Social Media: Taking Relationships Online

One of the CLICK Conference speakers this month, Dr. Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD said it very clearly: "Social Media = Real-Life Relationships."

The added dimension of social media to today's professional Web sites is one of the new opportunities online. Learn more about it—in every issue of CLICK and from the speakers at CLICK's first-ever CLICK Conference (see our story, below). Sponsored by Hoya, the Conference brought together great insights and data—and its first “real-life” community gathering of CLICK readers. Thanks for your enthusiastic support!

CLICK is the latest in a series of popular e-newsletters from Vision Monday, briefings designed specifically to provide practice insights, info and ideas about the ways ECPs can extend their patient connections and business via the web. Check out the CLICK archives at www.visionmonday.com. Tried something new on your Web site? Have a comment about CLICK? Tell us about it and we'll consider it for an upcoming feature in CLICK.
—The Editors

SOCIAL CLIMBING: Insights From the First CLICK Conference

LAS VEGAS—Nearly 200 eyecare professionals and others from the vision industry attended the first Vision Monday CLICK Conference, held at Vision Expo West earlier this month. Titled “Social Climbing: How the New Media Can Transform Your Practice,” and sponsored exclusively by Hoya Vision Care, the conference included a panel of expert speakers on the impact of social media.

“CLICK was conceived when it became obvious the transformation that our business culture and personal lives are undergoing thanks to the Internet was also something that was going to have to be managed for our vision care businesses,” said Marge Axelrad, editorial director of Vision Monday. She added, “The Web is now an integrated part of how patients learn about eye health, eyecare, how they find you and how they connect with you,” before introducing the Conference’s keynote speaker, John Garnin, senior sales manager of YELP.com

“Your customers are using social media, you should be using it too,” said Garnin. “It can seem a little scary, the Internet can be like the Wild Wild West sometimes, but you can optimize it to help grow your business. Consumers value customer opinions. In fact, 78 percent of the public values a recommendation from a product user. As a business, you need to take advantage of the review concept and you need to be looking at it, because people are talking about you and you need to own it and be participating in the discussion,” added Garnin.

Panelist, Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD, FAAO from Bright Eyes Family Vision Care in Tampa, Fla, agreed: “Social media equals real life relationships and those relationships get people in your door and people in your door, buzz about your business, means revenue.”

“Having a website no longer means you are innovative,” stated panelist Kelly Kerksick, OD, director of professional services for Vision Source. “The opportunity now for eyecare businesses is to differentiate ourselves and that is accomplished by how we integrate social media tools, like Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, etc... It helps us get to know our patients in a less formal, more personal way, in addition to providing us with an easier way of tracking metrics because of the immediacy of social networking’s interaction with patients,” concluded Kerksick.

Brad Childs, a panelist, optician and EVP/COO of Eyetique in Pittsburgh summed it up this way: “Social media needs to be put in that tool bag of marketing tricks because it is another way to drive people through your doors. It’s a platform to stay in front of your patients. You may ask the question—'How much time is social networking going to take?’ Well, my response is—‘How much time do you need to invest in your business?’ Because the answer is one and the same. Everything we do is designed to accomplish one thing—get patients in our doors.”

“The electronic message here, and with CLICK, is to find ways to drive patients into the eyecare provider’s office. Social networking is an exciting opportunity for our practices and Hoya is proud to be the sponsor of this conference,” said Gregory Hicks, OD, of Hoya.

View all of the presentations made by the CLICK Conference panelists:
John Garnin
Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD, FAAO
Kelly Kerksick, OD
Brad Childs
Gregory Hicks, OD

CLICK Conference Tweets

Attendees—and those following on Twitter—tweeted during the CLICK Conference. Search for the Twitter hashtag #VMClick to see all the posts. Some excerpts:

@NateBW: Yup! :) RT @DavidPalmer82: is into himself. You are too, otherwise you wouldn't have a Facebook or Twitter :-) #VMClick

@DavidPalmer82: is into himself. You are too, otherwise you wouldn't have a Facebook or Twitter :-) #VMClick

@philcobizzle: If you have questions related to social media, tweet me. I run a social media business for small business owners. #vmclick #VisionExpo

@SpectaclesNJ: Tweetups are a fantastic idea from Nathan Bonilla-Warford. We look forward to hosting our first Tweetup for our community soon! #vmclick

@slhelland: #vmclick I love Dr. Nate's slides! Social media does not replace real relationships it allows you to build on them.

@PeriphVis: #vmclick is the twitter hash tag to follow! Lotsa great stuff coming out of the Vision Monday Click Social Media... http://fb.me/HlpY7N6U

@philcobizzle: Groupon is great for cafes, lower end retail—does it make sense for a high end retailer? In my opinion, it can cheapen a brand. #vmclick

@slhelland: #vmclick Not everything you will do on Social media will be a homerun but you gotta take a chance.—Brad Childs, Eyetique

@mr_lbs: RT @VisionMonday: #vmclick RT @philcobizzle: Very interested to see how Yelp! & other location based services like... http://bit.ly/9SgubH

@VisionMonday: The #VMClick conference, sponsored by Hoya, starts right now at the Veronese Room. We’re excited to hear the tech savvy speakers!