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Transcript
Jacqui Fahey (0:00): Welcome to Common Ground, a podcast series discussing new research and interesting projects in the field of complementary medicine. Hello, my name is Jacqui Fahey, head of education at vital.ly.
vital.ly is a digital platform, a health professional resource, and a distribution service all in one.
Firstly, I'd like to begin by acknowledging the Gadigal people of the Eora nation as the traditional custodians on the land on which we gather here. I would also like to pay my respect to their elders both past present and emerging.
In this episode today, we shall be discussing social media marketing with a focus on clinical practice for healthcare professionals, marketing trends and website tools can come in and out of fashion. And perhaps you've tried some using them successfully, or you're looking for something else. There are many, but doesn't matter what platform you use? how do you stand out from the crowd without bombarding in these times of overwhelm and influx of information? Today on Common Ground I'm speaking with Heather Porter. Heather is a business coach and speaker who teaches online marketing tips to small businesses who want to grow with less hustle. Heather is founder of Website Love, a website development and social media agency. She is an Amazon Kindle number one bestseller and co-author of four business books. Heather is one of eight Facebook community trainers in Australia and New Zealand and teaches the Facebook community boost program to small businesses.
Heather also regularly speaks about growing your business online for audiences that range from local councils to small business training companies.
We warmly welcome Heather to Common Ground.
Heather Porter (1:50): Well, hello Jacqui and everyone. Thank you so much for having me I'm so excited to be here with you.
Jacqui Fahey (1:56): Thank you, Heather. We’re very excited ourselves. So we'd love to hear a little about, about yourself, Heather. What's your background and how did you come into specializing in social media, marketing and website building?
Heather Porter (2:08): Such a great question. So in my previous, I say previous life, because it literally feels like that. I used to run events, very large seminars for speakers like Tony Robins, the motivational speaker, and various other speakers and I was doing that and a long came Facebook. Facebook kind of up and coming 2008 and one of the speakers I was working with at the time said, ‘Hey Heather, there's this thing called Facebook, how do we use it? How do we use it to reach our tribe, you know, our people beyond the seminars that we do?’ And I was quite intrigued. So I took it upon myself to learn not only social media at the time but also how to build a website and specifically in this case, a membership website and at launch we had 18,000 members and needless to say, I was hooked, I was leaving the event industry behind. I was gonna work in digital marketing. So I literally fell into it.
Jacqui Fahey (3:04): Fantastic. Well that's good timing moving into that space! So if we focus on setting up clinical practice, what are the most important steps a recent graduate and or practitioner could do to start, getting clients online?
Heather Porter (3:23): So I have sort of an easy six step, little formula or little process I think that would really help anyone. Whether, you know, you're new with your practice or you've been a practitioner for a while and you're sort of looking at how to fix what you already have online. It'll work for both So first step number one is getting very very clear on who you want to work with. I mean, there's this thing that, you know, if you try and help everyone, no one will remember you. And I think that's really important because the thing is, we all have this sort of perfect client that we wanna work with and a good place to start is thinking, okay, if I up tomorrow and I had my books full for a hundred of them, hundred people with booked appointments over the next, you know, as long as much as you can handle right week, month, year hundred of them, what would he or she be?
What's the common ground? Is there an age bracket? Is there a set of values that they share health conditions that share like what is that thing? And that's a really great place to start because if you don't know who he or she or they are, then you don't really know who you're helping and you can't stand out. So that's the first one, get clear. Who you wanna work with. Number two is create a list of sort of your packages specific to you and what you wanna offer and really go through how they specifically will help that person. I like with this piece, I really like to think of like our own framework, our own sort of way of working. So everyone, everyone of you listening to this has an incredible story to tell incredible expertise you know, wisdom, things that have happened in your life that make you unique to what you practice and what you share with your clients.
