PharmZap - Improving Communication between Patient and Pharmacy

PharmZap – Improving Patient/Pharmacy Communication

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What are we going to learn?

(Reflection)

In this sponsored CPD module, we’re going to learn about a new tool called PharmZap which is designed to help patients and pharmacies communicate more efficiently.

How and why is this learning relevant?

(Reflection)

The primary way of communication between a patient and a pharmacy has traditionally been and still is, by phone. However, since the evolution of digital health, there are now much better, more efficient solutions to communication.

Why is this learning important?

(Planning and Action)

Effective communication between patient and pharmacy beyond its brick walls is of paramount importance today. If the current system you have in place is poor, then it poses risks to all aspects of business.

For the patient, poor communication can lead to prescriptions not being ordered on time, inconvenience and overall patient dissatisfaction.

We all know, as pharmacists, how incredibly frustrating it is when the phone is ringing off the hook. This is a big time-waster in the pharmacy and when the phone remains unanswered, can leave you and your team with consequences down the line.

And for your business or organisation, poor communication will ultimately lead to less satisfied patients and financial loss. Most pharmacies only have one telephone line which means if someone is on the phone or on hold, another patient cannot get through. Furthermore, we are often understaffed and even just getting to the phone can be troublesome.

What is PharmZap?

(Planning and Action)

PharmZap – The improved patient/pharmacy communication tool

PharmZap is a new application designed to reduce these risks by greatly improving and organising your communication with patients and customers. For pharmacies, it is a web-based tool, and for the patient, it is a smartphone app.

Download for Apple

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How does it work?

(Planning and Action)

I like to think of PharmZap as the “Messenger for Community Pharmacies” with a load more cool and exciting features that benefit both patient and pharmacy alike.

Now, in order for the tool to work, both pharmacy and patient must be signed up to PharmZap. Once a pharmacy is signed up, they will be given a load of marketing material to promote the App to their patients, and PharmZap will market the app to your patients in the locality from their side too.

Let me take you through a typical patient – pharmacy communication journey.

PharmZap is “The Instant Messenger for Community Pharmacy”

Let’s say one of your patients, George Bush has a script for Betnovate RD cream. Instead of calling you, he messages you over PharmZap. As soon as he does, you’ll receive a notification if you’re on Chrome and a ticket appears on the dashboard where you’re able to respond.

Now, this is where you and your team need to get into the habit of checking your dash on a regular basis. I’d suggest at least 3 times a day, within the opening hours of your pharmacy, and if you forget to respond, you’ll see the ticket turn red, which will encourage you to.

When you click on the tab, you’ll be able to respond to the patient appropriately and deal with the query there and then. Or, if you’re short of time at that point, you can nicely triage the ticket into one of the silo’s you can create. In this example, I’m going to create the silo, “Rx items to order”, and then place the ticket there to attend to at the end of the day.

Oh, it looks like I just got a message from Margaret. Let’s see what she wants…to order her Salbutamol inhaler. I’ll respond to her right now and place this ticket in the Repeat Requests Silo for my dispenser to order later.

Much less stress than a phone call and much more organised than paper.

“PharmZap is an excellent direct marketing tool”

But PharmZap is more than just a communication tool. It’s a marketing tool. On your profile, you’re able to provide a summary or full description of your pharmacy for patients to see, as well as the pharmacy services you offer and opening times.

Update your "subscribers" with direct messaging feature

Update your “subscribers” with the direct messaging feature

And, very importantly, as more and more patients subscribe to your pharmacy, you’ll be able to market your products and services directly to them. This is probably one of the most powerful marketing tools you can have, but precaution is needed as to not spam and annoy patients in the process.

And one other feature that is definitely worth mentioning is the ZAP feature. If a patient is in need of a rare medicine, for example, Co-Amoxiclav Suspension for their child, they are able to ZAP several pharmacies at once instead of ringing around. How convenient is that for the patient?

Pharmacies are able to respond as soon as they can to the message to let the patient know if they have any or not. Very handy indeed.

Evaluation

Allowing patient and pharmacies to communicate digitally

PharmZap provides an excellent alternative route of communication for patients and pharmacy that is helping to reduce phone calls in the pharmacy, reduce stress and improve workflow. Digital communication is far more convenient for both pharmacy and patient and it will eventually surpass telephone calls.

But it’s also an additional direct marketing tool which can help improve patient retention and satisfaction, and drive footfall and increase sales.

For pharmacies, this product is free to trial for the first 2 months and only £9.95 thereafter. For all those benefits you’ve seen today, I’d say that’s an investment very worthwhile.

For more info and to register for free, visit www.pharmzap.com.

If you’d like to talk to us about getting digital, or anything related, please feel free to contact us and we’d be glad to assist you. Also, don’t forget to check out The Ultimate Guide to Driving Your Pharmacy Business in the Digital Age, a free 70-page manual, that is really helping pharmacists understand the importance of new and emerging technologies.

Thanks for visiting and see you in the next learning module!

March 14, 2019/0 Comments/by Saam Ali

Automate your Pharmacy Training with Mediapharm

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Innovative pharmacy training

There are many important factors in the running of a safe and profitable pharmacy business but the one that remains top priority are the people that work for you. Investing in your staff is investing in your business, and much of this investment has to come in the form of training.

The problem in pharmacy today is that once staff members complete the mandatory training required to do their job, continued training gets neglected through the day-to-day running of the business. This results in stagnant performance and demotivated staff which ultimately affects business profitability. Not ideal in the current economic climate.

However, we, as pharmacists, also understand the complications in organising and completing training in the pharmacy. Time is never on our side and keeping track of who has done what can be a frustrating experience.

That’s why Mediapharm exists.

The all-in-one Pharmacy Training Provider

MediaPharm is a complete all in one training solution for pharmacy businesses. Unlike other training suppliers, MediaPharm not only provides professional and certified GPhC training for your pharmacy staff, but their state-of-the-art software also allows you to automate the entire process.

With a MediaPharm subscription, you’ll have access to your own customisable and professional training dashboard, where you’ll find a load of cool features. Alerts are sent out automatically to those colleagues who are falling behind their training and managers can view real-time reporting that makes compliance a walk in the park.

Colleagues have unlimited access to a huge library of e-learning modules that are fun, engaging and quick to complete. They’re rewarded with digital badges to keep them motivated and we’re releasing new courses all the time meaning they will always be in the know.

And as new colleagues join the business, the volume of training doesn’t need to be overwhelming. Everything is organised, in one place and courses are unlocked at their own pace. No more course fees and costly delays waiting for enrollment – everything is included in your subscription and happens automatically.

Furthermore, you’ll have expert and continued support from their pharmacist-led team who are always there to make sure things are running smoothly.

