Week Nine: Let's Get Personal

After reading the lecture and text book assignment, write a blog post explaining how personal you think you can be on your blog. When does it make sense to add personality to a post, and when does it not?

If you've been periodically popping in throughout the semester and seeing what the haps are on my blog, then A) Thanks! and B) you can tell that I am not a serious person. At all. AT ALL. If you haven't, that's cool. Go ahead, hop in the virtual DeLorean (be sure to get up to 88 - just because it's virtual doesn't mean the 88 doesn't apply. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then we DEFINITELY need to catch you up) and start clicking! Don't worry, I'll wait. 


No, I'm serious. I'll wait. It's cool. I promise. I'm just killing time. 

Up to speed? Ok...let's go! 

So, now to the question of "how personal do you think you can be on your blog?" Well, you can see like to have fun. However, having fun and being personal are two TOTALLY different things. Being personal in a "hey, I totally am going through that exact same thing right now and I feel like I relate to you" way is great if the goal of your blog is to invoke those emotions. In business, it is important to build and reinforce personal relationships. But do you really want to know if the owner of your favorite restaurant is frustrated because they failed their Health Department inspection? My guess is no. If my guess is wrong, cool. If you say yes, then good for you! I like a risk taker! 

My opinion is that you should always strive to add personality to a post. Even the most straightforward post about amoebas is much easier to read with a little bit of personality added in. Just as we have learned throughout our journey through life, humor and personality have a time and a place. If you wouldn't say whatever it is you are thinking about writing in your blog directly to the face of your customer, then my advice would be taking a step back and reconsider your writing. 

Week Eight: Let's Get Visual!

Find examples of 2 or 3 business that are similar to yours. See what visual social media they are using and how they are using it.  Is it effective? Some businesses work best when they have visual support. Does visual media work for the type of business you have started? 

I love this quote because of how it resonates in both personal and professional ways. If you are a horse with blinders on, you only see what's in front of you. While a horse might be able to operate just fine, one can't say the same for a business owner trying to make their way down the road to prosperity. 

With regards to LoBue, I think a visual component to their marketing and design is HUGELY important....after all, they are a VISION center. The problem is finding where the boundaries are. Let's take a look at businesses similar to LoBue and what how visual media finds its way into their marketing mix. 

Southern California Eye Physicians & Associates

In addition to a very well developed website, SoCalEye offers a Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and a blog that contains video clips as well as written content. This is the vision I see for LoBue's offices, but with one important difference - a connection to their customers. I love the continuity and flow between the various websites, but I feel somewhat sterile when I read everything. I know there are humans that work in Dr. LoBue's offices. I don't necessarily want to know what they all had for lunch, but I want to feel a connection to the office. Given the 25+ years LoBue has been in business in a relatively small (well, used to be relatively small) community, I feel this is an important factor to have. 

Saddleback Eye Medical Associates 

Saddleback Eye Medical Associates appears to be set up similar to LoBue's offices, which is why I selected this for comparison. Upon visiting their website, it looks well put together and complete. However....yes, there is a but. There is nothing showing that they have any social media presence. I was able to find their Facebook, but it was as dry as the Sahara. As we've stated in the past, social media is a GREAT tool...but does you no good if your entire toolbox has fallen off the truck. Even the "Contact Us" page leaves a visitor empty handed. Users want to connect with businesses on Facebook, but they can't unless you let them!

Week Eight: Get The Picture?

So, as we discussed back in Week One, there are a number of platforms you could use to jump into the world of Social Media. While it's great to be connected, there is such a thing as being TOO connected - or should that be over connected? Think of how you use social media in your personal life. If you are someone who isn't too into pictures and thinks content and writing are what's important, is Instagram your favorite go-to site? My guess is probably not. How a business determines what's right for their style is done much in the same fashion. Take a look at the four most visual platforms and let's see how LoBue (the company I am using) fits into these profiles:

YouTube

YouTube is a great platform, there is no denying that. But how could LoBue use it in a business context? Internally, it might be difficult to do because laws like HIPAA and various privacy acts prohibit a lot of what a medical practice can disclose. However, there are MANY topics that can be discussed by Dr. LoBue himself that a patient might find interesting. As a bespectacled individual for over a quarter century, I can tell you that I STILL get the "so if you take your glasses off, can you see me if I do *this* (usually holding up three fingers...or maybe just a middle, if they are really funny)" questions. Or the "let me try your glasses on.....WHOA! ARE YOU BLIND?!" is another favorite. While a video highlighting POV and allowing people to see what it's like to have -4.00 vision (which is not that bad, btw!), a more telling story would be seeing through the eyes of someone who has been dealing with vision loss and how correction surgery has helped. Or, for some of you people who like this kind of stuff - the actual surgery process done using stock video not captured by Dr. LoBue, but with him narrating what is happening.

Instagram

Again, because of HIPAA and other fun things, you really cannot discuss patient privacy information on social media. But you can discuss things like lenses, frames, and colored contact lenses. Americans spend nearly $30 Billion dollars per year on eye products and services. If you are an eye doctor, you DEFINITELY want a piece of that pie coming into your office.

What if you could feature new lines of frames coming in? Or use pictures to SHOW vs. TELL your customers why that anti glare lens coating that most people think is along the lines of rental car insurance is actually a beneficial add on to have. Instagram would be a great place to do so.

Tumblr

I digress for a moment, but I feel really old when I have to look up social media sites. Like the first time I looked up what Snapchat was...

Anyways, with Tumblr - I believe a blog is always a good thing and would give more exposure, but I don't know that I would read a blog from my doctor's office unless my doctor was Dr. Oz or one of the doctors on The Doctors. That's just my $0.02, but I think the efforts necessary to produce a read worthy blog might be better spent somewhere else in the office.

