Facebook Timeline for Business: Are You Ready?

At the end of this week, Facebook is switching over to the timeline format for all business pages. I know, you are probably wondering, "What does that even mean and why do I care?" Good questions.

Mostly this means your page will have a new layout. In addition to a new layout template the Timeline feature on Facebook also includes a few extra features for businesses. This article does a great job of briefly reviewing the upcoming changes; here are a few of the important features:

Profile Picture & Cover Photo: These features allow for much more flexibility in visually branding your Facebook page. There are some relatively strict restrictions about prohibited content on your Cover Photo (the larger of the 2 photos) but there is plenty of room for creativity. The example below is what I chose to do with my business page. Why not consider a great picture of your staff or retail showroom?

Ability to "Pin" Posts: One of the coolest new features is the ability to "pin" a post at the top of your page for more visibility. This can work especially well for informing visitors to your page about current sales, promotions or events.

Private Messaging: Now customers will be able to send private message to your company via the Facebook page, rather than posting them publicly. This feature is especially helpful for health care so potential patients can ask questions they may not have otherwise. 

Now, as for "why you should care." These new changes make it easier than ever to create  unique, branded web presence for your business FOR FREE. If you already have a page for your business, it will automatically convert to the new timeline layout March 31... but the good news is that you still have a few days to polish your layout. Let me know if you need help or have any questions!

Spring Has Sprung

 I have a confession: Once the New Year is celebrated, I could do without snow again until December. 

From about January to March, the wake-up light that simulates daylight on dark, cold Michigan mornings is my best friend – which is why I love today. Today is a sure sign that warmer temps, sunshine, backyard BBQs and camping trips to Northern Michigan are not far behind!

Signs of Spring: buds on my cherry tree, daffodils on my desk, tennis courts calling my name!

It's the First Day of Spring... also called the Vernal Equinox; "vernal" means "spring" and "equinox" means "equal night." The date notes when there are equal hours of light and dark in one day. (The other Equinox happens in September and marks the first day of autumn.) Did you also know:

• If you were standing on the equator during either the vernal or autumnal equinox, you would see the sun pass directly overhead, the only two times in the year when that is true.
• The two equinoxes are also the only times during the year when the sun rises due east and sets due west. 
• In spring, the Earth’s axis is tilted toward the sun, increasing the number of daylight hours and bringing warmer weather that causes plants to bring forth new growth.

So what are your plans with a few extra hours of daylight?

Hello Medtrade!

Anna McDevitt & Katie Parrott @ Medtrade // Atlanta, GA 2011

This week, the new mailer for Medtrade Spring graced my desk. I really like Medtrade. It's a great opportunity to see what's new, to network and see what is happening in other parts of our industry. But I especially enjoy the conference aspect, so it was fun to see a photo of your truly sitting in one of the sessions from last year! Sitting next to me is Katie Parrott - a bright, young marketing assistant from Sleep Solutions Home Medical. (It was her first conference experience and she had a great time!)

Though I won't be in Las Vegas for the Spring show, I am hoping to present for the first time ever in the Fall. Perhaps this little reminder is a good omen... it is, at least, good motivation as I finish up my submissions!

Are you going to Medtrade Spring? What are you hoping to learn?

Customer Service IS Marketing

It doesn't matter if they are a patient, a caregiver or referral source. It doesn't matter if they are a potential customer or have been doing business with you for years. It doesn't matter if it's with your clinicians, customer service rep, driver, sales rep or you. One of the fundamentals of marketing that I repeat over and over again is this: every interaction your company has with a customer is an opportunity to strengthen or weaken your brand. 



