May 2013: Integrated Marketing, 21st Century-Style

Recent Posts

Categories

Archives

Well-attended ASOA lecture by Ceatus VP of Marketing details why tried-and-true marketing rules remain, regardless of the platform

Ceatus Media Group’s ever-growing prominence in the medical Internet marketing industry was on display at last week’s ASCRS/ASOA Symposium and Congress, as the company’s VP of Marketing, Tamara Evans, presided over one of the ASOA program’s most well-received lectures. The course, “Your Website, Social Media and Traditional Marketing: Are They Working Together?” focused on the importance of integrating traditional marketing (print, TV, etc.) with online and social media marketing.

Evans’ lecture was one of the few to be featured in the daily conference publication; it was so well received and so timely that ASCRS published a summary of the presentation. As quoted from Evans in EyeWorld Daily News, “Remember that the Internet, with all of its wonderful capabilities, follows the same principals as traditional marketing. You are using it for exactly the same purposes. It’s not about technology – it’s about marketing your practice. If you keep that in mind, you can’t go wrong.”

Marketing Is Marketing

Every one of these tools — your website, social media and traditional marketing — is there for one reason: to market your practice. As Evans explained, regardless of the platform, traditional marketing objectives are still in force — namely branding, word-of-mouth referral support, attracting and acquiring new patients, and patient retention. As a result, new marketing platforms should be integrated with your traditional marketing, as part of an overall campaign with a uniform message.

Integrating all aspects of your marketing is paramount to controlling the image your practice projects. Your print brochure or TV ad can be featured on your Website and Facebook, and your Facebook presence can be highlighted on your brochure or TV ad, but the real point is to convey the same message — your message — across all platforms. By bringing all your marketing together into one cohesive message, you will strengthen your image and increase your exposure to potential patients.

It’s Not About the Technology

Evans’ well-attended lecture sought to dispel an unfortunate misconception among medical professionals: that the rules for Internet marketing and social media marketing are different from those of traditional marketing — and that these new forms of marketing should therefore be viewed and managed separately from a medical practice’s traditional marketing campaign. Yes, these new platforms involve new technologies, Evans explained, but the technologies themselves do not alter either traditional marketing principals or the goal: to attract more patients and increase your surgical volume.

It is critical to remember that regardless of the platform, you are marketing your medical practice. It is your professional image, philosophy and business being portrayed, online, forever. Therefore, the message conveyed by these new platforms should be carefully and professionally crafted, protected and managed, said Evans — just as you do with traditional marketing. Your webmaster may be a wizard in Java and your 20-year-old receptionist may be able to make Facebook sing, but unless they are professional marketing experts with experience marketing premium medical practices, you should not allow the technology to determine your marketing strategy (Internet or otherwise), which presents your practice image and brand to the world.

What IS New?

There is one significant paradigm shift worth noting, said Evans.

In the past, all marketing efforts drove prospective patients to your practice. But now, Evans explained, every one of your marketing endeavors, including your word-of-mouth referrals, drives prospective patients to your website. The good news is that your website provides an easy platform to engage prospective patients. The bad news is that prospective patients, even great word-of-mouth referrals, are checking you (and your competition) out online before calling your office.

The upshot? Your website had better perform, according to Evans. Make sure it reflects the image you want to project, highlights the services you want to provide, portrays who you are, converts prospects to consultations, is better than your competition’s website and is found when a potential patient searches the Internet.

Next month’s newsletter will address how to integrate your practice website into your marketing campaign and ensure that it performs.

Ask the experts

Q It is very hard to choose an SEO company. What types of statements from an SEO company should throw up a red flag?
A Search Engine Watch published a good article about this very question. Be suspicious if a prospective SEO company claims to offer guarantees, instant results, the #1 spot on Google, or less than $750 per month in fees, and be wary of shady link building services.

Back to top

Read about our Case Study of the Month

Events: Maximize Your Internet Strategy

Come by the Ceatus booth for a FREE website evalution!

THE Aesthetic Show

The Mirage, Las Vegas
May 16-19
Booth 717

Ceatus Media Group (Booth 717) will be attending this year’s THE Aesthetic Show™ in Las Vegas. THE Aesthetic Show will bring together the top physicians in the aesthetic industry to showcase new procedures, products and technologies.

Vegas Cosmetic Surgery

Bellagio, Las Vegas
June 26-30
Booth 206

Join Ceatus Media Group at the upcoming Vegas Cosmetic Surgery conference in Las Vegas. The conference welcomes professionals from four sub-specialties of aesthetic medicine: facial plastic surgery, oculoplastic surgery, plastic surgery, and dermatology. Ceatus CEO David Evans, PhD, will be a panelist on the following presentations:

Strategies to Leverage Patient Reviews
June 26 • 11:30am-12:30pm • Ballroom 3,5,8

There is a Discount Medi-Spa on Every Corner… “How can I Possibly Compete With these Prices?”
June 27 • 11:45am-12:45pm • Ballroom 3,5,8

Don’t miss out!

Back to top

 

CEATUS Case Study of the Month

North Pointe DentalThe dentists and staff at North Pointe Dental wanted more new patients in the practice. The practice has grown from 30 to 50 new patients a month. Here’s how Ceatus helped.