Pinterest

Much for the same reasons as Instagram, a virtual pinboard showing how you can accessorize with different frames would be great. But much for the same reasons as Tumblr, exposure is great but not helpful when you are showing your product to someone in Anchorage. By the same token, you don't want your locals thinking they can do EVERYTHING eye related online. So if you have the manpower to operate this well, great! But I would not make Pinterest my first focus for Dr. LoBue's offices.

Week Six: Looking Towards The Future

Here are screenshots showing what's in store for LoBue Laser & Eye Medical Centers:

highlighting the revamped Social Media presence

A very spooky article about a frightening trend!

Giving back to the communities we serve

Please note: I have the dates set so far into the future because I am still working with the Marketing Director on gaining publishing rights. I wanted to make sure that these were not accidentally posted before I had full clearance. Thanks! 

Week Six: Strategic Partnerships – They Are Everywhere

LoBue Laser & Eye Medical Centers has been around the Temecula/Murrieta Valley for over 21 years. That’s a pretty long time, so they have got to be doing something right…right? As a patient, I can say that I love the office. The staff is awesome, the doctors are friendly and knowledgeable, and you never leave with the feeling that you are just a pair of eyeballs attached to a credit card. They take the time to care about YOU!

That being said, I think they might be spending a little too much time caring about my eyeballs and not enough about putting eyeballs on their website and social media marketing (hence, why I discussed this project with my darling sister who, if you recall, is a longtime employee and Surgical Assistant to the one and only Dr. LoBue, and convinced her to let me have a go at it. She’s pretty trusting, don’t you think?) That is not a horrible problem to have, but it’s still a problem. Building up brand loyalty is what a business wants and LoBue Laser & Eye Medical Centers seems to have that with their patients. But you also want to be remembered not just for that yearly eye exam. A lot can happen in a year. You may know the trends and latest developments within your business, but do your patients or clients? They trust you for those developments – so why not utilize that trust you built to remain in the forefront of the patients mind whenever you pop up in their Facebook feed? And just because you have remained in business for 21 years, does that mean you’ve had the same crop of patients for that entire time? Probably not. The Temecula Valley area has grown IMMENSELY in the last 21 years. You need ways to bring in new patients and keep the business growing!

That’s where strategic partnerships and the ever-coveted Facebook Like come in. The pages that you like are not only an endorsement BY your business, but an endorsement OF your business as well. For LoBue, I believe the following pages are great to help grow their business:

City of Temecula – It is always a good idea to know what is going on in the community in which you do business.

City of Murrieta – same reason as above.

Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce – This will allow you to see what other businesses owners are doing and provide GREAT opportunities for networking!
Mixers, collaborations, strategic partnerships…so many ideas and possibilities!

America Optometric Association – straight from the AOA’s website, “The American Optometric Association is the acknowledged leader and recognized authority for eye and vision care in the world.” Talk about a great resource for information to pass on to your patients.

NVISION Laser Eye Center – This is the Laser Eye Center Dr. LoBue partners with to perform LASIK vision correction. Being liked by your business partner is probably a good thing.

California Optometric Association – another great resources to have to pass on information. In addition to passing on information to clients, you can post something and tag COA to be featured on their page as well. More connections = greater reach.

OneSight – OneSight is a charitable organization that optometrists volunteer with to provide eye exams, vision care, and eyewear to adults and children worldwide. According to a 2010 study, 85% of consumers have a more positive image of a product or company when it supports a cause they care about. So not only are you doing good, but spreading good.

Week Five: Reach or Engage? What's More Important?

Post reach can be defined as how many people’s News Feeds you were and how well you are getting your name out there. We all know that you could scream your name from the rooftops, but if that rooftop happens to be above…say California School for the Deaf, chances are you won’t be heard. That’s where post engagement comes in. Post engagement is how many people actually do something with what pops up in that news feed. Those comments, likes, or shares are what matters. WHO wants to know what you have to say? WHO is telling their friends about you?

A business can use Facebook Insights to better serve their customers by seeing what customers have been the most responsive to. If you posted about your upcoming sale and it reached 5% of the people who liked your page…well, then you need to ask why. What if 85% of your followers are male and view your page the most on Monday nights and are happen to be huge Chargers fans and your post was on Sunday right in the middle of the Chargers/Raiders game? I’m going to guess that your post went down without notice (which, coincidentally, is how I feel about the Chargers.  Oooooooooh, I know! Burn!! Those are fighting words here in San Diego!)  

When your fans are online is key, but also what do they respond to? Unless you have a crystal ball or have chipped every one of your followers’ brains, that can be hard to decipher. So ask questions! Questions can drive your interactions up by 10-20%! That’s huge! Here are some other thought provoking questions you can use to help reach out to your followers:

http://www.splashscore.com/10-most-engaging-questions-to-ask-your-facebook-fans/

In my BUS138 class, we had Bridget Ayers of GSW Consulting come to speak about this very topic. As she so beautifully illustrated using her client Visit Oceanside, people react well to and want to engage with images. People also love to see themselves featured. So how did she and her team manage to make a hole in one? Visit Oceanside began reposting user-generated images to their Facebook and Instagram feeds. The beautiful sunset that you snapped a picture of while you were out for your evening run on the Pier? What if half of the 23,830 followers saw your awesome picture and half of that half reposted/shared it? You’d feel pretty cool…and probably take more pictures. And then maybe you’d use those #visitoceanside #oceansidepier hashtags to see if you get reposted again? Boom – post engagement!

Bottom line - there are many ways to go about getting the numbers, but no one wants to be a number! Talk to your people! They liked you for a reason, right?