Fodder from a discussion on LinkedIn that showcases appropriate application of Social Media

Original post: Physicians vs. Social Media: What's your experience?

Talking with physician clients about adding social media intotheir marketing strategies ... there has been more resistance thanacceptance. Some of the resistance seems to be a lack of knowledgeabout the tools with questions like “What’s Linked-In?” Another issueis perceived value versus the time spent.

I would appreciate hearing experiences of others with professionalclients (business owners) like physicians and attorneys. What are thepros and cons you have encountered with this type of client, what isdeemed success or failure, or are your professional clients open toutilize these tools and if so, why? Thanks for sharing yourexperiences.

Designated Editor's Take

Depending on the physician's specialty and goal,it may be a complete waste of time. What's the underlying motivation asbusiness owners or professionals?

An example that is more likely to yield results:
A doc who's trying to build a practice: Ask satisfied patients to post a review on Yelp.

I know everyone preaches goal-setting and tracking results. For my clients, that equation looks something like this:

1. How much time/funds do you have to devote to social media/blogging?
2. Who are you trying to reach?
3. Where is your targeted audience already congregating?
4. What outcome are you pursuing?

Social media isn't a magic pill to solve underlying strategy issues,although it can be a tool to help identify stumbling blocks and toproblem solve.

It'd be great to others' perspectives as well!