social media

authenticity

Marketing 101 – Why Authenticity wins the game every time

Leave a Comment / Culture, Entrepreneur, Fun Stuff, Marketing, Must Read Blogs, Small Business / By / / , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Whether you are offering a service or selling a product, at the end of the day your buyers don’t want to be “marketed to”, they don’t want to be told what they should buy.  What they want is an emotional relationship that makes them feel good about the decisions they are making.

If you want to create brand evangelists versus just transactional “buyers” the one thing you need to rock is…

AUTHENTICITY

How does one be “Authentic” in a world of crazy chaos and “fake news” – how can you show your prospective customers the real you?  And yes, you do need to show them the real you – the real authentic you.

Here are my rules of engagement.

  1. Your personal brand is NOT different than your professional brand. I am not a “formal conservative person”, therefore my company website is fun and loud, my bio is very conversational on my website – and I am an open book on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  Love me or hate me – I am who I am.  I attract clients who match my vibe, who understand me and well…. like me!
  2. Educate. Educate. Give your customers something that means something to them.  Give them what they want, not what you think they need.  Well, most of the time.  80% of your content should be what your customers will want to read, something they will find value in.  In many cases, your customers may not know they have a problem until you enlighten them – that’s when the 20% comes in. That’s when you identify the pain and show your solution.  Once you show that you understand them, and you have given them something of value over and over again – they will consider buying from you.
  3. Talk to them!  The best content is conversational.  Use email campaigns to “talk” with your prospects and customers, use video, chatbots.  And yes, even have IRL (in real life) conversations with them.  Remember – this isn’t about selling, it’s about showing the real you, and connecting with them on an emotional level.
  4. Know what you and your Brand stand for. So many people shy away from taking a social stand – I don’t – at all. If someone doesn’t agree with the fact that I’m a liberal that’s ok.  I’m not for everyone.  What do you stand for?  What does your brand stand for?  WHY are you in business – and why does it matter to your clients and prospects?  Being transparent is critical.  Be raw, be open and share personal stories.
  5. The Sword is mighty. If you or your brand makes a mistake – and it’s tossed out on social media, address it publicly.  Apologize and make it right.  Be respectful.  You will be amazed how you can turn an angry prospect or client into a brand evangelist.  Validate their pain – because it is REAL.  Take it offline to work out the details.  This holds true for any unhappy customer – remember this is focused on emotions.  Put yourself in their shoes – how would you feel?  More importantly, how would you like to be treated?  Yes, the Golden rule applies here.

I, like many business owners, was afraid to show my true colors until I said screw it, tossed the marketing 101 old school shit in the garbage and just went for it.  The result was magical.  I no longer work with clients that I don’t like, that don’t appreciate me, and that don’t – well, mesh with my brand.  I also have a sense of freedom around my brand.  The funny thing is, I’m raw, I’m open, I tend to swear just a little bit in my copy and so many of my loyal tribe are what you would deem conservative – in that they have c-level jobs in conservative industries.

One day we won’t have to say – Don’t judge a book by its cover – because the cover will be who the people really are.  Times are changing in corporate America and I LOVE IT.

If you want to see more of the real me – sign up for my Thursday morning missives – they are 100% raw, authentic and transparent Cindy.  They come out weekly – on Thursdays at 6 am.  To be honest – it’s my journal that I share with the world.  No secrets.  Just me.

Cindy

PS – one of the #1 ways I get new clients is from that Thursday email – and I rarely talk about Marketing, Sales or Biz Ops.  Go figure!

Marketing 101 – Why Authenticity wins the game every time Read More »

Content Marketing – How to Get Started!

Leave a Comment / Entrepreneur, Featured, Fun Stuff, Marketing, Must Read Blogs, Uncategorized / By / / , , , , , , , , ,

Let me just start by saying, Content Marketing is all about telling stories, giving away a ton of FREE relevant and valuable content and educating your customers and prospects to the point where they intellectually come to the conclusion that you know what you are talking about.  In other words, you are building trust through content.  