A trusted pharmacy training provider

Mediapharm is a pharmacy training solution you can trust. They have courses accredited by the General Pharmaceutical Council and the Royal Society for Public Health. They’ve been around since 2001 and proud to have hundreds of happy businesses using our platform. With our service, you can be sure that your staff will get the continued training they need and your pharmacy remains safe, effective and profitable.

The Mediapharm team have recently released the most effective and easy mandatory training modules for pharmacy teams. Check them out!

The Medicines Counter Assistants (MCA) Course

The Dispensing Assistant (DA) Course

If you would like Pharmacy Mentor to create a CPD Module showcasing your product and service, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

February 21, 2019/0 Comments/by Saam Ali

Business and Innovation, CPD Learning Modules

How to Engage your Community in the Digital Age

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How to Engage with your Community in the Digital Age

The Digital Age. It’s such a buzzword these days. I harp on about it all the time I suppose. But there is a reason. I’m not preaching for the sake of it. I’m shouting out about it because Community Pharmacy needs to hear it. Again and again, and again. Until it sticks.

October this year was a busy one. I spoke at the Pharmacy Business Conference, the NPA Conference, and The Pharmacy Show about how to Embrace your Community in the Digital Age. Essentially, I spoke about the importance of digital marketing for Community Pharmacy, how pharmacists can use these channels and what kind of result you’re likely to see if executed well enough.

Below is the manuscript for this particular talk, spoken at the Business Theatre at the ever eventful Pharmacy Show 2018. Please do get in touch with me if you’re thinking about marketing digitally to your Community.

Slide 2

The smartphone has completely changed human behavior. It’s changed the way we walk. Pre-mobile, human beings used to walk safely, in a straight line, conscious of the destination ahead of us. Post-mobile, this simple task has become a real safety hazard. In America, it’s estimated that around 6000 accidents happen every single year due to texting and walking. We’re completely oblivious to the world around us.

It’s changed the way we wake up in the morning too. How many of you, before you do anything, reach for your mobile and start scrolling in bed? I know a lot of you do because I do it too. In fact, I’ve had to work really hard to change my habits recently because my partner believed I was having an affair…..with LinkedIn.

And of course, it’s transformed the way we communicate. Social Media and Apps have made cellular data a thing of the past and are now the primary way we talk to each other. It’s staggering to think how many social channels of communication we use through our mobile every day. Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat – the list goes on.

Slide 3

Here are just some of the latest statistics around the use of mobile and Social Media in the UK that will help you understand its influence better:

53 million of us (that’s 80% of the whole population) use the internet through our mobiles and 44 million are active social media. We spend on average around 5 hours a day on the internet and 2 hours a day on Social.

Smartphones are responsible for 38% of the total web traffic, which is a 10% increase year on year, while on desktop, although the share is larger at 51%, this is actually a reduction of 3% year on year. It won’t be too long before mobile traffic overtakes.

And 44 million of us use Facebook every month, 86% of which use it through their mobile and around 500,000 new people aged over 55 become active on Facebook, every single year. My mum, who’s aged 68, is an addict. A Facebook addict that is. It’s frightening how quick she responds to a post I put up online.

Slide 4

The point I’m making here is that the smartphone and social media are now fully integrated into human nature and affects pretty much every aspect of our lives. It’s altered the way we conduct our business and leisure and has a huge impact on our decision-making process.

That’s precisely why businesses incorporate these things into their overall business model. It’s the quickest way to communicate with their customer, let alone the most cost-effective.

Slide 5

In terms of a Community Pharmacy, communicating with a customer or patient digitally offers plenty of benefits:

It means we can talk to them beyond our four brick walls. We can talk to them actively in real-time and we can talk to them passively, 24-hours of the day, just by having content up online – such as a website.

We can talk to 10,000 people at the same time who live all around your pharmacy, at the simple click of a button.

If you’re looking to promote the new pregnancy pillow you just got in stock, you can choose to talk to only 100 of those 10,000 people who are women and who are likely to be pregnant.

And you can track how well you’re communicating the pregnancy pillow to these people.

Talking to people digitally can drive them to take action online or walk into your store.

You’ll save money on paper and traditional marketing methods.

And finally, it allows you to compete against other organisations offering similar services and who are talking to their customers digitally.

Slide 6

Engaging with your customers and patients in this manner is part of the vast sphere of Digital Marketing. This isn’t a new concept. It’s been around since the 1990’s when email first became free for the public to use, Google was born and the world was experiencing the dot-com boom.

However, Community Pharmacy, particularly the Independent Sector has never really grasped Digital Marketing. There remains a big pandemic of a lack of online presence and it’s easy to understand why. For years and years, we simply didn’t need to market ourselves so much. We were doing just fine organically from dispensing items. Good customer service, in-store marketing and a good relationship with the Dr was doing the job, so why change?

However, with the evolution of Digital Health and mobile technology in recent years, our health demands have changed. We want to communicate with a healthcare professional right away. We want our medicine to be delivered to our door and the very next day. And we want to access healthcare services as quickly as possible.

While elements of the previous business model we adopted are undoubtedly important, we must now incorporate digital health into the overall strategy and a significant arm of that involves digital marketing.

Digital marketing must be involved in protecting your business from the emerging competition who are providing similar services more conveniently. It must be involved in generating new streams of income to counteract the significant loss in dispensing fees we suffered not so long ago. It must be involved in effectively engaging with your Community now and in the future.

Let’s take a look at how digital marketing can be applied to your business and what opportunities will exist for you…

Slide 7

Just before I get into the juicy bits, let me give you a 30-second synopsis of me and what I do. I’m a Community Pharmacist of 12 years and counting, but in 2014, I took a break from practice and dived head first into online and technology sector. I taught myself how to build websites, learned how to create high-quality digital media and have been perfecting digital marketing ever since.

At the beginning of 2017, to help with the pandemic I explained earlier, I launched a digital marketing agency that focuses primarily on the Community Pharmacy sector. Through trial and error, keeping up to date with the latest social and digital trends, and evaluating data and feedback, we know which channels make a real difference to your pharmacy business.

Slide 8

Speaking at the Pharmacy Show 2018

Now, first and foremost, you need a website. Think of this as the central hub for your digital marketing activity and your digital shop window. This tool is what is going to speak to your customers 24 hours a day and it allows for an abundance of interactivity.

Take a look at this example of a good, very affordable Community Pharmacy website.

It’s mobile responsive, which is absolutely mandatory today. A customer will turn away if they have to pinch the screen to zoom in on things. Google also penalises websites that aren’t mobile responsive too.

It’s very well presented, clean and professional. You know the saying… “ A first impression always counts always counts”. Well, it applies to your website too. A website like this gives the user confidence from the word “go”.

It allows for the user to nominate the pharmacy for EPS right from the website itself without the need to fill in a paper form.

Users can also sign up and reorder their prescription on the go, catering to how we behave right now.

They can also book an appointment for the Travel and Flu clinic without the need to call the pharmacy.