North Pointe Dental is a multi-dentist practice in the Tampa, FL area. The practice offers a full range of services, from Invisalign to sleep apnea treatment, veneers and Botox. They wanted to grow the practice with more new patients each month. Ceatus provided a new website design, a listing in the Consumer Guide to Dentistry and search engine optimization for the website.

Within months of completing the new website; rankings and traffic for the site began to soar. The improved website design also improved conversion for the prospective patients visiting the website. In 2012, the practice averaged 30 new patients a month. Through the first quarter of 2013, this number had jumped to 50 new patients per month. By mid-April, the practice had already brought in 45 new patients in just two weeks.

Google Organic Only Visits

“We’ve been very happy with the results we’ve gotten from Ceatus. The difference has been night and day! With Ceatus improving our rankings in Google and other search engines, we’ve been seeing many more new patients each month. After just three months of our new optimized site going live we’ve grown from 30 new patients per month average in 2012 to averaging mid 50’s for the first three months of 2013 and growing! In fact, we’re already at 45 new patients for April and it’s only the 15th! We’re glad we chose Ceatus for our SEO and website design and are excited of what’s still to come!”

– Haydee Davidson, North Pointe Dental.

Back to top

Read about our Case Study of the Month

Endless Summer Cocktails

Summer is almost here! You can smell the meat on the grill, taste the salt on the rim of a margarita and hear the laughter of good company filling those summer nights. Here are some cocktails to please the senses and make sure you have an endless summer.

The Ultimate Ketel One Lemonade

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces Ketel One Citroen Vodka (or other top shelf vodka)
2 1/2 ounces fresh lemonade
1 lemon wheel

  1. Shake vodka and lemonade with ice in a cocktail shaker.
  2. Strain into ice-filled highball glass.
  3. Garnish with a lemon wheel.

Watermelon Pimm’s Cup

Ingredients:

Medium-size watermelon
1 cup sugar
2 ounces Pimm’s No. 1
1 ounce lemon juice
2 ounces ginger ale
Berries and mint sprig for garnish.

  1. Purée and strain enough watermelon to equal one cup of juice. In a small pan, heat the sugar and watermelon juice and boil until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool.
  2. In a cocktail shaker with ice, add Pimm’s, lemon juice and 1 ounce syrup-fruit mixture and shake.
  3. Strain into an ice-filled Collins glass.
  4. Top with ginger ale and garnish with berries, mint and cucumber slices to your taste.

Grapefruit Margarita

Ingredients:

Wedge of lime
2 teaspoons coarse margarita salt
14 ounces ruby red grapefruit juice, with pulp (about 3 medium grapefruits)
1 ounce lime juice
5 ounces reposado tequila
2 ounces triple sec
4 slices grapefruit or twists

  1. Run a lime wedge halfway around the rims of four margarita glasses and dip into salt. Set aside.
  2. Combine 7 ounces grapefruit juice, one-half ounce lime juice, 2 1/2 ounces tequila and 1 ounce triple sec in a cocktail shaker.
  3. Shake over ice until chilled. Strain into two ice-filled, salt-rimmed margarita glasses.
  4. Garnish with a twist or slice of grapefruit. Repeat to make two more cocktails.

Cucumber, Basil & Lime Gimlet

Ingredients:

2 fresh basil leaves
2 (.25-inch) slices cucumber
1.5 ounces Moon Mountain vodka
1 ounce lemonade
.25 ounce lime juice
Lime wedge or cucumber wheel

  1. In a shaker, muddle the basil and cucumber.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and fill with ice.
  3. Shake well and strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice.
  4. Garnish with a lime wedge or cucumber wheel.

Whiskey Smash

Ingredients:

2-4 lemon pieces
5-10 mint leaves
3 dashes bitters
1/4 to 3/4 ounces simple syrup to taste
2-3 oz. rye, bourbon or whiskey

  1. Muddle the lemon pieces, mint leaves, bitters and simple syrup in the bottom of a shaker glass.
  2. Add the bourbon and shake well with ice.
  3. Strain into a rocks glass with ice.
  4. Garnish with a mint sprig and a lemon wedge.

Minty Lime Frozen Mojito

Ingredients:

1 (6-ounce) container frozen limeade concentrate
3/4 cup Key lime-flavored (or other light) rum
1/3 cup fresh mint leaves
Garnishes: fresh mint sprigs and lime slices

  1. Combine limeade concentrate, rum, and fresh mint leaves in a blender.
  2. Fill to the 5-cup mark with cracked ice. Blend until smooth.
  3. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs and lime slices before serving, if desired.

Tequila Sunrise

Ingredients:

4 ounces orange juice
2 ounces tequila
1/2 ounces grenadine
Orange slice for garnish
Maraschino cherry for garnish

  1. Pour the tequila and the orange juice into a highball glass with ice cubes.
  2. Stir.
  3. Slowly pour the grenadine around the inside edge of the glass; it will sink and slowly rise to mix with the other ingredients naturally.
  4. Garnish with the orange slice and cherry.

Back to top

Read about our Case Study of the Month