Several months ago we had the pleasure to work with Tina Senter at Desert Perinatal Associates in Las Vegas, NV. Tina runs the marketing department for this practice specializing in high-risk pregnancies.
Vestor Logic was responsible for redesigning their existing website and implementing a WordPress install. We set up accounts and built a Facebook fan page and a Twitter background to maintain a consistent look across their various marketing initiatives. All of these are pretty foundational elements when starting a social media marketing initiative.
Often a client will have big ideas about all the ways that they could use social media to reach out to their existing clients, but fall short when it comes time to take the reins back from us to DO something with it all. Then again, sometimes we get a client like Tina who is ready to run with social media…
Here are some of the things that Tina is doing right:
- Desert Perinatal runs a weekly contest looking for a super cute baby picture from their fans to use as their Facebook icon for the week.
- Tina uses Facebook to engage fans by posting common questions that most moms can’t help but answer in a forum like Facebook, such as: What is your biggest frustration as a parent right now? Or, how did you transition from a crib to toddler bed?
- She allows fans to post on the fan page wall. Parents will post pictures or questions of their own. She is allowing a community to form on her watch, without directly interfering or trying to guide that process.
- Tina creates a monthly newsletter featuring classes, products, recipes, letters from the doctors and Q&A with the nurses, always promoting the Facebook page and Twitter feed to build awareness.
- She also had Vestor Logic create a postcard-sized print version of the Facebook fan landing page as a take away at the front desk to build awareness.
- She uses tools to automatically post Facebook page updates to the Twitter feed.
- She runs a birthday cupcake promotion encouraging fans to post birthday baby pics and receive a cupcake certificate from a local bakery.
Most importantly, she is consistently DOING something in her social media space.
Tina certainly has some built-in advantages with her “product”, new moms are desperate to connect with other new moms and are frequently stuck at home for the first few weeks/months. Her population is all local to one city. She works within a field that people are passionate about: having babies. All those cute pictures don’t hurt, either.
BUT, she easily could have set up these accounts and wandered back to the textbook marketing approaches. She chose to move forward, stay engaged and experiment and it is truly paying off.
So. What can you do to create a community within your client base? How can you engage with your clients on a more meaningful level?
Update: We know, it’s not that easy for everyone. Maybe you don’t have the bandwidth, the staff, the understanding to make it happen for your organization. Soon we will be releasing a set of social media launch products: labs and engagement packages, to help get over that initial hump between set up and social stardom. Stay tuned…
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