The integration of these PGDs makes this business an all-round holistic health centre. An Online Doctor functionality allows for many prescription items to be sold digitally.

And of course, all activity can be tracked on a website because of the data it creates. Google Analytics can help us with this and will tell us what’s working and how customers are behaving.

But there remains a problem. It’s fantastic that we can provide all these wonderful services, but they render useless if people don’t know they exist.

Q. So, how do we get more people to know about and use these services?

Well, we have to shout out about them, consistently. Let me show you how you can do that…

Slide 9

Creating good quality content in the form of a blog, which is usually incorporated into your website, will help people find your services much more effectively. That’s because it caters for how we are searching for services in the first place.

3.5 billion searches are made on Google every day. When people are looking for a service they want to use today, they don’t type the name of a business into Google, they type exactly what service they want to find. We call these search terms, “keywords”.

This is a blog for a pharmacy down in Luton. We developed a blogging calendar to create articles focusing on the “keywords” that would promote the services they offer in store. One of those services is the morning after pill service. So we created and optimised an article for the keyword “morning after pill Luton” – that’s what people are searching for online in Luton.

After only 3 weeks of publishing, the blog post positioned itself high on the first page of Google. This means that every time someone searches for this specific term, they’re likely to see this article. We just positioned this pharmacy service ahead of Boots, Tesco and Lloyd online.

And the analytics tell us everything. Eight people clicked onto the article last month from the 63 impressions it received. With the correct optimisation, you can position all of your pharmacy services like this. More visibility means more traffic, which increases the likeliness of conversions.

Slide 10

On the subject of Google, your Google My Business profile is an equally effective, if not more important marketing channel.

When you type the exact name of your business into Google, you’ll see a profile appear, like the one you can see in the corner of the map there. It holds vital information regarding your pharmacy. That’s your Google My Business profile.

Question. How many of you have owned and verified your pharmacy on Google?

For those of you that haven’t, you could be losing business.

You see, Google automatically populates information about your pharmacy on your profile, according to what they know. But, that information can be inaccurate. Wrong opening times and contact information is a very popular one I see. You can only manage that information if you’ve owned and verified it.

If you can understand that your profile is viewed literally 1000’s of times every month, then you’ll know how important this is. You can also add photos of your pharmacy and you can even add secondary categories to your profile too.

For example, this pharmacy down in Birmingham is also a travel clinic. So, in addition to the primary category, which is a pharmacy, we’ve added the secondary category as a “travel clinic”. So, now, when someone types in “travel clinic south birmingham” into Google Maps, this pharmacy will appear as a listing, nicely trumping its competition with all those stars there from customer reviews.

This tool also allows you to publish posts and it’s continuously being updated with a load of cool features. For example, only recently did they add a “services” functionality to the profile, which is perfect for a Community Pharmacy.

Slide 11

Another channel which I class as “essential” for Community Pharmacy is Facebook. Now, I won’t go into too much detail with this social media channel because it’s functionality and marketing tools are so vast that I’d need another 30-minute slot to fit it in.

Rather, I’m just going to focus on the most important aspect of Facebook for Business today, which is, Facebook Ads. Paid advertising on Facebook is without a doubt the most effective and cost-efficient way to reach your preferred type of customer, and lots of them.

Why?

Because Facebook knows everything about you. Your gender, your age, where you live, where you work, where you have been on holiday and that you prefer to read articles from Pharmacy Mentor rather than the Chemist and Druggist. The amount of data it holds about you is scary.

As an example of how effective Facebook Ads can be, we created an Ad for a pharmacy, again, down in Birmingham, to promote the launch of its travel clinic. We spent £10 and targeted only the people within a 10-mile radius of the pharmacy, between the ages 18 and 65, and who are interested in travel topics. Two days after publishing, the pharmacy sold £400-worth of Travel Health products to a single customer. And we know that this sale was attributed to the Ad because we asked the guy how he knew about the service.

As another example, for a pharmacy down in Colchester, we pushed a £50 Ad to promote the launch of their travel clinic, targeting similar demographics. The Ad reached 19,000 people in the area, and in that first month, the pharmacy completed 11 consultations and totaled £1,200 net profit. Again, we know the Ad influenced people because we asked them how they knew about the service.

Now, Facebook Ads work even better when they are linked to another digital channel where an action can be performed. For example, we can track how many people will fill out your travel consultation form, which will give us even more accurate data.

Facebook is an extremely innovative tool. They’ve recently released a new Ads objective which is designed to increase visits to your store. This means you can create an Ad that will only be pushed out to a person when they reach a certain proximity to your pharmacy. And Facebook will track, through geolocation technology, if that person went into your store because of that Ad. Really clever stuff and that just shows you how advanced advertising is becoming.

Slide 12

The last Channel I want to dive into at this depth is LinkedIn. Now, a lot of pharmacy owners question this tool, so let me explain how it can benefit you. Every Social Media channel has its own unique set of demographics and functionality.

For Instagram, the younger female demographic represent most of its user base, and it’s heavily image-based.

For Pinterest, only 7% of users are men, the median age is 40 and again, content is only images and videos.

But for LinkedIn, most users are professionals and it’s excellent for building relationships and growing a network of people that matter to you. So, who matter to you and your Pharmacy?

People in the locality do
Businesses in the locality too
Care Homes
Hospitals
GP Surgeries, and whoever else you think a relationship would benefit your business

So, connecting with all of these guys on LinkedIn will allow you to begin building better relationships which develop leads.

As a prime example for this time of year, LinkedIn will be great for pushing your flu jab service.

Take a look at this pharmacy. We began pushing out content promoting a Corporate Flu Vaccination Service, where the pharmacist would set up a clinic at their place of work. After only one published post, we received an email inquiry from a company we’re connected with. We’ve now secured a date to vaccinate a potential 80 staff.

LinkedIn also allows you to message people directly which is a brilliant way to develop relationships. Think of this as the new way of direct outreach, taking the place of cold calling and email.

As an example, say you’re looking to attain more Care Homes for your business. Connect with all the Care Home managers in your region (and they are on LinkedIn) and send them a message to say hello. Because they can see who you are from your profile, you’ve already developed an element of trust. That’s the beauty of it. From there, you can begin to offer your services and they’re more likely to do business with you. As you know, business is all about building long-lasting, good relationships and LinkedIn is a great tool for it.

Slide 13

Now I’ve only mentioned a handful of channels here but there are plenty, plenty more. I just don’t have time to go through them all right now.

However, let me give you a brief insight into some other tools that can be considered:

Email marketing is huge and can have a serious impact on a business, but is complex and requires time.

So, an alternative to this could be using the digital loyalty scheme from Swipii, who market by email for you.

Pointy is a product that helps increase the visibility of your shop products on Google by creating a listing for each of them online.

PharmZap is a new app that allows for easy communication between patient and pharmacy.

