Online Strategy for a Digital Opinion Leader

Welcome back, everyone. Welcome to the 2nd course in the series of how to gain competitive advantage as a digital opinion leader. So we want to take that KOL format in a physical format, and we want to transform that into the digital format. So we need a strategy. How do we do that? So let's find out.

So making that switch from the KOL to the DOL format successfully. So let's take a look. So taking that leap of faith. So a leap of faith can be anything from leaving a well-paid job and starting your own Business.

To a smaller leap of faith, which could be just posting something online about yourself, about your specialty, and your profile. But either way, you need to have someone coming on this journey with you. So talk to your colleagues who are already online. I'm sure they'll be happy to help you. And it's always best to gain advice from people out there doing it.

And this brings us on to the next point of developing your Branding and unique selling point. So why should people come to you for your service, follow you, and you know what have you got to offer that is unique? It's just bringing yourself and your personality to the table.

And then it's also defining your target market audience and patience.

Uh, it may be best to work with someone on this. You can always go and do your own Research with Marketing principles, with product price, place promotion. I mean, that's for another, another course. But it may be worth to collaborate with an agency or professional service, because with physicians, it's very busy, and lack of time is an issue.

And it's all very well to have all these plans and ideas, but you need to put them into practice and action them to achieve that competitive advantage going forward.

So you have your idea, you have your target market, you have your USP and now we need to plan, plan, plan. So putting it down on paper. So planning is crucial to be ready for the opportunities for when they present themselves. And actually, I did an Instagram post for Business for surgeons recently on this, that great content doesn't just happen. So how do we make it happen?

So one of the first things I would do is write down your idea, type or dictate your vision and goals. And then you have a starting point.

And then the next thing I would do is book appointments with the right people. So, as I said before, maybe it's one of your colleagues who's out doing it, maybe for a coffee or a Zoom chat.

And then you can put your plans into action.

It's always advantageous to ensure you have enough content at all times, so keep on thinking what would be interesting for your audience? What can you post? Is there any video content you can put out there or before and after shots of your patients with their consent?

With this slide, we need to explore how to invest in your practice and your Business. So we have 4 topics, which is time, resources, capabilities, and Technology.

As I've um pointed out previously, time is limited. So how much do you want to invest time wise? I mean, you would need to invest time.

Writing content to make a go of it.

Or outsource, as we've said before, to a Marketing agency or another professional.

Resources. I'm sure many of you know small Business owners who'll be willing to help you. The thing with small Business owners is that they are very busy. But I, as a surgeon, doctor, medical professional,

I'm sure they would make time for you just to take your Business to the next level.

And then we have capabilities and Technology.

With regard to capabilities, I mean, you may want to put yourself on a 3-month Social Media course, or they have 1 year Business diplomas, or take it to the next level of an MBA. And this follows through to Technology. So you will gain the resources and

Capabilities and skills needed to take your Practices online.

Let's go into the facts, because facts and figures matter. I was very fortunate to be asked to present.

An article for Ophthalmology Business Minute magazine. So it was actually for a magazine, um, mailed to everyone and also an online article. So conducting my Research, I came across the fact that approximately 44% of individuals researched hospitals and doctors online prior to booking an appointment.

And therefore this is a further untapped market of 56% of people who don't.

I mean, this figure is probably a bit higher now, but

That is astounding, so people are googling you, looking at your profile on LinkedIn, Instagram and Other platforms.

That's why we're doing this course and for the advantages of being online and being that digital opinion leader.

And then a second, um, fact, Marketing fact, which did you know that the average consumer is exposed to over 3000 Marketing messages per day and will typically recall less than 1% of them.

It is about standing out, creating that unique profile.

And yes, being brave and just going for it.

We have now come to the end of our second course. Thank you so much for watching and listening. Any questions, please let me know. And let's watch the 3rd course, and I will detail surgeons, medical professionals, and doctors actually out there doing it, expanding their practice and creating that influence. Thank you very much.