Eyeworld

76 | EYEWORLD | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 I NSIDE THE PRACTICE Contact Rabourn: brabourn@medcgroup.com more so than short-term financial gains. With this understanding, ophthalmic businesses can begin to ask the right questions. "Are we reaching more people?" Since the cam- paign was launched, has the business seen an increase in social media followers? An increased number of followers can be an indication of effective social media marketing. More follow- ers may not immediately translate to more new patients, but it does mean the brand's message is reaching a wider audience. With a wider audi- ence, a brand may increase engagement (more people sharing, commenting on, and liking the brand's posts), boost website traffic to gener- ate more leads and conversions, and increase brand awareness. This last perk helps ensure that the ophthalmic business' brand is top of mind when those in the audience are faced with deciding who to trust with their eyecare. Social media marketers should also ask, "What does our audience think of us?" Reputation matters, and ophthalmic businesses need to know what people are saying about them on social media. Look at both comments and re- views. This online conversation gives businesses an idea of how people feel about their brand. Monitoring the overall tone of that conver- sation and how it has changed throughout a campaign is valuable because it reflects the state of patient trust, which is essential to growing and retaining a patient base. It is important to remember that marketing value is not limited to short-term financial gains. By asking the right questions when looking at social media metrics, ophthalmic businesses gain insight into whether the current marketing strategy is effectively laying a solid foundation for future growth. Conclusion Even with the right formulas, the true value of a marketing strategy does not become clear un- less an ophthalmic business looks at the whole picture, one that includes clearly defined goals, a comprehensive analysis of all utilized market- ing channels, and ROI that takes into account short-term and long-term financial gains. a campaign in which all the marketing efforts work as a whole is often strongest, those efforts must be analyzed individually. If a list of these channels does not already exist, it should. Some of the most commonly used digital and classical channels include: • Pay-per-click (PPC) ads • Social media posts and ads • Websites • Email marketing • Television • Radio • Print ads • Outdoor/billboards Start the ROI assessment with web traffic Web traffic is often the easiest to track and can lead to some of the most straightforward ROI information. Among other things, tracking web traffic allows ophthalmic businesses to analyze how people are getting to their website. Through organic searches in Google? PPC ads? Paid social media ads? All of these are trackable. Knowing how people are getting to the website shows the business which of its channels are most impactful for generating qualified leads and even booked appointments. Check your definition of social media success Despite tracking technology, there are still times when it is hard to confidently link mar- keting efforts to changes within the ophthalmic business, even among some digital marketing methods. Consider unpaid social media activ- ity. An ophthalmic business posting regularly to Facebook during a campaign designed to attract new patients may ask, "Has our practice revenue increased as a result of these posts?" They may compile a mountain of data showing the number of likes and shares and impressions generated from that campaign, but that data will not directly answer their question. Even if there is a surge of new patients over the course of that campaign, it is not proof of strategy success. Any number of other factors may be involved. When dealing with this kind of social media marketing, it is important to know that success is measured by brand improvement continued from page 74

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