Facebook has just announced it’ll be limiting the number of promotional posts from businesses.
This means you will have to start re-thinking your content strategy. If you’re sending only event invitations, discounts, procedure descriptions, and other “Call-to-Action” material, you’re headed down the wrong path.
From where I stand, this is completely welcome. I’ve been urging clients for years to let me create content for them that’s helpful, authentic, useful, relevant, filled with personal reflection, and better suited to the new digital marketing paradigm.
Despite being seconded by every digital advisor on the planet, my advice often lands on deaf ears. Some doctors just can’t get past that advertising mind-set.
One way I try to change their minds is to have them imagine reading their estate lawyer’s blog or newsletter. What kind of content would they appreciate? Do they want to find out about events the lawyer will be holding in the community where they describe how they do their job? Probably not.
Do they want to hear about a 10% off deal on wills? Doubtful.
When it comes to digital marketing, what you communicate about most of the time is the key. It has an effect on your reputation. It tells the world what you think of yourself.
In today’s lingo, it “builds your brand.”
Facebook’s new content rule is just a repeat of Google’s Panda algorithm. The Internet is trying to tell us something. It wants us to take a higher road than the one we travel making television commercials, writing magazine ads, etc.
The new road falls somewhere between honest self-revelation and public service.
For the estate lawyer, it might consist of sending a bulletin about new government legislation affecting capital gains. That’s information the reader can use. It’s part of the lawyer’s inside track, something a reader might otherwise miss. It’s generous, helpful, and doesn’t sell anything.
For a cosmetic surgeon, the content might consist of breaking news about developments in wound care. That’s an inside track piece of information, too. It’s not in-the-reader’s-face with a thinly veiled sales pitch.
A more playful and welcome post might be something about a celebrity who’s had some work done.
You could offer your expert observations about how his or her surgeon managed to give a more conventionally beautiful face. Then you could open a discussion about “What’s beauty?” This kind of post would get shared all over. Everybody loves to dish on celebrities.
Relax and enjoy the digital future.
Joyce Sunila is the president of Practice Helpers, providing e-newsletters, blogs, and social media services to aesthetic practices. You can contact Joyce at [email protected] or visit the Practice Helpers website at www.practicehelpers.com
