The holiday season is in full swing, and as an eye doctor with a practice to maintain, you may be wondering how to use social media without getting lost in the holiday shuffle. Here are some tips on how to use social media during the holidays that any eye care practice can easily pull off:

• Write social media content in advance: This is a piece of advice that will get any eyecare practice through the holidays. Since employees are going to want to take time off, may get busy with other tasks in the office during the season, or just may have writer’s block, stocking up on future posts is always a good way to just ensure that your social media pages are still active and engaged with patients. As you write these posts, make sure they are relevant for the holiday season and optimized (for example use helpful hashtags in Twitter)
• Make sure your content is engaging: Writing content that is worth reading and sharing with patients is essential. During the holiday season, patients will want to know important things such as spending their FSA dollars before the year’s end, how to look good for holiday parties, driving at night, and other relevant eye related information. The more engaging your content is, the more likely a patient will share that content with their own friends and family.
• Showcase your practice’s charitable side: The holidays are all about giving, so why not show how your eyecare practice gives back? It allows patients to see how your practice is invested in the local or even global community. From doing a food drive, to volunteering in a soup kitchen with your staff, there are so many ways for your eye care practice to get involved.
• Offer exclusive deals: Reward your fans and followers with an exclusive offer that only they can redeem. This tip works year round, but holiday deals are a great way to get patients excited about coming to your eye care practice.

These tips should help your practice on how to use social media for holidays. For more great tips on how to create a web presence with your practice, make sure to read CooperVision’s CV+ blog.

Congratulations to Janice Gaub, our Senior Director of Marketing and Internet, who was recently named one of Vision Monday's Top 40 Most Influential Women in Optical. Janice was nominated in the Innovators category and chosen because “she is bringing her great experience to bear in teaching eyecare professionals how to utilize the web and social media as practice building tools.”
 
A Pacific Northwest native, Gaub grew up outside Seattle, getting her undergraduate degree from the University of Puget Sound in international affairs and foreign language. She then went on for her MBA from Seattle University while she was working and learning many lessons from her family’s retail/wholesale grocery business, which taught her a great deal about the power of data and providing value to the customer. 

She began a range of jobs in the consumer packaged goods realm, which took her around the country, first as brand and marketing manager for such companies as Olympic Home Care, Paragon Trade Brands and Nile Spice Foods. She was VP of marketing for Gargoyles Performance Eyewear and Hobie Polarized Sunglasses from ‘95 to ‘97 and joined Eddie Bauer, Inc as divisional VP brand marketing.

As the internet became a new marketing force, Gaub joined Drugstore.com as its VP marketing and site management and then moved to Kodak, where she was chief marketing officer and VP for the company’s professional division and ultimately, director of corporate branding. She moved on to become VP of consumer marketing for Shutterfly.com, eventually moving to Rochester, N.Y.

In 2009, she joined CooperVision where there is a growing recognition of the internet and social media’s role in building connections with patients and practitioners. “We are looking to make the practices more effective and activate social media efforts, like our new teen campaign and help them directly build up their sites and presence online.” Gaub’s team also includes six social media consultants, now on board to help doctors understand the potential.

SHE SAYS...“It’s about continuously learning, believing in yourself and staying balanced. Be confident in what you do and do it with grace and poise."

Read more about Janice and the other 39 Most Influential Women in Optical at VisionMonday.com.

Curious about how and when to leverage social media to drive your business? Connect with CooperVision and attend one of our social media seminars at this year's American Optometric Academy Optometry Meeting in Orlando, Florida (June 16-20). We will address the how, what, when, where and why to use social marketing (Facebook, YouTube, blogs, organic and paid search, etc.) as it relates to YOUR practice, based on in-market test results.

Our first session (Thursday, June 17th, 6-7 PM) is sold out - we've added a second session on Friday, June 18th from 4:30-5:30 PM. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Do you have questions about social media? Ask them here or post them to our facebook fan page for eye care professionals... we will answer the most frequently asked questions during our seminars as well as post them to our blog after the AOA. We look forward to hearing from you!

CooperVision’s Contact Sports program kicks off today with the launch of a dedicated teen website – www.mycontactsports.com. Teens are all about choice and independence. We want to provide them with the opportunity to perform at their best during sports and extracurricular activities – when sometimes wearing glasses can get in the way of success.

What Contact Sports is All About:
• Dedicated Teen Website – www.mycontactsports.com
• Gear Up Grants – CooperVision is giving away ten $2,500 grants to teens across the country for new gear (sports equipment, performance gear). Check out www.mycontactsports.com for details and how to enter!
• Teen Spokespeople – Heather O’Reilly (professional soccer player) and Daniel Dhers (professional BMX bike rider) are on board to help us spread the word about contact lenses and sports.
• Partnerships with WePlay.com and the National High School Coaches Association will help us spread the word about Gear Up Grants.
• Social Media – engaging teens in the world they live in. Check out what CooperVision is doing in social media: www.facebook.com/CooperVisionECP (for Eye Care Professionals) and www.facebook.com/CooperVision (for Patients)

Practitioners, check out the site for marketing support to help you launch this program in your office, including a patient email template, press release template for fitting guide event, local media outreach kit, and much more.

Parents, check out the Info for Parents section of the teen website for information about CooperVision, contact lens rebates and offers, and tips to share with your teen when discussing contact lenses.

Life is a contact sport, Gear Up!

CooperVision ECP is the first official facebook fan page in the contact lens industry geared towards an ECP and Professional audience. On our fan page, you will find information about our products, educational resources for you and your staff, and tips about building your practice. Check it out!

Are you interested in creating a facebook fan page for your practice? Check out our How-to Guide, be sure to integrate it into your current marketing strategy, and start networking! Are you already on facebook? Become a fan of CooperVision ECP!