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Use social media to extend your brand
Participate in these networks so that you and your practice are memorable.
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Like it or not, you must face the fact that we all are a brand. You may not be a big company and may not wish to be compared to an eyeglass or contact lens brand, but you have to agree that you are your own brand.
Your brand may have nothing or everything to do with your speaking engagements, meticulous note taking, savvy marketing or even your discounts or promotions.
The point is that your brand is you. It is what people first think of when they recall your name or your office name. It is that instinctive reaction that paints an image of who you are and what you are like, and it is created solely by you:
- He is the eye doctor who helps me choose my eyeglasses.
- He is the eye doctor that figured out my contact lens prescription.
- She is the eye doctor who dresses as nicely as her handwriting.
- He is the eye doctor who spends time in the exam room answering my questions.
- He is the clinical professor who explains everything “ad naseum” and carries three pens.
How can social media help you with this?
First, look at your smart phone or your computer. Second, look at your online presence. I dare you to do a “vanity search” and Google yourself. Do you find your brand? Who defines your brand?
Agustin L.
Gonzalez
Now, enter the age of democratized social media where every doctor with a computer and a smart phone is a publisher who is able to interact with the audience. Do you see the power of your brand and your message now? It will take some time and some care, but over time the use of social media tools will allow you to promote your brand.
Setting up accounts on social media sites is only the first step. The second significant step is actively participating in these networks, reminding yourself that being memorable is what makes you a brand, and that social media interactions only offer a means to an end and are not an end itself.
Social media allows your public persona to help reinforce your brand. With social media you can shape your identity, define your passion and give energy to your voice. You are defined by your unique delivery of eye care, and the way you educate and interact with your patients and the essence of branding is simple. Just be memorable in your own way.
With social media tools you could portray yourself in any way you like, but as an eye doctor you already have your own brand. You do not need to even sell eyeglasses or contact lenses or pitch anything, because the way you interact with patents is your best brand, and social media tools allow you to extend it.