One thing I didn’t foresee myself saying is, while lying down with needles all over my body undergoing a procedure I never previously entertained, I would review everything that got me there from a marketing/branding point of view. Not to mention, we were always taught needles NOT used for shots administered by doctors were to be heavily avoided.
It was an odd circumstance for sure. Needles aren’t fun. Although I got the flu shot, I certainly didn’t look forward to it and handled it like a necessity. But to electively have needles put in more for an extended period of time as a medical solution? I would need a lot of convincing. I have carpal tunnel but was getting some back pain recently as well and for several years I have heard about acupuncture. However, I have also heard about plenty of voodoo alternative medicine/medical solutions that are completely bogus.
1) Experts matter
One goal of course is to come off as an expert in the field you specialize in. However, one thing that became even more apparent to me in my search about whether or not to consider acupuncture, is that sources and OTHER experts matter. Just because you come across as intelligent, quick, and an expert in your field doesn’t mean you aren’t alone on an island with no one else believing what you do. In medicine in particular, no one wants to be a guinea pig. It was the published scientific articles, quotes by real known influencers with nothing to gain from it, and plenty of documented sources.
This applies to branding too. A lot of times when I discuss branding, I often discuss it as something you already. It’s that gut feeling you have when you are introduced to a person, product, company, event, or essentially anything. It’s that long term relationship, trust, connection that forms and is constantly evaluated. But one thing I realized I have been missing, I am not quoting the countless influencers who understand how important branding is. Name any CEO of a Fortune 500 company and you can find any single one of them talking endlessly about branding. Here is one image with a quote I worked up real quick, featuring Jeff Bezos of Amazon:
2) Relevant content shows you care, you’re active, and you’re on top of it
A trend in marketing is to have fun, connect with the audience, sometimes share a relevant meme, be silly, etc. And when it comes to building an audience on social media, something that is super important, it all should be done. However, that doesn’t mean you should stray away from the meat of your business. When I finally decided I was going to do acupuncture, I had to decide where. And guess what? Although the place I chose could use a better website, could have a better social media campaign, and some general rebranding…their limited but easily accessible content marketing largely got me. I was thinking about back pain mostly (although I had carpal tunnel in the back of my mind), when I went on the website there were articles right on the homepage about carpal tunnel. From there, the owner of the business was front and center and didn’t stray away from the camera. Verifiable reviews were also front and center. Positive connections were made in moments and soon it became obvious my search was narrowing.
3) Being active on multiple platforms is almost always a necessity
Fact of the matter is, if there were reviews on only one website and there were only a few, I would be skeptical. If a business was only found on one platform and I didn’t believe it had enough information, I avoid that business. Although the acupuncture place I went to could be on more platforms, the fact that there were unique reviews on different platforms, relevant content blogs, and the fact they were local all contributed to me making my decision before doing something I had zero idea about and wasn’t exactly comfortable with.
—–
Thanks for reading! In 2019, I will be writing more articles about branding/marketing as well as making tutorials. Stay tuned for plenty of more!
#Marketing #Branding #BrandStrategy #SEO #SocialMediaMarketing #ContentMarketing #Acupuncture #Medicine #Medical #Doctor #3DDesign #Tutorials #MotionDesign #Animation #UserExperience #Physician #Chiropractor #NJ #NorthJersey #NewJersey #Tristate #GraphicDesign #Design