WhatsApp Business has been specifically designed for Small Business owners, such as pharmacies. I reckon this could be very powerful for us because everyone use WhatsApp.

Pharmacy Flu Jabs is an online flu jab directory that helps market your flu jab service.

Instagram, particularly using Ads, can be a very powerful brand awareness tool.

And don’t forget your NHS Choices profile too. It’s a marketing channel. Upload images, videos and increase your 5-star reviews to help influence the user to use your services.

Slide 14

I sometimes see, on Social Media, funnily enough, other pharmacists criticising digital competitors, which makes me a bit sad. These competitors are simply responding to the problems that people face in the current health system and their demands. The fact is, we want to be treated quicker than ever before and the process to be as simple as possible. Fair play.

But Community Pharmacy, rather than be phased by this, should see them as a catalyst for action. We need to protect and influence the people and businesses around us – not nationally.

Those companies cannot offer the most valuable form of patient care, which is, face-to-face care. They can’t protect them against the flu this winter nor immunise them before they go travelling. Your pharmacy has a great deal to shout out about and by harnessing some of these digital tools, you can provide the best of both worlds to your community.

Slide 15

I hope that, from what you’ve seen in this presentation today, it’s clear that the smartphone, it’s apps and social media represent a significant opportunity for Community Pharmacy. They are part of Digital Health which is right now and the future. For the effective sustainability and growth of your business, they should absolutely be considered as part of your overall strategy.

Some of you will probably be thinking “Well, how on earth am I going to implement all of that? I don’t have the time nor the skill to execute.” You’re right. Time is a huge limiting factor. But digital marketing is a journey, not a sprint. It can be implemented gradually and adjusted accordingly so you’re only focussing on the things that work.

If you can do some of it, or a competent member of staff could take some tasks on, then that’s great. And of course, you have external help too. You know more than me that it’s all about utilising every possible resource you have available.

I must also emphasise on the word “strategy”. For pretty much any business activity, following a strategy always churns out better results. The same goes for digital marketing – plan it into the business model and then execute it.

And take note that the digital world is constantly evolving. So you must assess how well your strategy is working on a regular basis. The same strategy you were employing 6-months back will probably not work as well as it does today.

Think mobile. Think social. And drive your pharmacy into the digital future.

If you’d like to talk to me about getting digital, or anything related, please feel free to contact me and I’d be glad to assist you. Also, don’t forget to check out The Ultimate Guide to Driving Your Pharmacy Business in the Digital Age, a free 70-page manual, that is really helping pharmacists understand the importance of going digital and how to create a strategy going forward.

Thanks for visiting and see you in the next learning module!

November 15, 2018/0 Comments/by Saam Ali

Business and Innovation, CPD Learning Modules, Pharmacy Practice

Simplifying GDPR for Community Pharmacy – The Video Guide

April 12, 2018/0 Comments/by Saam Ali

Business and Innovation, CPD Learning Modules, Pharmacy Practice

The Evolution of Digital Health

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Have you ever seen the film Elysium? I love it. Not just because I’m a sci-fi nerd, but also because of the future concepts of digital health displayed throughout it, such as the medical machine in this scene. Yes, I know. It seems a bit far-fetched to suggest that a machine would be able to clear up cancer.

Or is it?

The film is set in 2154, 136 years from now. Can you imagine what we could achieve in that time considering what we’ve achieved in the last 10 years alone?

I am completely fascinated by how the digital world is being integrated into pharmacy and healthcare, an idea known as Digital Health. The fact is, the digital revolution is shaping how we look after our health and therefore, we as healthcare professionals, need to be up-to-date with the new innovations causing this shift.

I was kindly invited to speak at an event held by International Investors and Founders in Barcelona to talk about “The Evolution of Digital Health”. It was a great occasion with some brilliant speakers and I’m really happy I could provide some value for the day.

Below is the transcript of the slides above so you can understand what on digital earth I was going on about.

If you like me to speak at your event, then please don’t hesitate to contact me. Because I’d love to!

Slide 2

There was a point in time when I was 16 yrs old. One day, I came back home after school to find my brother very excited.

“What is wrong with you?” I said.

“Just have a look at this….” he proudly replied, raising his shiny new phone in front of me, exactly the same one you see on the screen in front of you.

I was confused yet completely blown away by what I was looking at.

“Mate. How am I seeing through your phone…?”

He looked at me slightly disappointed and said: “It’s got a camera on it, you idiot”

A camera on a phone. I couldn’t believe my eyes. And it was that precise, mesmerising moment of my life that gave me the sudden realisation that the world was changing big time.

Slide 3

That was almost 20 years ago. Now, I know what you’re probably thinking….how is this guy ageing so well? (Crowd goes wild with laughter) I’ll tell you my secrets after the presentation for those of you who are interested….

Slide 4

But the point I want to make here is that this was 20 yrs ago and the camera phone concept did change the world! It has revolutionised pretty much every major aspect of our lives since. The way we communicate, the way we work, the way we shop and is now rapidly advancing the way we look after our health.

This is the part I’m interested in.

Slide 5

Camera phones, which are now smartphones, are completely disrupting the healthcare system. Let say I’ve had a rash on my arm for 2 weeks and I now want to see a Doctor.

Slide 6

Less than 10 years ago, the only way of doing this was to:

Call the doctor’s surgery and book an appointment.

Visit the doctor 2 weeks later and get a paper prescription

And then go to the pharmacy with that prescription to collect the medicine

But now, because of the digital revolution, this system, although still very much in motion, seems archaic and very time-consuming.

Slide 7

Because what I can do now is simply:

Take a picture of the rash using my smartphone

Upload the image via the app where my doctor is there on a live feed

And in 2 hours, I’ll have the medicine delivered to the door of my house

The camera phone just made my life easier and saved the NHS time and money.

Slide 8

The combination of a digital device, such as the smartphone, and the healthcare system is a tiny part of the digital health revolution that is exploding in today’s society. As a pharmacist working in the tech industry myself, I’m extremely passionate and excited about the concept of digital health, and today, I’m going to give you a brief insight into what digital health means, how parts of it have evolved in the last decade and what the future might hold.

Presenting “The Evolution of Digital Health” in Barcelona, Spain.

Slide 9

Paul Sonnier, the founder of Story of Digital Health and a person who has been working in the field for over 20 years, has defined the term “Digital Health” as:

“the convergence of the digital and genomic revolutions with health, healthcare, living, and society.”

A group on Facebook dedicated to Asthma is Digital Health. An app designed to help you improve yoga is Digital Health. A wristband that measures your heart rate is Digital Health.

Slide 10

It’s where both digital and healthcare worlds collide and overlap. And by digitising healthcare, it’s empowering us to better track and manage our own health, but also to make healthcare delivery more efficient, improve access, reduce costs, increase quality, and make medicine much more personalized and precise.