 It’s not rocket science, it is brilliance AND in today’s crazy marketing world – it’s the way to go.  People no longer will buy from you because you tell them to, because you tell them you are the best, you have the best product/service,  because you tell them you are knowledgeable.   

DISCLAIMER:  Content marketing takes time – at least 9-12 months before you see results and some serious work, but it is by far one of the most effective ways to build your brand.   

 Here’s the process we walk our client’s through or if they choose – we do it for them. 

  1.  Deep dive into your core values, your company and your WHY.  You need to know who the hell you are, what you are about before you can tell others.  Don’t skip this part.  Create a list of your core values – why you do what you do, what matters 
  2. Identify who your ideal client is – I’m talking tons of details. 
  3. Create Benchmark Goals.  What do you want to happen 12 months from now – what are your goals.  Do you want increased revenue?  Increased client retention?  Brand awareness and/or expansion – a combination thereof?  You need to know how you will measure success.
  4. Customer Journey Mapping.  (READ MY BLOG HERE).  You need to understand the type of content your prospects and customers would like to read during each part of their journey and HOW they will get that content.  Also, identify the roadblocks and motivations they have going through their journey.
  5. Overarching strategy and editorial calendar.  Get the whiteboard or use an excel sheet – list all the months on one side, and the marketing channels you are going to use.  Now start filling in what you need – types of content, assets needed (writers, videographer, designers etc).
  6. Start writing based on your editorial calendar.  You want to get ahead of the game – at least 3 months.  Make sure you include social media into the mix – this isn’t load some content on your website and they will come.  You need channels to get them there.   
  7. Use email – use email marketing to get your word out – share your content.  Strive to get opt-ins. 
  8. TEST.  Are people reading it?  Is it working?  If not –  mix it up. 

 Most people don’t comment on our blogs ON OUR WEBSITE. We get some – the real magic happens when we share them on social, we get asked to speak at events based on content we’ve written, we build credibility with our prospects.   

This isn’t rocket science, but it’s science.  If this is completely overwhelming to you – hire it out.  Don’t spend time on something you aren’t great at – spend time in your business doing what you do best! (Yea, I suppose that was a sales plug for Red Barn here – but it’s the truth.) 

Content Marketing works.  It’s not a fad, it’s the way of the world and you should be part of it!! 

Content Marketing – How to Get Started! Read More »

Social Media and Health Care: Improving the patient experience – digitally!

Leave a Comment / Healthcare, Marketing, Must Read Blogs, Sales, Uncategorized / By / / , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Let’s face it, we live in a digital social world. Brands of all types have made their mark on Social Media – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram – but where are the health care providers?

  1. Oh, there are a few out there, but many are adverse to jumping on the social media wagon and here’s why avoidance is a mistake.
    Your patients are there and they WANT to engage. Using platforms such as Twitter or Facebook to brand your practice is a given, but are you posting content that is ABOUT them vs. about you? 80% of your content should have nothing to do with the services you offer. How much can you really write about Breast Exams or Colonoscopies or wait times in the ER? Ask questions! Ask for Feedback! Talk about preventative care, families and lifestyle. Patients also want to see the team from the doctors to the intake folks and everyone in between. Who are they? Why would I as a patient want to engage with them? Trust them with my care – my life? It’s all part of the customer experience.
  2. Improve Patient Communication. We all know that social media is not the place to talk about personal health care issues, but it is the PERFECT place to address broad questions. The key is to have a Social Media Manager and/or Patient Advocate managing social feeds. If indeed a personal health question arises, the Manager can direct the patient to a secure portal or have a health care provider call him/her to discuss concerns. As with any business, there will be Frequently Asked Questions that appear and best practice is to create an FAQ page on your website to direct patients or prospective patients to.
  3. More Satisfied Patients. It really all goes back to communication and transparency. Patients want to feel they are involved in their health care decisions AND they want providers who are willing to help them along the way. There is also the connectivity factor – connecting patients with other patients who share the same illnesses – almost like support groups but online. It’s perfectly OK to have a private MONITORED Facebook page for a variety of topics/groups such as Cancer Survivors, Sports Injuries, Heart Attack Survivors or those currently going through some life changing issue or chronic condition. When the Health Care Provider CARES and is involved, patient satisfaction will naturally rise. You are developing a community that your patients can be a part of.
  4. Education – Teach and Learn. It’s a given that social media is a great venue to educate your patients, and video is by far the #1 channel to do it. Not only is video engaging but it shows the true personalities of the presenters – doctors, PAs, NPs and other providers. Offering educational videos on everything from pre-op to post-op procedures to stretching exercises and healthy menu planning – the sky is the limit! Every physician is an “expert” and has a point of view. Social media allows physicians to easily share that expertise with the world and further engage current patients as well as attract new ones.

