BUSINESS

  SOCIAL MEDIA

PROMOTE OSD SERVICES

USE MEDIA TO INFORM AND DRAW IN OCULAR SURFACE DISEASE PATIENTS

JUSTIN BAZAN, O.D.

OCULAR SURFACE disease (OSD), which includes dry eye disease (DED) and ocular allergy, is a condition that is perfect for social media, given its extreme prevalence. In fact, the percentage of self-reported DED sufferers in the Beaver Dam Eye Study, 14.4%, indicates that about 46 million Americans are affected by the disease.

However, despite this high prevalence, there seems to be a lack of public awareness about OSD. Social media is an ideal platform to help increase that awareness and build your reputation as a OSD expert.

SOURCE CONTENT

The key, as always, is to source great content. It’s out there. You just have to know where to look and how to find it.

Here is how you find DED content on these top social media platforms:

1. Twitter. twitter.com/search-advanced. Pro tip: Search by hashtag, for example, #dryeye, #lipiflow, #restasis.

2. YouTube. Use the search bar at the top of the page. Pro tip: Curate a DED playlist, and add it to your own YouTube channel.

3. Instagram. findgram.com/. Pro tip: Follow brands that have Instagram down, for example, weloveeyesxo. It creates eye-catching images, making the content specifically ideal for Instagram.

4. Facebook. Use the search bar at the top of the page. Pro tip: Organize the search by pages, because Facebook often has a lot of varied content, much of it recent. “Like,” and then pick “see first,” and get “all notifications” to ensure you see all related content as it’s published.

CREATE CONTENT

While sourcing is fine — and certainly essential to building your DED social media presence — self-created content is also needed. After all, it is this self-produced content that will give your fans a true sense of your DED expertise. This content should both raise awareness about DED to your followers and help bring in patients for treatment.

Original content does not have to be professionally done. Often, the most genuine content is recorded in the office, unscripted and spontaneous. How do you get such patient testimonials? Simply whip out your smartphone and record a video, for example after a patient is experiencing relief following a new treatment. (See July’s “Technology” column, regarding HIPAA regulations for posting videos.) To avoid those distracting black bars on the side of the video, which is a very common mistake, hold your smartphone so that the screen can be viewed in a horizontal position.

KEEP POSTING

A bonus tip: Don’t forget about commercial websites. They are packed with professionally curated content that is ideal for sharing with your followers. OM

Please share with us examples of how you have used social media to help spread the word about DED on our Facebook (@Optometric Management magazine) or Twitter (@OptoManagement) accounts.

DR. BAZAN is founder of Park Slope Eye, in Brooklyn, N.Y. He is a member of the AOA, NYSOA and the American Academy of Orthokeratology & Myopia Control. In 2014, he received financial compensation for services from Allergan, Bausch + Lomb, Vision Service Plan, Luxottica, The Vision Council and Foster Grant.