In fact, paying attention to customer interactions is one of the best (and cheapest!) marketing tools available to you. Last week I found the perfect example to share with you. The Today show ran a segment about "How To Fire Your Pediatrician" with the intention of empowering parents to find a new doctor if they don't feel their needs are being met. It's clear that patients need more than just a correct diagnosis and a prescription – patients need customer service. Red flags such as missing serious medical problems are common sense, but many times it is the patient interaction problems that turn patients off for good. Here are two comments that viewers shared about interactions with their doctors:

"My daughter had dark rings forming around her neck, so I took her into the doc. The doc told her that she was too fat. Knowing that my daughter was just getting past an eating disorder. I asked the doctor if that was appropriate language to express weight concerns to a child? She told me that she calls it like she sees it."

"Twice...two different states. Both times it was because the doctor was already out the door before I could ask questions...and the second one was always distracted!"


While this example focuses on pediatricians, this is valuable feedback for any health care provider. Let's review: Neither of these comments have anything to do with the actual medical care they received. Yet these parents felt strongly enough to not only leave their health care providers but also put energy into sharing that negative experience on the social media site of a national news organization. What do you think they shared with the other parents in their communities about those particular doctors?

 Now, imagine these are your patients. You might be discounting these feedback comments: Perhaps the woman with the overweight daughter is just oversensitive and was offended by a physician's honesty. Maybe the woman with questions asked crazy and irrelevant ones. There are a million and one ways for you to guess how the negative reviews came to be but the reality is that the damage is already done. 

The best weapon you have here is to pay attention to those interaction in the first place. Be proactive!! Try making a list of all the points where a customer interacts with your company. What kind of experience are you delivering? Is your staff friendly? When patients call with questions does your staff sound bothered? Or are they helpful? Does a patient get greeted when they walk into your facility? Do your clinicians make time for questions during home visits? Are your drivers courteous on the road? Do calls get returned promptly? How easy is it to get questions answered? Are your sales reps behaving professionally in referral offices? Are they respecting Medicare marketing guidelines? Do you have informational/educational materials you can distribute?

Once you can put yourself into the customers' experience, it's easy to note all of the little things that make or break a long-term customer relationship. Remember, these are details that are just as easy to polish as they are to let slip through the cracks. So be positive, be proactive and protect your great brand with quality customer service!


P.S. As always, if you like what you've read here and want more information or some help getting started, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Content Marketing: Your Secret Weapon

"What really decides consumers 'to buy' or 'not to buy'
is the content of your advertising, not its form."

David Ogilvy

Ok... maybe it's not that secret, but content marketing has been growing in popularity for one very important reason: it works.

If content marketing is a new term for you, have no fear, it's a simple concept. Rather than purchasing flashy tools or distracting giveaways, content marketing is a strategy of focusing your marketing efforts around quality, informative, relevant messages to your consumer. It doesn't mean that some giveaways aren't also important; they just shouldn't be the workhorse of your marketing plan. The idea is to create deeper connections with your current and potential consumers to facilitate long-term relationships. For example, a monthly newsletter filled with relevant content is much more valuable to the middle-aged sleep apnea patient than a pillow shaped stress ball with your company logo on it.

This article from Entrepreneur (written by Ann Handley) does a nice job of outlining some basic tips for developing your own content marketing. Here are a few of the suggestions from the article:

Compare: Why are you better than the next provider? That's what your potential customers are asking when they visit your website for the first time. Does your website give them an answer? Try including a downloadable PDF with your features, benefits and why you are better than the HME down the street.

Use Resources Wisely: This happens to be an old Girl Scout motto (at least when I was a Brownie!) but it works in business, too. The success stories of your current patients - and referral sources - are great stories to tell about your company. Use them.

FAQs: This an opportunity for you to create some transparency and share how you do business. Especially in health care, sometimes there are more questions than answers and giving some of those answers up front can help potential customers feel more comfortable from the get go.

Celebrate the New Year with a... Marketing Calendar?

I get the impression that most people view marketing plans as something they know they are supposed to have but probably gets pushed aside until very last minute... or until never. I'm willing to bet that most small businesses don't have have one that they actually use.
(If your company still doesn't have a working marketing plan, please send me an email. I will send you an easy, 5-step guide for creating a marketing plan!)