Now, this is a very top level description of what digital health is. Its roots extend into a complex array of factors which we will have to save for another session, but for a deeper understanding, I’d highly recommend you venture over to Paul Sonnier’s site and have a look a the information he gives there.

Slide 11

In the last decade, we’ve seen huge advancements in the digital health sphere. One of the biggest movements came right at the beginning of 2007 when the iPhone was launched and “Apps” began dominating the world. Ten years on and in 2017 alone, 3.7 billion downloads of health apps were recorded and they are now paramount in our healthcare. They help us meditate better, track our sleep, build relationships with fellow cancer sufferers and order medication super quick.

Slide 12

A couple of years later, wearable technology dented the health sector. You may have heard of Fitbit. Their first device, launched in 2009, clipped onto your trousers and tracked only your movement, sleep and calorie burn.

Fast forward to today and the wearable has evolved into your highly advanced health and fitness companion. Wrist-worn with high definition digital displays and a plethora of functionality including 24-hour heart rate monitoring, guided breathing sessions and dynamic on-screen workouts.

Slide 13

Right at the beginning of the presentation, I gave you the example where I was speaking to a Dr via an app. That is what we call Telehealth or Telemedicine and is now becoming much more commonplace. And rightly so. It’s saving the healthcare system tonnes of money but also improving mortality rate.

The rise of portal technology is allowing both patients and physicians to access medical records and interact online. By giving patients more access to their records, it’s actually empowering them to become more involved and responsible with their healthcare, and look after themselves better.

This decade has also seen the shift in human replacement. Self-service kiosks have replaced the registration tasks in many hospitals and GP surgeries. Not only is this saving time and money by reducing staffing levels, most patients find this an easier and more confidential process.

Slide 14

Startups in the digital health scene became more popular by the launch of venture capital platforms, such as Rock Health. In 2014, it was recorded that over 3 billion dollars had been poured into digital health startups. The Digital Health scene was officially booming.

Slide 15

And the big health regulatory bodies around the world are now evolving with the digital revolution. Personalised medicine continues to edge closer to the forefront of the healthcare industry, and is where treatment plans will be tailored to the individual instead of a “one size fits all approach”.

To get to this goal, technology is advancing something called pharmacogenomics, which is helping us understand how the genetic makeup of an individual affects their response to drugs.

Slide 16

And, of course, we can’t forget about Social Media either. Social media has also been a huge driver in the advancement of digital health. PatientsLikeMe, launched in 2004, is a social platform that helps connect people with medical conditions and now have a user-base of over 600,000 people worldwide with over 2,800 conditions. Not only do these people feel more connected, the data that this company has collected is being used to develop better healthcare services and devices, which is ultimately improving people’s lives.

And there’s the big word…DATA. It’s all about data. The more data we are collecting in the healthcare space, the more amazing things we can be doing with the technology we have and will build.

Slide 17

So, what does the future of digital health look like? Well, of course, I can’t and no one else in this room can be sure what it’s going to look like exactly. However, it’s the prospects of things like Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Machine Learning that can certainly give us an indication of what the future might hold.

Slide 18

Dr Meskó Bertalan of The Medical Futurist sums up really well how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being applied to the healthcare sector and what will come from it in the very near future.

One of the most obvious applications of AI is data management. Google, through Deep Mind, is already using AI to mine medical records in order to provide better and faster health services.

It’s also being used to develop treatment plans. IBM’s Watson has the ability to assess clinical records and actually choose a treatment plan for a cancer patient.

One of the big ways it will help the medical sector is by assisting in repetitive tasks. Medical Sieve, is an algorithm, again launched by IBM, that is currently helping cardiologists make clinical decisions quicker and easier. This technology will no doubt take over basic decision-making, leaving the clinicians with only the most complicated of cases to deal with.

AI is now being used to triage patients. Babylon is an app that allows patients to enter their symptoms, and based on the answers, your medical history and common medical knowledge, will actually tell you what you should do and where you need to go. This kind of technology will look to save the NHS millions of pounds each year through unnecessary GP and A&E referrals.

And AI is also being applied in the creation an manufacture of drugs. This is revolutionary because drug testing often takes years to complete. With the use of AI, lots of time will be saved in the process, and therefore millions of dollars too.

Digital is impacting healthcare on a huge scale and as we head into the future, it will become more and more integrated. It makes complete sense. It’s going to save us time, money and ultimately improve our health.

Slide 19

But where does it stop? How intelligent are they going to become? Is this the beginning of the rise of the machines?

I’ll let you and Arnie ponder over those questions.

Slide 20

Thank you. For more information on how I’m helping the pharmacy sector in England, please visit Pharmacy Mentor. Please feel free to connect with me on Facebook and LinkedIn too.

Best,

Saam

Thanks for visiting and see you in the next learning module!

March 24, 2018/0 Comments/by Saam Ali

Business and Innovation, CPD Learning Modules

The Pharmacy Digital Diagnosis – How digital is your pharmacy?

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Is your pharmacy catering for the digital behaviour of your customers and patients?

In a world where we’re online more than we actually sleep, where online retail sales are breaking records year on year and where 40 million of us in the UK are now active on Social Media…have you considered what kind of presence your pharmacy has online to cater for this behaviour?

Can people find the services you offer on Google before they leave the house? Are you maximising the use of Facebook to target those people and businesses around you? Is your website fit for purpose for the 21st century?

Having a digital presence is just as important as having a physical presence these days and there are so many tools you can use that will help market your services better, create stronger business and customer relationships, and help drive pharmacy footfall and website traffic.

So, in light of this, I wanna help you understand the current health of your pharmacy online and what kind of opportunities lie ahead of you through what I have coined as the “Pharmacy Digital Diagnosis”. Let me explain what this is in a bit more detail.

What is a Pharmacy Digital Diagnosis?

Pharmacy Digital Diagnosis Screen Shot Example

An example shot from the digital diagnosis of a chemist in Nottingham

Essentially, a Pharmacy Digital Diagnosis is where I screen your pharmacy business to help you realise:

What your current online presence is like
How well you’re marketing your pharmacy online, and
What opportunities exist for your business in terms of digital marketing

Through screencasting and voiceover, I will examine each of the digital marketing channels you’re using and the strategies you may be employing, and advise you on:

What’s good about them
What’s not so good about them
And what can be done to improve them, which will lead to better results

All of this is then packaged into a short and concise video which I will send you via email so you can watch, learn and digest in your own time.

I conduct each and every Diagnosis for free of course and what you do with your video is completely up to you. But, if you want to talk to me about how you can improve your presence online, market your pharmacy services better or would like me to implement and manage a more powerful digital marketing strategy for you, then I’m all ears! Get in touch with me by phone, Whatsapp, Email, Skype, FaceTime, LinkedIn, Facebook (you get my drift), and I’ll get back to you right away 🙂

Looking forward to helping you get digital.

