Happy couple looking at something on the laptopIndustry experts say businesses need to be active in social media, but with so many different channels and platforms, it’s increasingly difficult to decide which forms of social media give a good return for your investment. Is it even necessary for Optometry CEOs to spend the time and money to create an online social media presence?

It depends on the level of competition around your optometry practice. If you are in a small to medium-sized town of 5,000 to 40,000 people, social media is probably less important for your success. In contrast, if you are practicing in a city of 150,000 or more, not only is having a social media presence important, but dominating that presence to stand out among the crowd is extremely important. And YouTube is one key to dominating the social sphere and online space.

YouTube is necessary because. . .

  1. Expectations – Potential patients are searching for their next optometrist and would like to get a glimpse of the personality and demeanor of him or her. People like video and good video persuades people to choose your office.
  2. Separation – It is very difficult to set your practice apart from the other practices that are around you. Patients are looking at websites to determine if they are going to schedule an appointment for an eye exam. To be different is risky, but it can also be extremely rewarding if done right. A great YouTube video produced by a professional company will set your practice apart from a stationary website with no video and pictures that look like they were taken with a 5 year old phone.
  3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Websites compete with each other to come out on top in internet searches. The goal is to consistently have your practice website high on the list. Now that Google owns YouTube the formula for SEO, which no one supposedly knows, is speculated to be partially tied to traffic on YouTube.

From personal experience, I can testify our website received an exponential amount of increased traffic, and subsequently referrals, when we started using iMatrix. Recently we increased our level of our commitment to them by going from the Social package to the Media package. The higher monthly fee has more than paid for itself in the increased traffic we have received. In the first month after adding YouTube video to the Wichita Optometry website url www.eyedoctorwichita.com, we had 1,110 impressions where people saw our video and 199 views where it was clicked on and played.