In the end, it’s all about putting you and your practice/group/hospital out there and allowing your patients to learn, teach, and engage.

Your patients are begging for this – where are you on the social spectrum?

Social Media and Health Care: Improving the patient experience – digitally! Read More »

Is Blogging Dead?

Leave a Comment / Marketing, Must Read Blogs, Uncategorized / By / / , , , , , , ,

Um…NO! I’ve gotten a bunch of push back lately from people who are telling me that the days of weekly, daily, or monthly blog posts are over.

Why the questioning? Big reduction in comments on website blogs and the fact that we are inundated with content 24/7 and people just aren’t taking the time to read everything. All true.

So why continue writing weekly blog posts?

Blogs are still very important and people ARE still reading and commenting, but they are doing so via social media and email. Followers may NOT read every blog, but they are reading blogs that are relevant to them at that point in time. Blogs also help SEO on your website – in a huge way.

Here’s the process that I follow:

  • We create an editorial calendar for the year outlining what we are going to talk about based on our marketing/sales/business growth strategies
  • We create content in the form of blogs, whitepapers, articles and emails.
  • We share our blogs via our social channels, site in articles and white papers, and sometimes we share via email.
  • People tend to comment on social channels – especially LinkedIn and Twitter.
  • If we get high engagement – we may consider boosting posts to get further reach and engagement.
  • We watch the analytics to see what’s hot – and consider writing more content or expanding on those topics.

Frequency – why weekly? Because people ARE inundated with tons of content daily and if you miss them one week, you can catch them the next. If you are only pushing out new content every couple of months and you miss them – well, do the math.

Keep writing, keep posting! Trust us, blogs are alive and doing just fine if they are well written and relevant to your audience.

Do you write a blog now? Share it with us – we always love reading great stuff!

Happy writing

Is Blogging Dead? Read More »

Is Google Plus Dead?

Leave a Comment / Fun Stuff, Marketing, Uncategorized / By / / , , , , , , , , , ,

Originally launched in 2011 Google Plus (Google +) was set to be the next big thing in social media with the expectation of overshadowing Facebook. We’d seen it happen before when Facebook overtook MySpace in the social media popularity contest so it was possible it could happen again.

My first introduction to social media was MySpace. Whoa…I think I just aged myself a little bit there but I digress. Anyway, MySpace was the place where you could change your background settings and songs and make your page uniquely you anytime you felt like it. You could shuffle around your top 8 friends daily depending on your mood! How could it get any better? Introduce, Facebook.

Since the inception of Facebook in 2004 the platform has undergone huge changes. While some have been skeptical we all know the only thing constant in life is change and Facebook has never shied away from making changes good, bad or otherwise. So how did Facebook overtake MySpace in social media popularity? I’m glad you asked. According to former MySpace CEO Mike Jones, MySpace was just the introduction to social media while Facebook works to perfect the social media world. One of the biggest differences noted was that MySpace didn’t allow users to use their real name but rather a pseudonym while Facebook encouraged users to post their real names to better to connect with others.

When Google Plus was launched, Facebook had already been active for 6 years with millions of users worldwide making them a formidable social media opponent. There were now personal and business pages, sponsored ads and groups to join. So where would Google Plus fall into the mix? Initially Google Plus was designed to integrate all Google services to allow the users to be more transparent with the people they communicated with the most through a variety of ways including Hangouts and Circles which are currently still active. The idea was that you could arrange your circles to communicate with certain people through posts, videos or blogs etc.

