What is social networking?

Social networking websites are online communities that enable individuals from all over the world to share information and connect to those with similar interests, professions and hobbies. These sites allow us to stay in touch with family, reconnect with long-lost childhood friends, and keep up with our favorite celebrities and brands.

But, it doesn’t end there! Today, all major organizations and many small businesses participate in social networking to not only promote their services and attract new clients, but to help build stronger relationships with their existing clients.

Social networking has become such an important part of the average web user’s life, that today, more people communicate through social networking sites than email.

A few social networking facts and figures:

• Social networking sites reach 80% of all active U.S. internet users
• Over 700 billion minutes per month are spent on Facebook
• More than 2.5 million websites have integrated with Facebook
• 190 million average tweets per day occur on Twitter
• Google+ was the fastest social network to reach 10 million users at 16 days
• Google’s new “Search Plus Your World” aims to personalize your search results by including more Google+ profiles, business pages, posts and photos

For more information on what social networking is, read the article on our blog entitled “What You Need to Know about Online Social Networking”.

Why is social networking important to small businesses?

Today, social networks have saturated every age group and geographic market, and more and more, they are influencing search results. It is clear now that social networking is no longer a choice for small businesses, but a necessary component to any marketing strategy. From creating your presence to engaging with your audience, social networking can help build brand loyalty and encourage patient referrals.

Here are a few of the many benefits of social networking for medical practices:

• More exposure to your brand – By joining in on social networking, you will be allowing billions of people worldwide to access information on the services you have to offer.
  
  
• Additional results in search engines – Search engines index social networking profile pages. This means that by participating in social networking you will have more visibility in searches for your practice.
  
  
• Ease in broadcasting messages – Social networking is an excellent way to quickly and effectively share a message with your audience.
  
  
• Networking at a low cost – One of the biggest perks of social networking is the low costs. You can create profiles on social networking sites for free or allow us to do the work for you for a low fee. From that point forward, you can connect, share and discuss your services to a large audience for only the cost of your time.

For more information on the benefits of social networking for medical practices, read the article on our blog entitled “Top 10 Ways Social Networking Websites Can Benefit Your Medical Practice”.

Let MedNet help get you started with social networking!

Don’t have the time or expertise to set up profiles on these sites? MedNet Technologies now offers a service to get you off and running in the world of social networking. For a one-time fee of $995, we will create profiles for you or your practice on three major social networking websites, so you can quickly start building relationships and promoting your services.

Here’s what’s included in the service:

• Facebook – We will create a Facebook page for you or your practice, complete with a photo, your contact information and a short biography. We will also include a link to your practice’s homepage, driving potential clients directly to your website. If you have a blog, we import the feed into your fan page so it is automatically updated; your fans are notified instantly every time you post to your blog! Click the image below to view an example.
  
  
  
• Twitter – After setting up your profile on Twitter, our graphic designers will add a background image and adjust the colors of your Twitter page, so it matches your existing website. We’ll then add your photo, a brief bio and a link to your website. Click the image below to view an example.
  
  
  
• Google+ – Your Google+ profile will include information about yourself or your practice, complete with photos and a link to your website. With Google’s new personalized results, your Google+ profile is more likely to come up in search results over any other social networking profile when your name or practice name is searched by a potential patient. Click the image below to view an example.
  
  

Join the Community!

Each and every day, more and more of your existing and potential patients are engaging in online social networking. Please complete the form below and your MedNet representative will contact you.