Dear Derm Authority: What is new in digital marketing?
There are some major changes that have come out recently in the world of digital marketing and social media that will assist with the promotion of your dermatology practice.
Here is the breakdown:
Facebook – Facebook now offers stories that disappear within 24 hours similar to those of Snapchat and Instagram. This enables people to see your story by using the live feature. Facebook now also allows you to add GIFs and text sharing.
Snapchat Swipe Up (Paperclip) Feature – You can now post on Snapchat and drive traffic to your dermatology practice website using the swipe up feature. With this new feature, you will be able to post your story and drive traffic to your site, targeting those that are interested in your products and/or services. In order to access this function, a user clicks on the paperclip icon before sending their Snap to friends or posting on their public Story and adds their link. Viewers can swipe up to go to the external link.
Instagram – Like Snapchat, Instagram now offers the swipe up to external link capability as well. The company added links to stories after it noticed a significant number of brands using the feature to promote content. Right now, story links are being tested with verified accounts only. Unfortunately, as of today, there’s no way to request verified status.
Another great Instagram feature is mentions. A mention is like a “tag” on Facebook. Data shows that regular Instagram posts that mention another handle get 56% more engagement. Make a list of influencers in your industry and approach them with cross-promotion that involves tagging each other in your stories to boost brand exposure.
LinkedIn – LinkedIn is a great tool to connect professionally as well as drive prospective patients to your website. LinkedIn now offers a publishing feature allowing you to post articles and publish them on your page. This not only provides additional exposure, but also may have a strong SEO component by linking to your website
There are a lot of exciting changes happening. Don’t worry if you are not on all social channels, its critical that you are active on those that are congruent to your practice. It is better to master 2-3 channels than to be so-so at all of them. Pick the ones you are most comfortable with or those that you know your customers utilize and master those.
Check out my article on New Theory discussing how you can no longer count on SEO alone to compete in today’s market. http://newtheory.com/this-is-why-seo-simply-isnt-enough-to-compete-in-todays-market/
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