thrive. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to understand what Facebook users think about "liking" someone on the site and maybe even more importantly, what they expect from them in doing so.

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