Today, I'd like to focus on a very under-used part of a marketing plan: the marketing calendar. Even if you're still struggling with the details of your marketing plan, a marketing calendar can help you turn talk into action.


Start by gathering your marketing team to talk about what you need to accomplish in the upcoming year and be sure to include talk about how your year is structured. For example, we know that patient deductibles are renewed in January and (usually) met by December, which means Q4 is a great time to focus on accessories and follow up with patients. We know holidays like Mother's Day, Father's Day and Grandparent's Day are great times for gift giving and may be a good time to target cash sales to caregivers/families. Also think about how your company operates: are there times of the year when certain products sell more? Are there any big events taking place this year that may require marketing? Take advantage of that information in your marketing!


Once this discussion gets going and ideas are flowing, start plugging details into the calendar. Put the important and non-flexible dates in first so you can work around them. Be sure to note holidays, marketing themes, product focuses and sales. List the marketing materials you will need, including how much production time you will need to execute them. (For example, if you are running an ad in the newspaper be sure to find out when the ad is due to the publication and how much time you need to put it together.) This will be a living document for you to use as a tool - don't be afraid to move things around and change your mind a few times in the process!


Your marketing calendar can be nothing more than a theme for each month or detailed enough to contain the whole year's media buy. The important part is to include enough information to keep your team on task and make sure it keeps you on top of your marketing. And if you have any questions, call me: 248.227.6930

Social Media: Bridging the Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality

If you had asked me five years ago, I would have had mixed feeling about social media. I would have told you about making sure you had someone dedicated to keeping up with your social media, explained the benefits educating yourself about how it works before you decide it's a good business tool and I would have asked you if your customers were actually using social media. Whether you're a tech geek or swear you'll never be tethered to a smart phone, we now live in a social media world. As with any new technology, there are new rules of engagement, vocabulary words and tools to master. Here are a few tips to feel more comfortable dipping your toe in the social media waters.

Know How to Use Your Tools

Facebook. Twitter. Blogs. LinkedIn. Forums. If you aren't familiar with any one of the social media tools you have been hearing about, it's time to do a little homework. Start by searching online: visit the websites, read articles, watch "how-to" videos. I also recommend a tutoring session from your kids, niece or nephew, tech-savvy friend, intern, co-worker, IT guy, etc. They use this stuff everyday and know how it works! Though each avenue of social media is similar, each one works in a slightly different way - which is part of what makes things confusing. All the more reason to do your homework! Once you understand the "what" of social media, it's time to figure out the "how." Find out how your customers and competitors are using social media. Between the "what" and "how" you will start to see how social media fits into your marketing plan.

Remember To Have a Conversation
It's very easy to start treating social media just as we've treated traditional media: output only. Successful social media is a dialogs between people and businesses so try to think of your Tweets as ice breakers, conversation starters and stories rather than billboards, advertisements and hard sells. Don't expect to post bath safety product coupons on your company blog and find an instant spike in cash sales. Your goal should be develop relationships that will translate into sales. You may also want to ask your customers for feedback: check out these 7 tips!

Get a Smartphone
If your budget permits, arm yourself with a smartphone. (If not you, whoever handles your social media.) Trust me, this will help make you a social media mogul!

Cross Your T's, Dot Your I's
It's important to understand a few of the responsibilities that come with social media. For example, business Facebook pages are slightly different than personal Facebook pages. Using a personal Facebook page for business violates the term of use and could potentially shut down your page. Also, the same marketing guidelines outlined by Medicare apply to social media so be sure any coupons or promotions you tweet/post are compliant. When in doubt, check with your lawyer!

Put Yourself Out There
For years we've been warned about the risk of sharing information online but this in one case where I urge you to share some of yourself with the internet. If you haven't already, get a Facebook account. Get a Twitter account. Subscribe to a blog or two. Comment in a forum. You will learn much more quickly by doing than observing so just start doing! It's only a few clicks away...