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that one of the solutions to my pain points is
X or Y and that you supply it, I’m not going to think about coming back to you. It’s that educa- tion... It doesn’t have to be salesy, it comes out as the solution.”
You need a website to make full use of that, but even the directories often let you add content and pictures. “They provide all these super free tools. Google My Business has the question-answer directly on the online direc- tory listing. People don’t use it, or they don’t respond to the answers. So it’s peers that are often answering those questions,” Thrond-
son says. “Folks are always asking, ‘How can I control some of these things?’ There’s a huge answer. You can put postings out there, events, images, things you can control because that is one of the most frequently used platform for your online presence and it’s free.”
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
Taming the directory beast can be time con- suming but it’s relatively simple, because your goal is making sure basic information is correct, and your audience is anyone who does online searches. To get value out of online tools like a website, social media and search engine promo- tions, you need to know who your target audi- ence is and what you want them to do.
“When you are deciding how much and where to focus, look at your customers. Also look at your competitors and see what they’re doing,” Wells says. You already have a general idea from the people you see every day, and your files have data like customer ages and ZIP codes, what your bestselling products are and most-treated conditions. That information can help you decide what, where and to whom you are marketing.
“Once you identify the age range of people buying from your store, then look for where they are on social media,” Wells says. “You don’t choose your social platform first. Facebook is
now the ‘senior’ social media. Almost everybody that’s younger is using Instagram. If you’re in high school or younger you’re using TikTok” (and therefore probably not your target audience).
SOCIAL MEDIA: A BRIDGE,
NOT A DESTINATION
If you’re going to use social media, it requires someone to keep content fresh and respond to inquiries to keep the audience interested and engaged. “I would say if you have somebody internally doing your social media, they need to put something up every day,” Wells says.
Having your own website lets you create an environment that makes it easy for patients to interact with you and gives you greater control of security, as well as more chances to engage with the patient. Websites also have analytic tools to show who’s finding you and where they’re coming from, which will help guide your marketing plans.
“Social media is meant to be a bridge that brings people into your point of engagement
or transaction. If you don’t have a company or store website, there is no point of transaction
or engagement. It stays right there on social,” Wells says. “It’s really hard to get people to leave Facebook to come to your store. You’ve got to give them a connection point that gives them the information they need to know you are the place they are looking for. Most of the time you want that to reside on your website.”
WHY A WEBSITE?
“Facebook is a way to make your business known, to have a presence, but that’s not really why people go there,” Throndson says. “You might be missing out. Facebook does really well in search engine rankings, but is that where your targeted audience is? Is that really the best solution?”
The first thing most searchers look for after finding directory information or your social media is a link your website. If you don’t have one, it’s time to build one, pronto, Wells says. “Having a website established is foundational and fundamental before you can launch any kind of additional campaign, because you need something to tie people back to.”
It doesn’t have to be a transactional (online store) website, but if you choose an information- al site it should engage visitors with content that makes them turn to you for solutions to their health problems. Ideally, the information they find online will bring them through the doors.
“It’s not just about having a website, it’s about having a website that will meet a need or deliver a purpose,” Throndson says. “Actions and goals and how we are targeting them fall into what we call the ‘customer journey.’ It starts with who is \\\\\\\[the customer\\\\\\\] and what can we of- fer them, what is the value? If we don’t identify that, we’ll never be able to attract them.”
If you plan to build your own website, you aren’t
entirely on your own. You can build content with free FAQs and advice about conditions from ad- vocacy groups like the American Diabetes Associ- ation or The Mobility Project; product information and photos from manufacturers and distributors; links to community resources and a review area that helps build your community reputation.
IN-HOUSE OR OUTSOURCE?
How much of an online presence you want will help determine whether you want to manage it in- house or hire outside help. It takes time and skill to direct your marketing efforts and curate your online image, whether it’s directories or more complex tools, so it can’t be an afterthought.
“Taking inventory of online directories — that can take hours to set up initially, but also as those things become available you are updating it,” Throndson says. “There has to be somebody
that is the owner of that, and it might be multiple somebodies. Just maintaining the reviews can be a big task. It doesn’t happen overnight, either. It’s not just, ‘you build this and here they come.’ If it’s important it’s something you put focus into.”
A common misconception is that you can cre- ate a website, populate it with information and then forget it. “It’s not a one-and-done. That would make it really easy,” Throndson says. “You are supposed to upgrade your site every two or three years, but that doesn’t mean from day one of launch, for two or three years you don’t have to touch it. If you want certain results, you have to set out and make sure you are putting the right things in front of the customer.”
If that’s overwhelming, there’s also no shame in admitting you’re not a tech wizard. You can seek recommendations and help from your soft- ware provider, distributors and industry groups and farm out most of your online presence.
“This industry, they have the customer experience nailed, especially when it comes to in-person. They have the care, they go the extra mile, they make sure that things are taken care of,” Throndson says. “Having that experience modeled well online is often a challenge. I get it. They wear a lot of hats.” n
Holly Wagner is a freelance writer covering a variety of industries, including healthcare.
12 April2020|DMEPharmacy
hme-business.com
“If I don’t know that one of the solutions to my pain points is
X or Y and that
you supply it,
I’m not going
to think about coming back to you. It’s that education... It doesn’t have to be salesy.” —Christina Throndson,
VGM Forbin
“You don’t
realize how
much traffic
you are losing
because you
never see them
in the first place.”
—Lisa Wells, Cure Medical