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2010 was the year social email exploded in the eye care industry. What is social email? Social email is an email which features additional functionality. Take an email, then add “widgets” (small “window gadgets”). Click on a widget to perform a particular action, like take you to another website or perform a particular function such as a Facebook “Like,” and you have a social email. Companies that enable social email functionality for your practice entered the eyecare space in 2010 making quite a splash. The idea of email recall isn’t new, but wasn’t easy to implement until companies like Demandforce, Smile Reminder and Websystem2 came into optometry.

To maximize social email effectiveness practices should:
* Multiply opportunities for sharing your social links by adding links such as Facebook “Like” buttons and Twitter connection buttons in the social media message
* Encourage your best customers to share your links with their friends, as research finds brand impressions from friends of friends account for nearly double what can be achieved marketing to friends alone
* Put control in the hands of your patients making it easier for them to interact with your company, i.e. online appointment scheduling features, etc.
* Use metrics in the business owner portals to read survey responses and reviews and adjust your business accordingly.

Our practice uses Demandforce and I am constantly in the business owner portal checking and benchmarking patient satisfaction. When Demandforce sends out an email, the email acts as a fully integrated online referral system. Every communication sent prompts my existing patients with a “widget” to refer their friends and family with a single click. The emails also contain widget-prompts for patients to complete surveys which help me benchmark customer satisfaction; and my favorite feature, a widget to click and easily write a social review of our practice. Social review is a key feature in a social media marketing campaign. With the Demandforce feature your social review campaign is automatic and effortless – if you provide good customer service and meet your patient’s expectations you will immediately begin to generate great reviews online. The reviews are automatically fed to Google and Facebook if you wish.

Smile Reminder, WebSystem2 and others are competing in the space with great products to help you turn your email into a modern social media marketing tool. How are you using these products in your practice marketing? What questions do you have? Hit me up on OnToptics on “LinkedIn” or “Facebook” and we can noodle how social email might work in your practice and which suite might best suit your needs.

- Alan N. Glazier, OD, FAAO
Author: Searchial Marketing: How Social Media Drives Search Optimization in Web 3.0
Founder/CEO
Shady Grove Eye and Vision Care
Rockville, MD

Twitter Handle: @EyeInfo
Blog: http://www.youreyesite.net
Website: YourEyeSite.com

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