All the best,

Saam

Click here to request a FREE digital diagnosis of your business now

February 12, 2018/0 Comments/by Saam Ali

Business and Innovation, CPD Learning Modules

Here’s Why Every Single Community Pharmacy Should Be Using Facebook

CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO ACCESS THE LECTURE SLIDES

When my colleague rang me and said I was going to speak at The Pharmacy Show in October 2017, I had two emotions run through me.

The first was elation.

“Yes! People are beginning to understand that Social Media is important for Community Pharmacy. Woohoo!”

The second was…

“Sh*t. I’m presenting.”

But it didn’t take me long to understand what I was going to present. The topic would be centred around Facebook for Community Pharmacy.

Facebook is still such an underutilised tool in Community Pharmacy and so I created the presentation (above) titled Why Every Community Pharmacy Should be Harnessing Facebook. It was a 30-minute interactive session to help explain to the audience how its various tools can help improve communication in the locality and increase brand awareness. (Below) you can find an explanation of each of the slides to help you understand better what I was talking about.

Slide 1

Facebook is like a planet. It’s so massive that its formed it’s own gravity, effortlessly pulling its 2 billion inhabitants, often subconsciously, into the application where they live there for around 20 minutes a day. It’s the Jupiter of all social media worlds, and has a population bigger than Whatsapp, Twitter and LinkedIn combined.

Let me show you some statistics of its use in one of its countries, the UK, which will help you understand its popularity a bit more:

Slide 2

32 million of us have active Facebook accounts and 84% of all adults over the age of 18 use it.
By 2022, there will be 42 million monthly active users, which is 7 million more people than in 2015. In fact, the UK has the second biggest Facebook penetration rate in the whole of Europe.
And, very importantly, the numbers of Facebook users who are 65yrs and over has been growing ever since records began.

Last year, the UK saw a boom in “social seniors”, where the population of the elderly using Social Media more than doubled, from 19% to 41%. So, when a pharmacy owner tells me that their patients aren’t online or don’t use Facebook, well…

Slide 3

I bet Uranus that they are. The planet that is 🙂

Slide 4

Simply put, Facebook cannot be ignored. Throughout the years, it’s developed into a very important, often critical, tool for business and today I want to show you why and how you should be harnessing it for your pharmacy business.

Slide 5

My name’s Saam and I’m a Community Pharmacist with over 11 years of experience based in Sheffield. I’m also columnist for the Independent Community Pharmacist magazine where I write about digital marketing, and I’m the creator of a platform called Pharmacy Mentor where I’m helping Community Pharmacy, particularly Independent businesses, embrace the digital age.

Slide 6

So, why am I trying to get you to go digital?

1. Well, first and foremost, if pharmacy businesses don’t embrace digital, then it’s going to be a real struggle to survive in what is a digital world we live in today. I have to be blunt about it. The more this world turns, the more we, as consumers, are conducting our business and leisure online. In addition to this, technologies and innovations that are available to us represent big opportunities that will help us grow in new ways.

2. Secondly, it’s my job to teach you guys about it. Over the last 4 years, I’ve become a complete technological nerd. I’m now a professional web developer and video course creator, an advanced digital marketer and I’m relentlessly building new digital products. As I continue to learn about the digital world, I aim to teach and help you capitalise on it.

Slide 7

So, Facebook was one of the first digital tools I began to focus on for Community Pharmacy and there were a few reasons for this:

Like I mentioned before, Facebook is the most popular Social Media platform in the UK by miles. If your customers and patients are on there, you should be there too.

It’s an extremely dynamic business tool. It’s scope of functionality continues to blow my mind. Facebook are always innovating meaning they’re always releasing new tools which can help businesses.

It’s free to use and you don’t need a website to get started.

And lastly, the vast majority of Independent Community Pharmacies don’t use Facebook for Business, or aren’t using it well. This is the case even though most pharmacists do believe it to be important. We’ll get to why this is later on in the session, but again, this represents a great opportunity for Independents.

Slide 8

Question: Ok. I have a question for you. What do you think the benefits of Facebook for Community Pharmacy are?

Ok. Let’s see if these come up in the section that I’m about to talk about now, which is exactly about the benefits of Facebook for Community Pharmacy.

Slide 9

Facebook is an excellent communication tool. You can communicate with your Community quickly and efficiently and get your message out to so many more people than you would without it.

Slide 10

Buxted Pharmacy Tick Post

To demonstrate, look at this post published by Buxted pharmacy (a client of mine) that is giving people information about Ticks in the area, and the signs and symptoms of infection to look out for. They decided to post this since they had seen an increase in the number of people coming into the pharmacy with tick bites. In the space of a few days, it had been shared over a 100 times and reached over 11,000 people. From this single post that took 5 minutes to create, they helped educate 1000’s of people in their locality and beyond whilst building trust into their brand.

Slide 11

Green Cross Chemist Migraine Campaign

For Green Cross Chemists in Sheffield (another client of mine), I used Facebook to communicate a health initiative as part of their HLP requirements.

Everyday for a week, we posted content that helped raise awareness of Migraine, which was supporting the Migraine Trust during Migraine Awareness Week. Facebook helped us deliver our message quicker and cheaper, and by personalizing our posts with Tina the dispenser, we helped reached way more people that we would have by simply having a notice on the counter and talking to the people coming in.

Slide 12

Building Relationships with Local Businesses

Another great tool that Facebook offers is the ability to create groups. Groups are powerful communication tools because you have the chance to influence a significant number of people very quickly, particularly if you’re the administrator of the group.

What I’ve done for one of the Green Cross pharmacies is create a group purely for the shops and businesses in the area with the aim of improving communication and sharing ideas. I’ve only just created this group but business owners are willingly joining and I’m now able to share useful updates to the group at zero the cost. For instance, in a week in October, I shared a post promoting our Flu Jab service which was seen by everyone in the group and resulted in one of the business owners messaging us about it.

Slide 13

Facebook Messenger

And not to forget, your Facebook Page has a messaging service where people can contact you directly. More and more people expect 24 hour customer service these days and what’s really cool about Facebook is that it tells the customer how long they can expect to wait for a response.

And look at this (on the slide). Facebook is telling me to reply more to turn on the Green badge. It’s cunning because who doesn’t want a Green badge? It looks way better right? It’s incentivising me to reply more and at the same time encouraging me to communicate with those who contact us.

Slide 14

Communicating via Facebook is automatically spreading the word about your business but you can also use it tactically to boost the awareness of your pharmacy quite dramatically.

Slide 15

Greenwoods Pharmacy Hack

I have to refer to the Greenwoods Pharmacy hack. I call it a “hack”, because they hacked the system and it just sounds really cool.

