Blogging is a great way to open up a conversation with fans and potential customers…but don’t let it be your only voice.
I was having a beer with a friend of mine the other day and he told me a story about an orthodontist. Apparently he uses text messages to keep up with his patients (most of whom are students and young adults).
Instead of hammering patients with ads or spam, he pushes texts that remind kids to wear their rubber bands (if you ever had braces you know what I mean) and other tips.
This got me thinking about the way kids learn. I heard a news report mention that the average middle school student sends over 100 text messages per day, so the doctor is talking to his patients where their attention is most intense.
If you perform a search for text message services for orthodontists you’ll find a number of businesses competing in the space.
Minding the Store
Part of the reason you should consider alternatives to blogging and even social media is to put some perspective back into things. Where are your most loyal fans and new customers coming from? If you’re getting one thousand visits per week to a Facebook page, but six thousand active customers receive a text message and two thousand open the note — what’s more valuable?
Well, both, right?
The Invisalign Teen blog is a cool example of helpful social info. If you push out info on using SMS texts and increase your scope by optimizing your website for search, that’s just more hooks in the water for attracting new fans and customers.
If you take anything from this post, it’s that there is no one thing you can do to build a perfect tech strategy. There is no silver bullet. You need to consider how your audience wants to receive information and interact with you in a two-way conversation. The best way to keep up to date is to always stay curious.