Heather Porter (5:18): And so it's really, really important to think through how you specifically work. Is there a framework? is there a step? Is there like steps that you specifically take and how can you then package that into unique packages that you offer that stand out from everybody else? That's number two number.
Three is make it easy for someone to learn about you and what you offer. I know that sounds like a no brainer, but it's so true that a lot of us get online whether it's your website or you know, you have your social media presence and we sort of go, ‘oh yeah, I've already talked about what I do’ once! And the thing is, is that you have to say it over and over and over again because I know Jacqui, you probably are like me that you, we're different every day, every week of our lives.
And we pay attention to different things that are said to us. And so we need to hear things different ways, right? So with this it's, it's basically you wanna position you sell and what you offer on your website in, you know, different pages. So each, each treatment, each package, each thing that you offer, is there a core page on your site? which really talks to that person that you're trying to help really tells them how you're gonna solve that problem and how you're uniquely different and how, what you package together for them will help them. And also, you know, talk about it a lot on social media, on your emails, put it out there to the world.
Jacqui Fahey (6:45): yeh, link it! Good point.
Heather Porter (6:47): Yes, link it. Link it top, yell it from the top of the mountain and make sure you tell your story a lot in there as well. A lot of my work I do in the social media marketing side is do, you know, measuring testing and measuring and looking at what works and the posts that consistently work the best are called BTS or behind the scenes. And the reason why is because it's storytelling. So we love to hear from potential businesses or practitioners that we're gonna work with, you know, why you, what's your backstory? How can I trust you? You know, to storytelling.
Jacqui Fahey (7:18): That's so true because the nature also, you know, within the healthcare professional space, it's quite sacred, to go in and speak with a practitioner isn't it?
Heather Porter (7:28): Oh yeah.
Jacqui Fahey (7:33): It's very personal. It's private. So yeah, that's a really good point. You know, what is your story?
Heather Porter (7:38): Yeah, it took me a while, I had a naturopath for a while and I was, I really wanted to know about her because I was gonna be personal. You know, about my past and my health with this woman. So the stories that she told about her past and why she's doing what she's doing and it really resonated with me and it was like, I remember a particular one email I got was on her email list and she told this story about herself and her journey and health. And I was like, oh my gosh, that's it. I'm signing up. So step three, really make it easy for someone to learn more about you and what you offer different stories, different, you know, pages on your website.
Step four. Is there an easy way to contact you and book an appointment? So do you have an online booking platform? Do you have your phone number on your site? Do you have a contact form and make sure that these things are everywhere? So not just on your contact page but are they in your menu, on your homepage on, if you do blog posts on your blog posts and the reason why is that people are gonna come into your site and your pages in different ways and also on social media, they're gonna come from different posts. So you wanna make sure that you give them different options to book and take that step with you. Also think about your demographic. Remember we in step one, we were talking about,who you work with? So if are they younger, guess what? They don't like the phone. You wanna be available with text, so SMS, Facebook messenger, DM’s or direct messages on Instagram. This is how the younger generation millennials are down will communicating and there's something about picking up a phone. That's so scary.
Jacqui Fahey (9:35): It's confronting. It can be, huh?
Heather Porter (9:37): Yeah. Yeah. So get clear on that. So that's step four. So make it easy for them to contact you, easy for them, meaning who your target market is, how will they need to contact you online phone, call, messaging, whatever it is.
Step five. So create an ongoing content to build trust and allow people to get to know you and how you specifically help their problems. So even if you have a fantastic website, you know, you have your social media, you just wanna be consistent with your content that you're creating. Your content should be a fine mix between education, so when people are sort of looking around, they have this specific problem, maybe they have acne for example, or they have a, you know, sluggish digestion and they're looking online trying to work out why what's going on with me?
