Social Network

In the not-so-distant past, brands were accessible to the public only from display shelves in the retail chains.  A significant percentage of the brand's profits was devoted to one-way advertising through television, the printed press, billboards, and flyers, channels where the consumer has no real possibility of conducting a dialogue with the brand.

This had two main implications:

• Brands were perceived by consumers as distant and inaccessible, and the only feedback of success or failure was expressed in sales figures. Consumers did not have any opportunity to get to know the brand’s values, to find out about inventory availability, and to be warned about hazards.

 

• Brands had only limited ability to address their target audience directly. They had the opportunity to advertise in niche magazines, sponsor relevant television programs, or advertise on billboards in neighborhoods that matched the socio-economic status of the target audience.

 

All this has changed with the introduction of social media networks in everyday use. Facebook, the world's largest social network, boasts more than 1.5 billion registered users, which in turn constitute a huge potential customer base for brands and companies.

500 million users log on to Facebook every day, and about half of them do so with their smartphones. Users log on to Facebook while working, traveling, running errands, using the bathroom, and sitting around the holiday table. Believe it or not, a recent study found that 1 in 4 people check their Facebook profile even during sex! In terms of brands, therefore, the significance is unprecedented: advertising anytime and anywhere.

Not only has a two-way communication channel opened between brands and consumers - Facebook pages often provide a means for questions and inquiries, complaints and compliments - but brand managers are able to target and directly focus on their chosen audience.

By creating paid advertising ads, you can now segment potential customers by gender, age, interests, country or city, language, marital status, and even sexual preference. This means that brands can allocate targeted marketing budgets directly to their target audience - an option that is not available on TV commercials, for example, that are broadcast to the public without distinction.

In this respect, social media advertising has often proved more effective and productive than advertising in traditional media. 

Given all these advantages, it was only a matter of time before the Moria Specialist Clinic joined the social media bandwagon to take advantage of this platform to promote our brand. The clinic's presence is managed in two areas, primary and secondary. The secondary area, YouTube, contains a collection of videos from Dr. Bernard Dahan's appearances on television, as well as short videos from medical conferences around the world. The primary arena is the Facebook business page of the Clinic, which serves several purposes:

1. Up-to-date image - Many web surfers search for a business’ Facebook page to make sure there is "someone to talk to", and service providers who are not on Facebook are seen as out of date and inaccessible.

 

2. Improving customer service - Through the Facebook page, the clinic can update customers with new services and up-to-date technologies, as well as receive immediate feedback from both existing and interested customers. There is a great deal of effort invested in answering questions and requests for clarifications on the Facebook page in real time, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the communication.

 

3. Reaching potential customers - An updated Facebook page that contains interesting and relevant topics exposes the clinic to more and more prospective customers who would not necessarily have known about it otherwise. Connections are made through social activities with prizes, interesting updates from the entire range of health fields, as well as news of the day-to-day activities of the clinic: toasts, staff days, staff changes, and more.

 

In the past year, since the establishment of the clinic’s Facebook page, 4,000 followers have been added, including long-time patients, new patients, interested patients, dentists, professionals and, of course, members of the clinic and the staff. There are over ten new members every day, and this number is rising steadily. This is another avenue in which the Moria clinic aspires to demonstrate excellence, and the value is much higher when it is possible to improve customer service with ease and speed.