Marketing

Use Multichannel Marketing for Greatest Impact

By Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD

The attention span of today’s consumer is split between a myriad of media. Usingvariedchannels–online, print and broadcast–is your best betto reach thegreatestnumber of patients and prospective patients.

Produce an Effective Multichannel Marketing Campaign

Plan theCampaign

With multiple components, a calendar is important. Some channels take longer to reach patients.Timewhen to convey key messages, and don’t spampatients.

Employ as Broadly as Possible
Consider what media your patients consume, and try to make your campaign visible everywhere your patients are:your web site, community publications and social networks, etc.

Ensure Consistency Across Channels
Maintain a consistentlook, tone and language of the campaign. The idea is to reinforce the message with repeated exposure, notto compete for attention and confuse the patient with varied messages andmedia.

Reinforce Personally
The best print and digital ads are most effectivewhen presented personally by you and your staff. Make sure the staff is educated and excited about the campaign.

The beginning of the year is an excellent time to look over the results and effectiveness of last year’s marketing efforts and plan for the new year. In addition to the ongoing effort to promote the practice, improve the practice’s reputation and increase search engine optimization, there should be one or more larger, precisely organized campaigns.

These could be designed to promote a change in the practice, such as an expansion or new location, the addition of a new specialty, the launch of a new product or a large event. For these more complex campaigns to have the greatest impact, it is essential to plan well in advance, use multiple methods of communication–such as print ads, promotions on your web site and social media pages, as well as through signage and information in your office–and ensure that the message is consistent. The result is an inexpensive campaign that can deliver far more in return than any isolated effort could.

Multichannel Media-Promoted Event ROI
One example of a successful mutlichannel campaign was our Baby Day event in 2010. In an effort to promote infant and children’s eye exams, we set aside a day just for babies. Using original and InfantSee material we put together a patient e-mail, blog post, postcards, window posters, a magazine ad, and spread the word via Facebook and Twitter. We worked with local businesses to donate door prizes and hang up the posters in their windows. In response to the buzz of the event, we were contacted by two local newspapers. One published a story on the event and the importance of infant eyecare and the other featured Baby Day on an event calendar.

The Baby Day event cost approximately $200 for printing and postage. Our social media efforts did not have additional costs, but did require staff time. The estimated value of the free publicity covering the event, depending on the method used, ranged from $150 to $300. Because InfantSee is a no-cost program for parents, we did not make a profit on the day, but we did gain several new families of patients. All in all, the campaign was considered a huge success.

Costs
A multichannel campaign is clearly more complex than a traditional campaign and can be more costly. As the digital marketing landscape changes quickly, practices must assess which channels provide the best returns. A campaign often can be handled internally for little expense. But there likely will be expenses for services such as distributing press releases, producing and placing ads and other promotional items. If you prefer, you can hire marketing or public relations experts. Service fees can range from as little as $25 to over $150 per hour depending on services required and your locale. Also consider that there will be time required from the staff and doctor for preparation and interviews if working with the news media.

Benefits
A multichannel campaign can be a cost-effective way to get your message out. This can be directly quantified in amount of revenue generated for a specific event or time period if patients can be tracked. While many practices cannot afford the production and airtime cost oftelevision advertising, a two-minute television news story may be equivalent to thousands of dollars in exposure, depending on time of day and geographic area. Similarly, a good newspaper story can be worth many times the cost of a small ad.

There are also subjective benefits to a well-prepared campaign. It can improve the practice’s brand awareness in a specific area, such as a specialty area of service. While it may not directly bring patients in, it can assist in general word-of-mouth referrals for these services. Additionally, a consistent campaign can help keep eyecare top of mind for patients, decreasing the time between office visits.

Making the Connection
Every practice has a diverse patient base. Using e-mail, social networks such as Facebook and Twitter and a web site and blog to provide information on a variety of subjects can help ensure that you are marketing to all of your patients. Adding exposure via newspaper and television news media can dramatically increase penetration of the campaign to a new set of patients. The challenge of using multiple channels is to promote a consistent message on all channels (see blue box above). All campaigns require content that is modified to fit each chosen medium, including tailored graphics, key language and appropriate calls to action. Individual components are scheduled to be most effective. Keep in mind that a marketing campaign is most effective when doctor and staff invest emotion in it. In addition to simply having fliers on the front counter, the response rate will be much higher if a staff member enthusiastically shares the information with patients. Likewise, if you share your campaign first digitally with your business networking group and then bring printed pieces with you to the next meeting, you will have more opportunity to personally share why you are interested.

Working With the Media
If you are effective (and lucky) a reporter from newspaper, television or radio will contact you regarding your campaign. This could be as little as a simple quote for a story or as much as bringing a video camera crew to film you and your office. By being as flexible as you can with your schedule, you increase the likelihood of getting covered. It is not unusual for reporters to get pulled off the assignment for a breaking story.

When talking with someone from the media, remember that style matters. Be energetic and passionate about what you do. Make eye contact. Speak clearly, but vary the pace and tone to clarify key points. Don’t forget about non-verbal communication, even if you are not on-camera. Smile and use gestures to convey the message.

Be relaxed and don’t be afraid to be yourself. I was recently invited to be a guest on a morning radio talk show to talk about the new emPower! electronic glasses. During the back and forth of the conversation about the new lens technology, the hosts were lightly putting each other down in a variety of ways. I scored points with the main host by making a crack about his age. They liked that I could “roll with” the conversation and wasn’t too stuffy or technical. Plus, they offered to invite me back in the future.

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Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD,of Bright Eyes Family Vision Care in Tampa, Fla., is a graduate of Illinois College of Optometry. He is a member of the American Optometric Association, and is currently immediate past president of the Hillsborough Society of Optometry, as well as chair of the Children’s Vision Committee of the Florida Optometric Association. To contact him: Doc@BrightEyesTampa.com.

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