Look at this post they published back in 2015. They created a really nice video about their pharmacy and built it into a post with a simple competition. People would receive a free gift in store if they:

Liked their page
Shared the video and
Quoted Vid 1 in store

This simple tactic has generated over 400 reactions, 300 shares and a whopping 127,000 views. Now that is spreading the word on a whole new level! Note. There may have been some paid advertising involved here.

I contacted these guys to see what this had done for them and the owners confirmed that this post had built their audience quickly, is helping install trust in their brand and for a period of time when it went viral, confirmed an increase in footfall and sales. Amazing work by these guys.

Slide 16

Totley Pharmacy Growth Hack

Another pharmacy that growth hacked their audience very significantly in a matter of days is Totley Pharmacy.

They’ve used Facebook to showcase their partnership with St Lukes Hospice and Sheffield United Football club, and have harnessed this to create a competition where someone could win a couple of tickets to a Sheffield United match. The post went completely viral and their audience, represented by Page Likes and Followers, went from 55 to 1400 in only 5 days. They now have the opportunity to directly influence so many more people in the city of Sheffield. Very clever use of Facebook.

Slide 17

Now, I already showed you how Greenwood Pharmacy drove more people into their store with that amazing growth hacking post of theirs. But this isn’t the only way you can increase footfall. Facebook has many other tools that can help you do this. Let me take you through some of those now.

Slide 18

Build an online shop

A really cool feature of your business page is that you’re able to build an online shop where you can display various products of yours, whether it’s medicines, beauty products, or high-end products. Literally anything you sell, you can showcase on here, just like I’ve started doing with Green Cross Chemists. I created a section just for the premium products we sell at one of the pharmacies, promoted it to our audience and the staff working there reported back to me that people were coming in to buy the products because of this.

In fact, in the States, your Facebook shop actually has full e-commerce functionality. People are able to buy products directly from Facebook itself, so watch this space, because it won’t be too long before this functionality arrives in the UK.

Slide 19

Another great feature of your Facebook page is the ability to create an offer, and offers can convert into sales. Take a look at this photo (on the slide) of Paul from Buxted Pharmacy again. He created a 3 for 2 seasonal offer on his antihistamines for the whole summer which positively impacted his sales. How does he know this? People came in and told him! “Hey Paul, I saw your offer on Facebook. I want to buy some antihistamines.”

QUESTION

Can someone point out to me why this image is so much more powerful compared to a generic image of a few boxes of hay fever medicines, say?

Slide 20

Another thing you can do is create an event. Now, I haven’t done this for my clients yet and I haven’t seen any other Independent create one on Facebook as of yet either. However, Community Pharmacies host events all the time, such as charity events and other health campaigns. Why not use the events feature on Facebook to drive more traction?

Take a look at this (on the slide) “Make up Masterclass” event that was hosted in Rotherham not so long ago. In her beauty salon, she organised a basic makeup tutorial that lasted 2 hours and it attracted 6 people at £20 a head. Now, as well as making £120 in 2 hours giving a class, it’s more than likely she sold makeup, and the fact that she went out of her way to give a class has absolutely secured their loyalty as customers.

So, holding events can certainly be powerful. Have a think…what kind of events could you host and use Facebook to drive traction?

Slide 21

So, from what we’ve just seen and discussed, let’s recap the benefits that Facebook can provide for you as a pharmacy business:

You can reach more people in less time, whilst saving money and the planet.
It’s a great platform to host and promote health campaigns
It’s a brilliant tool to help build your relationships in the Community, both B2C and B2B.
By using messenger and replying to comments, you’re improving your service to customers
By publishing posts and engaging your audience, you’re boosting brand awareness
By hosting events and engaging with your community online, you’re building trust and loyalty
And Facebook can help with aspects of footfall and sales

Slide 21

Therefore, understanding these benefits, why aren’t Independents using Facebook?

Slide 22

Ok, so I did some research and sent out a survey to the pharmacy owners on my email list, on social media and those who I know personally.

The number one reason is time. I totally understand this, we never have a minute spare in the day, I get it. But, how come Buxted Pharmacy, Totley Pharmacy and many other pharmacies are finding time to manage their Facebook strategy? The reason is that these guys have learned to build it into their current business model meaning it just forms part of daily routine now. And besides, you’re looking at a couple of hours a week and some of your staff will be more than capable of managing it.

Hands up in the room who has a smartphone? Everybody right? Your whole Facebook strategy can be managed easily on there, while you’re on the move.

But I’m also very aware that, like point number 2 mentions, you’re not sure where to start or how to even begin. That’s normal. You’re pharmacists at the end of the day, not digital marketers, and it takes time to learn these things.

You also believe it not to be a priority. I understand this too. You’ve got so much on your plate that something like this is considered an extra. And…

You’re not sure about the ROI. Again, you’re completely right. I wish I had more concrete evidence in numbers that showed an increase in footfall and sales from Facebook. But that’s just hard to come by.

However, Facebook for a local Independent Community Pharmacy isn’t about that. It’s more about brand awareness, improving communication, building better and stronger relationships in the community and generating trust. This will cumulatively bring about a positive impact for your business.

The fact is, having an active Facebook page is better for your business than not having an active Facebook Page. It’s a free business tool there to be capitalised on and it’s scope of functionality is incredible. Can you imagine if every single contractor began educating and promoting their services on Facebook, where 32 million people in the UK currently reside? We may finally be thought of as the first port of call for healthcare in the Community.

If you aren’t using Facebook yet, then you’re missing out on a great opportunity for growth

Facebook is such a great tool for Community Pharmacy. They are continuously innovating and releasing new features to help businesses and individuals communicate with their audience. We now live in a digital age where your consumers are increasingly conducting their business and leisure online. Facebook is a great place to begin capturing their attention.

Over the last year, I have been perpetually producing content to help educate you around its use. However, I’m very aware that Pharmacy Owners are strapped for time and many are not as tech savvy as person such as myself. This is why I have created digital products and services to help get you set up on Facebook and begin driving your business into the future.

The Pharmacy and Social Media Mastery Course

This step-by-step video course helps Independent Community Pharmacy businesses get set up on Facebook and Twitter. It also teaches them, in the quickest way possible, how to build an audience that matters to them, how to engage with them and use the various tools within each application in the aim of driving their business online. The course has been designed in a way that anyone in the pharmacy is able to take.

For more information, please access the course details here.

Digital Marketing Services for Community Pharmacy

I have recently launched a digital marketing service for Independents, Small-Chain pharmacies and other small to medium-sized healthcare businesses where I am managing a strategy for them. Please click here for some testimonials from current clients and then click here if you’d like more information about these services.

Thanks for visiting and see you in the next learning module!

Saam

January 3, 2018/0 Comments/by Saam Ali

Google My Business for Community Pharmacy

Business and Innovation, CPD Learning Modules

Google My Business – A must-have Tool for Community Pharmacy

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Google My Business for Community Pharmacy

Are you aware of how many people find your pharmacy on Google? Are you sure the information Google has about your pharmacy is correct? Wouldn’t you like to be able to control the information that Google has for your pharmacy and begin actively promoting your products and services?