Heather Porter (10:26): How do I fix this problem? They want education for that. They need to know what the options are, but also your other mix is your promotional content. So why you, you know, what are the packages you offer? Do you have a special seasonal, special or deal that you're offering? So that's step five,
One more, one step left. Okay. So the last step is to send traffic to your website and or social media accounts consistently. So once you have that framework, you have the pages on your site. You're talking about what you do and educating consistently, you have to keep keeping your eye on the ball of sending people, new people into your world, into your community, into your website. So you can get on podcasts. Like I am here right now with you guys, right? Get on podcasts, write guest posts. So you can go to other blog post and submit like one that comes to mind is mind, body green. I think they're still around. But a lot of these websites you can literally go to their contact page and they'll actually have sections or in the foot or a menu to submit articles or apply to be a writer. it's a great way to do that. Guest posts. You can consider doing social media ads, but things that you're gonna of do outside of your, your sphere of influence to bring more people in. Yes,
Jacqui Fahey (11:40): That's a really good point. Yeah. Expanding yourself.
Heather Porter (11:43): Yeah yeah. So there's the six.
Jacqui Fahey (11:47): Thank you for sharing that, that's really simplified, it’s just so focused isn't it? You've got that bit of a foundation.
I'm so pleased, I was going to ask you later in our chat but I'm so pleased you mentioned - about finding a phone number because I’ve been on quite a few websites and it's just been so difficult to find contact information. So it's a really good point that you just said to not just put in one place but in various areas of your website.
Heather Porter (12:09): Absolutely. And, and if you're gonna list your own number, which even though I mentioned, you might wanna consider like text messaging as well or live chat on your website for younger demographics, still it's important to have a phone number. So pop it up there where I like to put phone numbers on websites are up in the menu area. So just about the navigation, you pop, you put your phone number in there, make it clickable as well. So if people click on that from their phone it actually dials the number. And then on the mobile version of your website, pull it out of your mobile menu and actually put the phone number above, sort of your logo and your mobile menu. You can actually make it like a mobile sort of special area. So people don't have to dig to deep, because if they're going to your site from their phone they might be just literally going there to easily find your phone number and give you a call. So make it easier for them.
Jacqui Fahey (13:01): Great, good point. So there are many platforms within the social media world, no kidding, to market yourself. Do you sign up for all of them? Are there a select few and if there's a select few, how do you konw which ones to pick?
Heather Porter (13:18): Yeah. Gosh, there's so many. I know when clubhouse, clubhouse is the name. When clubhouse came out last year, I was like, please no more. And now there's TikTok and gosh, so this comes back to that initial step one in that little framework we were talking about earlier, which just get really clear on who you're trying to help. If it's female, specifically sort of, anywhere 25 to even 45 plus Instagram's big. So, you know, you wanna do that.
Let's say you're actually focused on professionals. Like, you know, you might be looking at you know, stressed out executives. You could do some really great content on LinkedIn as an example. So I like to get good at two. Two is a great place to start. I personally tend to hang out on Facebook.
Actually, I'm more on LinkedIn these days actually LinkedIn and Instagram for what I do. But you guys think through, you know, your people and where they hang out, getting good at two is really great for most of you. It will probably be Instagram and Facebook. I recommend this is the biggest but it also could be LinkedIn. And also if you're really going for the younger markets, you might be dabbling in TikTok.
Jacqui Fahey (14:33): Right, yeah okay, good. I haven't even gone on TikTok myself or Instagram but it's another world isn't it?
Heather Porter (14:43): It's another world and it does take a lot of time. So use the scheduling tools when you can, when you're getting started to pre batch some content creation and schedule it out there. And then you at least have some consistency going and you don't have to stress out and think, oh my gosh, I haven't posted anything. It's been two weeks, you know?
Jacqui Fahey (15:04): Here's a, there's a quote, which I like, we're drowning in information, but we're starving for wisdom. How do you not bombard in this space?
