Social networking, online marketing efforts have real return on investment

This month’s 4 Questions interview is with Gregory J. Chang, a health care administrator at Duke University, who has been involved in their online marketing and social networking. I believe his insights into how orthopedic surgeons may enhance their practices through online marketing and social networking was worth sharing with you.

In many practices, the acceptance and embracing of this technology is somewhat generational. Being old school myself, I did not even want to place an ad in the yellow pages of the old phone books. Word of mouth was how we marketed our practice. Times have changed as many patients seek out consultants and experts online in addition to asking their physician and friends. I feel Mr. Chang’s answers will enlighten and may even encourage you to look at how to market your practice differently.

— Douglas W. Jackson, MD
Chief Medical Editor

Douglas W. Jackson, MD: What can Orthopedics Today readers learn from the experience of the orthopedic efforts at Duke University in social networking and online marketing?

Gregory J. Chang: Duke Orthopaedics has learned quickly that social networking and online marketing efforts are worthwhile endeavors with real return on investment. While online is only a piece of a larger communications strategy, it is an integral component that is largely undervalued. Simply dedicating modest resources thoughtfully can show real returns.

According to the Pew Foundation, 80% of Americans search the Internet for health information and 40% search social media. Moreover, AC Nielsen recently identified social networking as the most popular Internet activity even surpassing email. This represents a real shift in patients’ health education and media consumption process. Based on these trends, it was imperative for us to have a meaningful presence in search results and social media.

Gregory J. Chang

While these trends helped us to understand that online was an important part of our marketing strategy, there were many things to be learned about successful implementation. Foremost in this learning process was embracing social media as an opportunity and viewing it simply as an increasingly dynamic communication tool with many similar properties as other channels.

Many people look at social media as something completely groundbreaking, and this causes anxiety over involvement and its repercussions. It is easy to overcomplicate what social media is, but at its core it is simply the virtualization of so many face-to-face interactions. That does create nuances that need to be managed appropriately with respect to privacy and liability, but those issues are not specific to social media.

Many physicians and organizations alike have reservations about social media including that maintaining a presence is an invitation for comments by disgruntled patients. This was one of our faculty’s chief concerns; however, these comments should not be feared but treated as an opportunity to engage in service recovery. The Internet is the freest medium in man’s history allowing anyone to instantly publish material at their sole discretion. This enables disgruntled patients to post potentially untrue material for the entire world to see whether it is on your website, their blog or elsewhere.

Maintaining a social media presence affords you the opportunity to raise your awareness of these comments and to engage these users in service recovery. If you cannot change their mind, then at least others will see you are committed to your patients and providing an outstanding service experience. At the same time, you need the proper resources in place to manage your online initiatives.

Jackson: How does one place himself or herself above the competition in Google searches?

Chang: First, it is important to recognize the importance of being at the top of search engine results. Placing your web content above others can be a real driver for your practice. When patients enter relevant orthopedic search words, such as “total joint replacement” into Google, they are actively thinking about this condition and probably searching for an orthopedic consult. In comparison, think about traditional marketing channels where you can only target by demographics. This differentiation highlights the true value of being at the top in Google searches, especially for those with highly elective practices.

Second, there are two main tactics for search engine success – search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO). Search engine marketing is paying per click to have your website’s content placed at the top of the page for specific keywords. This is a quick and easy way to accomplish your goal, but a successful campaign’s expense will accumulate and only serve as a temporary fix. Additionally, conversion rate (number of clicks divided by times your ad is seen) is relatively low. Search engine optimization involves structurally changing the way your website is set up so that Google will deem it more relevant than your competitors’ in the context of important orthopedic search terms.

While conversion rates for “organic” placement of your website are much higher and results will continue over an extended period, this usually requires partnering with a firm that specializes in this activity. Picking the right vendor is crucial as some use “black hat” tactics for which Google will penalize you. Through these efforts, we were able to grow our monthly site visits by more than nearly 500%.

Jackson: How does one build the largest orthopedic patient community on Facebook?

Chang: To our knowledge, Duke has built the largest orthopedic patient community on Facebook. In 5 months, we have gone from 140 to 5,989 page fans as of September 8, 2011. This growth was due to marketing our presence directly on Facebook, in clinic and through other marketing materials. Facebook ads were the most effective method in building our community. Every practice already has a loyal group of patients, and it is up to each to determine the best tactics to cultivate an online community.

For Duke, we understood that many of our self-referrals were determined by our association with our university’s athletic program and marketed our Facebook page as such. For other orthopedic practices to be successful, there needs to be an understanding of one’s patient demographics, interests and how to best reach those individuals.

Logically, a two-man community practice needs to communicate differently than a larger highly subspecialized academic practice. The solution is different for each practice, but these are principles to help you create an online growth strategy. The other crucial piece to this is keeping your community engaged by providing quality content and being responsive to comments. Over time, your engagement will be a driver for community growth given the viral nature of social media.

Jackson: How can one use these tactics to drive incremental revenue?

Chang: SEO, SEM and social networking efforts alone are not enough to drive incremental revenue. SEO and SEM increase website visits but if your practice’s website does not have quality content, clear calls-to-action and online appointment tools, then you will not be effective in driving volume.

The same holds true for social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter. Engaging with your users is certainly value adding, but to convert these users into patients in a measurable way requires directing them to access points tastefully and at the appropriate time. By complementing our online marketing with these principles, Duke Orthopaedics realized real growth in calls to our appointment numbers and patient visits. Additionally, our ratio of calls per appointment has decreased, meaning we are attracting the right type of demand and as a consequence operating more efficiently. For competitive purposes, we cannot disclose exact figures but the results have been real.

Finally, many skeptics question the value of social media asserting that there is no real way to measure return on investment. Again, this is not an issue that is specific to social media but a challenge with any marketing campaign. For social media, SEO, SEM and all marketing channels, the key is to set up real measurement tools to understand outcomes and success. Luckily, there are many free tools such as Facebook Insights, Google Analytics, bitly, and your online appointment scheduling tools to assist.

• Gregory J. Chang can be reached at Duke Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, 306 Frank Bassett Dr., Durham, NC 27708, 919-613-3665; email: gregory.chang@duke.edu.
• Disclosure: Chang has no relevant financial disclosures.