BUSINESS: Research + Stats Quick Poll Results: Digital Platforms Elevate Business Profiles By Staff Friday, September 18, 2009 3:30 PM NEW YORK—Social media offers dynamic, often free, marketing tools that are worth considering to raise your business’s profile. In the last VM Quick Poll we asked what digital platforms—Twitter, Facebook, or blogging—you are most interested in to promote your business, and Facebook won by a landslide 63 percent! Branding, Research on Facebook Facebook is a natural for the vision industry because it is a very visual platform. Images and video can be easily shared, and it is easy to monitor the network associated with your business’s Facebook presence. These days, most mobile devices can access Facebook, bringing your business to your customers’ fingertips. For example, use the Facebook Events feature to let customers know you’re having a sale. See something newsworthy? Brand yourself a thought leader in your community by posting items of interest relevant to the eyecare industry while you scan the news online with your morning coffee. Use the ‘Post to Facebook’ button typically included on news outlets’ Web pages to share informative video or news stories complete with eye-catching thumbnail-sized images on your Facebook profile page. Do a little research by creating polls on your Facebook page to find out what products or services your patients want. Stay ahead of competitors by going straight to the source, while letting customers know you’re interested in their needs. Link to your business Web site from your Facebook profile so that your network can easily learn more about your business. There are also Facebook applications to promote your professional blog and let your network know when you’ve posted something new. NetworkedBlogs acts as a social network for your and your favorite blogs, so you can keep track of the cutting edge ideas in your industry, as well as share your blog on your Facebook profile. Social RSS also promotes your blog on Facebook via RSS (real simple syndication) feeds to create a list of your latest headlines right on your profile. Blogging for Business Speaking of blogging, 21 percent of VM’s Quick Poll respondents were interested in learning what blogging can do for their businesses. Before you can start promoting your blog on Facebook, you should consider that writing a blog should be an ongoing project that requires a certain level of commitment. If you scour industry resources every morning looking for the latest in eyecare and eyewear, and love talking shop, a blog may be a good platform for your professional voice, while branding you as a go-to source for industry information and insight. Your posts don’t have to be essays—150- to 200-word posts are easily digestible chunks of information, and images can help to convey your message. Who knows? Perhaps a news outlet will link to one of your posts, or you could be invited to be interviewed as a thought leader, and just like that, your visibility is elevated. Blogger is a popular free blogging platform that takes only minutes to set up an account. For something a little slicker, TypePad costs less than $10 per month and is relatively simple to navigate. Don’t Titter at Twitter Who has time to keep up a blog? Sure, you have great industry insights, but your schedule is grueling enough without a daily or weekly writing commitment. Twitter is a great alternative that can be utilized as a sort of mini blog. Only 16 percent of respondents wanted to learn about Twitter, but it should not be disregarded as a marketing platform. Create a customized Twitter account for your business, and immediately connect with industry associations, news outlets and peers for information in real time. Your posts are limited to 140 characters, so you can get right to the point sharing your insight and news stories from your trusted sources. And your network can choose to have your updates go straight to their mobile devices. You can save time and maximize your network by linking your Twitter presence to your Facebook presence so that your Twitter updates also post to your Facebook updates. Don’t forget to check out the latest VM’s Quick Poll on VisionMonday.com that asks, what eye health issues are your patients seeking advice about the most?