The eyecare-optical and optometric community is growing, and beginning to embrace social media as a useful business tool. That means that the tough job of sorting through many different social media options has begun. There are many ways to incorporate social media into business, but the goal is to make sure that it is useful and worth the time that must be invested. Experts in the field of marketing are still working to determine a standard to calculate return on investment (ROI) in regards to social media. Due to the ever changing nature of social media they may never nail down a solid equation to determine if one action is better than another. In the meantime businesses have to make their own determinations.
Certain social media tools work better for some businesses than for others. The key is for each business to determine what will work best in their field. Facebook is proving to be relevant to many business types and models, but what about Twitter? There are certain subsections of the optical community where Twitter can be a very effective tool, but for the standard eye care professional Twitter is not worth the time that must be invested to see results.
Like many social media tools, Twitter requires business users to monitor it regularly in order to get the most from it. Unlike other sites, monitoring regularly does not mean checking in a couple times a week or even once a day. In order to really be successful with Twitter business users should be able to log on and participate several times a day. A busy optometry practice rarely has the time, or staff, for that type of commitment.
Twitter is an excellent tool for keeping up with public opinion on specific topics or businesses. This can make Twitter the perfect social media tool for a marketing professional, TV & media outlets, even restaurants but the public opinion for an eye exam has been the same for many years. Do not misunderstand. It is still important to seek feedback from patients regarding their service and eyewear needs. But this can be done through a conversation, a follow up email or patient survey. Each optometry/ophthalmology/optical business needs to make their own decisions about which social media outlets work best for their practice.
Article submitted by Crystal Blaker, founder of CB Consultations- CB Consultations specializes in helping eye care professionals ease into social media. For more information contact:
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