Dr. Sheila Nazarian: you need your own email database!

Dr. Sheila Nazarian of the Nazarian Institute and Nazarian Plastic Surgery recently sat down with us to explain why she focuses on building a large email database even though she has a huge Instagram following (@drsheilanazarian).

The world according to Dr. Sheila Nazarian!

While many doctors engage with their followers through social media, that engagement is very tenuous. Not because followers will stop following “their” doctor in mass. But as Dr. Nazarian explains in the video below, social media platforms like Instagram or Snapchat may change their algorithms. And when that happens, the doctor that the consumer is following may not appear as readily in the consumer’s feed. Sure they love their doctor, but “out of sight, out of mind” rings true in this situation.

A change in algorithm can turn a doctor’s successful social media experience into a nightmare overnight. The same can occur with an algorithm change within Google. One day the consumer can find a particular doctor with a Google search, the next day, they’re not listed on page 1. And even if it’s not a drastic change, any algorithmic change can adversely effect a doctor’s social media or web traffic.

Dr. Nazarian also points out another risk in relying too heavily on social media. What if it becomes a “pay to play” scenario. Currently anyone can be successful and grow their business on Instagram without paying to promote, or “boost” their posts. Compare that to Facebook Business pages. If a business posts something on Facebook and does not boost it, only 6% of their followers will see that post. And if the business has over 500,000 followers, only 2% of their followers will see an organic, non-paid post.

Facebook is already clearly pay to play for businesses. If Instagram does that, businesses will either have to pay dearly to continue connecting with their followers or choose another option.

Building your email marketing database

As Dr. Nazarian explains, using the BuildMyBod Health platform on her website has protected her, or at the very least, mitigated the damage that could be done by changes in algorithms or revenue streams in the future. By generating almost 2,000 unique leads in less than 2 years through the BuildMyBod Price Estimator alone, she can continue engaging with consumers even if there was a dreaded update.

The Price Estimator on her site allows the consumer to check pricing on her services after entering their contact info. They get instant gratification in the form of an email with a breakdown of costs, and she gets a lead. Those are leads from her target audience. An audience that includes tech savvy consumers interested in cosmetic services, who now have a realistic understanding of the financial costs of such cosmetic services.