Similar to Facebook, with Google Plus you can check into a location and let your followers know where you have been or what you have been up to. One of the most popular uses was Google photo’s which has since been separated from Google Plus and is its own program. So, in a nutshell, why is Google Plus still active and is it worth it to spend time and energy on?

In a word, yes. While Google Plus may not be the most active social media site the hidden perk is SEO. Search Engine Optimization. When you post on Google Plus you increase your SEO on Google and increased SEO is always a good idea. Key words, photos and tags will help direct traffic to your posts which if linked, will direct back to your website or whatever you are posting about. Talk about a win-win. Facebook may be the leader in being social, but Google Plus is the winner for SEO. According to a Stone Temple Consulting study, 90% of users with a Google+ profile have never posted to the network. So you may wonder, how can it work, how is it beneficial if people don’t post to it? From a study conducted by Statistic Brain 70% of brands have a presence on Google Plus proving that for business purposes it is a useful tool.

Is Google Plus Dead? Read More »

Secrets to building your health care practice…

Leave a Comment / Healthcare, Marketing, Uncategorized / By / / , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Word of mouth is one of the best ways to organically build your healthcare practice. People are naturally cautious about who they share their medical needs with, and getting recommendations from friends and family helps to build trust.

The problem is, word of mouth has diminishing returns. You can build up a stellar reputation as a health provider, have overwhelmingly positive people who advocate for you, and bring in new patients, but at some point that’s going to tail off. When that happens, you need some other ways to reach out and let others know how awesome you are. Fortunately, we have just the thing…

Here are some tried and tested ways of marketing your healthcare business to bring new patients through the door.

Provide exceptional healthcare advice in a public setting. Some of the medical advice you provide is crucial. It helps potential patients gauge if you’d be the right doctor or healthcare provider for them. Use this to your advantage by providing great advice in a public setting. Attend health fairs and other events, speak at gatherings, and share your knowledge.

This doesn’t just need to be limited to strict medical information — If you have a nutritionist, physical therapist, or other healthcare expert on staff, they can provide advice in related fields and expose you to a whole new audience.

Give 150% when it comes to the customer experience. With so many options today, patients are being quite critical of their patient experience. How can you stand out? Have a comforting and comfortable waiting area with refreshments – it makes a difference! Doctors running late? Ensure you have a way to contact your patients and offer them a reschedule. Busy day of appointments? Make sure your staff doesn’t rush patients through the process but spends time ensuring their questions are answered and their needs are taken care of. Every little touch point matters. Not sure how you are doing – survey your patients and find out! PS – when you have a stellar customer experience it will differentiate you from others – market it as a perk!

Partner with other local businesses. One of the most powerful forms of local marketing is partnering with similar businesses. If you have a local gym, provide a class on exercising safely. If there’s a sports team, get involved with them by giving talks on recovering from sports-related injuries. If your town has large student population, give advice on good nutrition and diet. Involve yourself with retirement communities on medical care in later life.[/cs_text]

Build up a better medical referral network. Healthcare providers thrive on referrals. Network with other medical businesses in your local area and demonstrate your authority and expertise. As your reputation grows, use this to build mutually beneficial relationships with other specialists.

Offer free or low cost physicals, preventative tests, and vaccinations. Prevention is better than cure. Get healthy patients to your practice by providing physicals, preventative tests, flu shots, and other vaccinations for free, or at a significantly discounted rate.

Enhance your online, local SEO marketing. Local search, especially on mobile devices, is one of the main ways people discover your medical practice. Create a great website with useful, practical content. Make sure all of your local search profiles and listings are consolidated and accurate.

Stay on top of your customer reviews. Reviews should be another key part of your marketing strategy. Encourage your patients to review and rate your services, as higher reviewed businesses are better placed in search results.

Use the power of social media Monitor the social media around your brand and business. Interact with people through social media and share genuinely useful information and content. Answer questions to demonstrate your expertise and build trust in your advice and approach.

It’s time to look beyond word of mouth marketing, and here at RBC we’re ideally placed to help you do just that. We understand what healthcare providers need, and we provide awesome marketing and strategy services to help your business thrive.

Secrets to building your health care practice… Read More »