Google's influence and dominance within the digital marketing space is nothing short of phenomenal. There hardly exists a digital channel that has not been influenced by the search engine giant. That it commands a huge majority of the search engine market is no secret; 12.477 billion searches each month (as of 10/16/13) and you know why Google, in one word, is “big!” In late 2006, Google took over YouTube, which has since been localized in 61 countries and across 61 languages. The search engine decided to further build on its magnanimity by launching Google+, its very own social media platform, in 2011.
Social media without doubt provides brands with a phenomenal capacity for interacting and engaging with clients while also providing excellent options for reaching out to potential clients. Social media marketing in fact has completely changed the dynamics of online marketing. Google recognizes this and both YouTube and Google+, two of its highly successful products, duplicate this marketing modality.
Business prospects for a cosmetic surgery practice have never looked brighter. Consider this: if someone with a following of even 1,000 people (in addition to other Google contacts) decides to follow you, then you have the potential to influence not just that one person, but 1,000 of his followers, as well! In short, the prospects can be truly exponential for cosmetic surgery practices.
QUICK RUNDOWN ON GOOGLE+ STATS
- Google+ currently has more than 1 billion+ enabled accounts
- Number of monthly active users is 359 million
- The social site is growing at an impressive rate of 33% per annum
- Since 2012, the usage of the 45 to 54 year old bracket on Google+ went up by 56%
- Google+ unique mobile monthly user base sits 20 million
- Percentage of total social logins on websites for Google+ is 32.9%
- 29% of generation Z visits Google+ each month
EVERYTHING GOOGLE+ CAN BE FOR COSMETIC SURGERY PRACTICES
A number of cosmetic surgeons are of the belief that Facebook exposure equals social media coverage. Keep in mind that not all prospective patients share common social media preferences. A substantial number of women actually spend more time on Pinterest as opposed to the current social media giant Facebook.
Although Google+ is a fairly new addition to the social media market, it has something that other social network sites can't offer, in that it is completely integrated with Google's search engine. Google+ is therefore an excellent tool for cosmetic surgery practices to use while implementing an SEO campaign; what's more, it follows you across all the other Google products out there, which include YouTube and Google Docs among others. For obvious reasons, the search engine giant gives brands with Google+ profiles placement preferences in search results. Then, of course, there is the “Google” in Google+, which obviously translates into excellent exposure and a positive effect on SEO for cosmetic surgery practices.
THE YOUTUBE INFLUENCE
Visual content is booming, and for good reason. Visuals carry an instant capacity for commanding attention. Google owns YouTube, which incidentally is the second largest search engine platform across the globe. So if you were limiting your social exposure to only Facebook and Twitter, then you obviously are missing out on reaching out to a substantially large portion of “visually inclined” audience base.
QUICK RUNDOWN ON YOUTUBE STATS
- Every month 1 BILLION plus unique users visit YouTube
- 6 BILLION plus hours of video are viewed on YouTube each month
- Each minute 100 HOURS of video get uploaded to YouTube
- YouTube has already been localized in 61 COUNTRIES and is currently available in 61 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES
- Beating cable network, YouTube reaches more US adults within the 18-34 AGE BRACKET says Nielsen
- 40% of YouTube traffic is from MOBILE
- 14.4% Americans use YouTube during WORK HOURS
Putting all these stats into perspective, YouTube can provide cosmetic surgery practices with striking visual exposure. People are more likely to watch a two-minute video on a cosmetic procedure than they are to read an article. If you can view a before and after video, why waste time looking at before and after pictures, much less reach about them! The mindset of the average Internet user is exactly this; and for this reason alone using YouTube to market your cosmetic surgery practice can help you not only establish you authority in your area of specialization but also lead to increased conversions. Introductory videos, testimonials, breakdown of complicated surgical procedures, and videos to introduce new services and products are all prime examples of how you can use videos to market your practices. This list is endless.
Naren Arulrajah is President and CEO of Ekwa.com. Ekwa Marketing is a complete Internet marketing company that focuses on SEO, social media marketing, and the online reputations of dermatologists and plastic surgeons in the US, Canada, and the UK. Visit them online at www.ekwa.com.
RESOURCES
1. http://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html
2. http://expandedramblings.com/?p=16715
3. http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/by-the-
numbers-a-gigantic-list-of-google-stats-and-facts/#. UylcSKL3Nxt
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