Eyeworld

EW NEWS & OPINION 16 December 2015 Technology focus by Maxine Lipner EyeWorld Senior Contributing Writer Dr. Kugler also said that the popularity of different platforms is constantly changing. "I think right now the ones that have the great- est number of users are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest," he said, adding that these are used differently. For example, those on Pinterest are in a buying mode, with users looking for things that they are going to consume. "Mean- while, people on Facebook are in an informational mode, so messages resonate differently on different platforms," he said. Also, this land- scape is always changing. "It seems like every month there's a new social media network, and it's like any marketing—you have to understand who your audience is and you have to figure out where they are and how you're going to message them through that medium," Dr. Kugler said. Kugler said. "I think it's a function of the sheer amount of informa- tion that people need to process—I think that group has grown up in a world where they've learned how to narrow down information very quickly." As a result, they go to people they trust who have already done the filtering for them, he explained. So practices that have figured out how to message to Baby Boomers and those in Generation X may often find that this younger generation is not reachable by those traditional media sources. "We used to think that when consumers made buying decisions they had to have 11 touch points— they would have to run across your name or brand 11 times before they were ready to make a purchase from you," he said. "Today with social media and the Internet, it has gone from 11 to 38; you have to have 38 touch points before people recognize you." use their computer. So you have to cross-message." Dr. Durrie finds that the amount of web leads that come into his office looking for information about elective refractive surgery is con- stantly growing. "We keep track of all of our numbers and that's the fastest growing," he said. "But you still have to do brand marketing via modalities such as radio, billboards, and print to get the name recogni- tion in the overall community." Lance J. Kugler, MD, in private practice, Kugler Vision, and director of refractive surgery, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, likewise stressed the importance of using social media particularly as practitioners seek to reach younger patients who still need refractive help. That group tends to make decisions based on their friends' opinions, he finds. "They look toward their peers more than they do independent review sources, credentials, and things like that," Dr. Best practices for social media interaction M arketing in 2015 and beyond requires more than just utilizing tra- ditional avenues. The importance of social media today can't be overstated, according to Daniel S. Durrie, MD, clinical professor of ophthalmology, University of Kansas Medical Center, and president, Durrie Vision, Over- land Park, Kan. Here's what practi- tioners need to know to best branch out into this important medium. There are two important groups to reach on social platforms, Dr. Durrie pointed out. One group is the younger, contact lens-wearing Millennials who are under age 35; the other group is the 50- to 65-year- olds who are candidates for lens pro- cedures. "They're about equal when it comes to the importance of com- municating with them online," he said. Millennials tend to use social media on a smartphone rather than a desktop computer. "Everything has to be mobile-compatible," he said. "You have to have a mobile- optimized website, and they have to have the ability to text you; they have to have the ability to commu- nicate with you in the way that they live and work and do everything." Generational marketing To keep in touch with the Millenni- als, physicians have to reach across a broad base of platforms because this group often switches to different outlets. "They're moving away from Facebook, so you have to follow them," Dr. Durrie said. "We have people in our office in that gener- ation who keep us up to date and make sure that we keep moving as they move." Those in the 55- to 65-year-old age bracket will search on Google and will visit your website, Dr. Durrie finds, adding that they're less likely to be using their smart- phone for this. But there are cer- tainly no hard-and-fast rules here, which means you have to be ready to connect with patients via either modality. "There are some 60-year- olds who will be using their phone and some of the 20-year-olds will Rubbing tech elbows with patients

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