Heather Porter (15:13): I love that. I love that. So good. Thank you for bringing that up. Such a great one. So yeah, so with that, I have a few, I guess, key things I would talk through and it's very much a mindset sort of play, I suppose. The first one is consistency builds trust. Most people will not take action ASAP with you. So it's a fine line of not bombarding but also you have to remember that, there's this sort of mindset called the rule of seven which exists in marketing. The rule of seven is basically that it takes on average, at least seven touch points for somebody to decide to click that ‘book appointment’ button of yours or call you on your website. It will take a while because most of us as human beings, we wanna build trust. Especially like we said before, with that storytelling piece, if it's gonna be a really private, personal sort of exchange, we wanna be out there, we're gonna look at a review.
We might pop over to somebody's Instagram and consume a story. We might go onto the website and read a blog post, then pop back over to Google my business and read another review. There's a process that people take to build trust. So understanding that it is actually gonna take time rather than thinking bombard. It's more about, okay, I'm in this for the long run but I've got to actually focus on creating really valuable content. So a way of doing that, and this is where I tend to go because I'm as guilty is probably many of you guys where you go into comparison ‘comparisonitis’ mode, you go onto website you're on social media. You're like, oh, I can't be that good. Or I can't do that.
Focus on being a producer and not a consumer. So think about the people that are out there that need your help, that don't yet know about you. Really think of them and not you and get out there and produce content for them. But content they genuinely want and that will genuinely help them. So you can use some tools. I like ‘answer the public.com.’ Have you heard of that Jacqui?
Jacqui Fahey (17:30): No I haven’t, what’s that one?
Heather Porter (17:39): Yeah, okay. It's fun. So ‘answerthepublic.com’ where you can go and type in like you know, nutrition ideas or whatever. Just anything that maybe one of you guys listening might do in your practice. You type in the topic and it comes up with all these questions that people are Googling and searching for in forums around that topic.
Jacqui Fahey (17:58): Oh, fantastic. It's fantastic.
Heather Porter (18:02): It's fun. It's good. There's ‘Uber suggest’ is another one. It's weird sounding. I know. So you just Google ‘Uber suggest’ and it will come up and it allows you to look for content again, you type in a topic and it gives you content suggestions. So articles that other people are writing that are being shared on social media. So you can kind of get a benchmark and an idea of what's working. And then you can use those tools and you can literally just go, okay, so think back to who you're trying to help, think of the questions that they're asking online and create content, blog posts newsletters, social media posts and just always keep in mind that you are actually doing people a disservice by not letting people know about you. If there is that woman, man, person out there that is literally in pain, not living the life that they could and they could really use your services, then I genuinely feel that if you're not out there talking about what you do and how you can help them, then you're doing them a disservice
Jacqui Fahey (19:07): Good point. Totally agree. Over the years just going through some of the colleges and speaking with students, sometimes there's a little bit of lacking motivation. Like ‘oh gosh, you know, there's just too many naturopaths out there or too many nutritionists, why would somebody come and see me?’ And it's like, well, you are unique. You know, what do you offer? So you've shared that throughout our little chat here. So thank you for just really providing such encouragement with regards to that because it is a disservice, we are trained in health as health professionals. So let's get our information with good content, you know, build that trust like you've mentioned and something that's for that particular audience that you to work with.
Heather Porter (19:52): Absolutely. And well, what’s that saying Jacqui, when you're ready, the teacher will appear. And there can be a hundred other naturopaths or practitioners or nutritionist out there that are like you but no one is exactly like you. So we resonate with a teacher, a person that we're gonna do business with based on the stories they tell the content they put out and it's okay that there's competition out there because actually, noone's like you, the right people will find you, but they're only gonna find you if you let them know you're there. Exactly
Jacqui Fahey (20:29): Well said. Well, Heather, they thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and experience and loved having common ground. Thank you.
Heather Porter (20:40): Oh, it's been an absolute pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me.
Jacqui Fahey (20:57): Thanks for tuning into this episode today. We appreciate your support and feel free to leave us a review. We'd love to hear from you. Thank you.
