It’s safe to say that our potential patients are on social media. There are estimated to be 5.24 billion people on social media worldwide.(1)

We were shocked by gaps we were blind to, training and process deficiencies, and opportunities that weren't even on our radar when it came to how someone felt when viewing us online and inquiring for more information. It's not that we weren't doing our job, we were just too busy with the day-to-day, hat-juggling act we did to put out fires and keep our busy practice running. (We’re sure you also know this delightful dance all too well!)

Fill in the gaps for an end-to-end consumer journey

How doing things their own way helped two practice owners succeed

Most practices today realize that they “should be” using social media. What they commonly misunderstand is the real reason that this powerful tool is essential. Therefore they miss out on the actual benefits. Today’s health-care practice typically ends up spending a lot of time, effort and advertising dollars on marketing with mediocre or subpar results at best. They ask themselves, “Is this worth it?” and don’t see a significant return on their investment. Sound familiar? We

Building a brand for yourself, as an expert in your field, can be extremely valuable and open tremendous doors of opportunity. Early in your career, this can enable you to build a following and reputation no matter where you are: starting a fellowship or joining a practice. Especially if you plan to start your own practice someday, investing in your personal brand now will reap future rewards.

If your practice is not working with influencers, you’re missing out on huge revenue potential. Influencer marketing has been dubbed the “fastest-growing online customer-acquisition method” for a good reason. Because it works, we see big brands like Nike, Amazon, and even luxury designers working with regular influencers now (not just celebrities).

Reputation management is much more than static reviews left by patients on sites like Google, Health Grades, and Vitals. In a world where people can be skeptical of advertising, marketing, or professionally curated websites, healthcare consumers turn to the source they trust most in researching a procedure or evaluating a practice’s reputation online: other consumers.

We recently evaluated 25 social media profiles of some of the most impressive ophthalmology practices in the country. Surprisingly, we found that they were almost all missing one critical element that is cutting off their potential for massive refractive revenue growth: patient-generated content.