The answers to these questions come down to one application – and that’s Google My Business. You may not have even heard of it. That’s fine and (relatively) normal! But rest assured, it’s one of the most important Social Media marketing tools you’ll come across for your pharmacy. In my opinion, its use should be mandatory for every bricks and mortar business that exists.

In this lecture, we’re going to learn more about what Google My Business is and why it’s important for you as a local pharmacy business.

Help customers and patients find and connect with you

In the words of Google:

“Google My Business is a free and easy-to-use tool for businesses and organizations to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. By verifying and editing your business information, you can both help customers find you and tell them the story of your business.”

This description alone should alert you as to why Google my Business is imperative to you as a local pharmacy. Essentially, it’s a platform that houses various different Google applications to create a powerful business marketing tool. The platform includes your Google plus social media profile, Google Maps, Google Reviews, Google Analytics, Google Insights and other applications, all designed to help you stand out in the best way possible on the most popular search engine in the world.

Google My Business – An excellent tool for Comunity Pharmacy

The easiest way to understand the importance of Google my Business is to look at some real-life pharmacies that are out there.

Let’s head over to Stoke-on-Trent in the UK. This is what Lloyds Pharmacy in the Shelton area looks like on Google. If you clicked the previous link, you’ll be able to see the whole listing when you scroll down.

Lloyds Pharmacy in Shelton

As you can imagine, being a well-known brand, they are registered on Google my Business, and this is what having a good Google My Business profile looks like. They have photos so you can see exactly what the pharmacy looks like and where it is. They have 16 reviews which have produced an overall rating of 4.2 stars out of 5, and Google really nicely displays the stars. This instantly builds trust for the viewer. You can find more details underneath like the address, phone number and very importantly, their opening hours, which is what customers and patients are likely to be searching for. Underneath, you can find other reviews from around the web, and Google have nicely integrated their NHS Choices reviews too. Sometimes you’ll find Facebook reviews or reviews from another platform, like Yelp or Pharmacy Flu Jabs next to this too.

You can also see how Google My Business cleverly display how busy the pharmacy is at various times. This really helps inform the customer better about when to go, for example, if someone’s short of time, they’ll use this information to plan their day better. And how good is this…Google says people typically spend 10 minutes here. I’m not really sure how they know this, but for a pharmacy, that is really great for a customer or patient to understand. It signifies a quick turnover of prescriptions and entices people to use their services.

Could represent prescription waiting times?

And below this, you can see actual reviews left by real customers. We all know how important reviews and social proofing are for pharmacy because again, it instantly instils trust in the customer.

Now, compare this profile with Sh***on Pharmacy who are literally down the road from Lloyds and who have not validated their pharmacy on Google My Business.

A pharmacy who hasn’t validated and optimised their business on GMB

I know this hasn’t been owned because of the question I can see in the image “Own this business?”. Hopefully, you can see a difference between the two listings straight away. Even if you haven’t validated your pharmacy as a listing, if you’re an established local business that’s been around for some time, Google will automatically create a profile for you – like you can see here for this pharmacy. However, it’s seriously lacking compared to the profile of Lloyds we saw just earlier. We can’t see any reviews for this pharmacy, the business hours are missing, it’s not linked to their own website or NHS Choices and no photos have been uploaded. In a world where we would like to find out information about a place and contact them as quick as possible, Sh***on pharmacy are making it unnecessarily more difficult for their consumers.

Google Maps is increasingly being used as a search engine today

And when it comes down to a consumer deciding which pharmacy to use after a search on Google Maps, those who have poor or incomplete profiles are likely to lose out. Take a look at this. People regularly use Google maps as a search engine these days to find a place where they need to go. If I type “Pharmacy in stoke”, Sh***on pharmacy doesn’t exist in the sidebar here. And if I get more specific and type “pharmacy in Shelton” although we can see Sh***on Pharmacy here, we have 4 other pharmacies in the vicinity which all have reviews and more information about the business in general. If a consumer was choosing a pharmacy based on this search, it’s unlikely they’d choose Sh***on Pharmacy.

Pharmacies as seen on Google Maps

It’s imperative that you validate your pharmacy on Google My Business

So you see, Google My Business optimises your presence on Google Search, Maps and across other platforms it’s associated with, and from the two examples we’ve covered in this module, you can clearly see the benefits of it.

However, you’ve just seen the surface of what the tool can do for you. It has many other features that can help expose you online and rank you higher in search results, and some important features are the insights and analytics you’re able to examine on there. Google My Business helps you understand how your customers find you online and what they do when they get there, and you’re able to actively market through the platform.

If you’d like to optimise your pharmacy on Google My Business, then I’ve made it very easy for you. The course Drive Pharmacy Footfall with Google is a step-by-step video course that guides you through the setup and validation procedure and helps you optimise your listing to 100%. Furthermore, you’ll learn how to actively market your products and services through the application and implement a very time-efficient strategy that anyone can manage in your pharmacy team. Click here for more information.

Thanks for visiting and see you in the next learning module! For more modules, please click here.

Saam

November 22, 2017/0 Comments/by Saam Ali

Business and Innovation, CPD Learning Modules

5 Powerful Tools to Help Expose your Flu Jab Service

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What are you doing digitally to promote your Flu Jab Service?

It’s the beginning of the Flu Season and we’re all set, ready to jab away. Your pharmacists and consultation room are signed off, the staff have been briefed about procedure and you’ve plastered marketing material all over your pharmacy.

However, have you done anything on a digital level yet? Are you maximising the exposure of your service to reach those who don’t just walk past or come into your pharmacy organically?

In this tutorial, I’m collaborating with Pharmacy Talk – Uniting Pharmacy through Conversations, to talk to you about 5 online tools that will help you magnify your marketing efforts around the flu jab service you offer this year.

1) Facebook

A simply brilliant tool to help you market your Flu Jab service is Facebook. On your business page, you can promote via the services tab, building an offer, pinning your posts, creating an engaging header and much, much more.

But your page isn’t the only feature of Facebook that can help you. You can message businesses directly through their own pages, publish posts in local relevant groups and even create a group yourself that will give you influencing power over a significant number of people. As an example, what I have done for one of my clients recently is create a group purely for the shops and businesses in the local area with the goal of improving communication. Local businesses have willingly joined and I can now post updates in there about the flu jab service they offer. Powerful marketing at zero the cost.

If you’d like to begin driving your flu service and business in general on Facebook, The Pharmacy and Social Media Mastery Course is the perfect place for you to start. Click here for more info.

NOTE: Due to the nature of Facebook today (Aug 2018), the organic reach of your posts through your page has deteriorated significantly. That’s why Facebook Ads are more important than ever in order to reach your target audience effectively. Facebook Ads are very powerful and that’s why I pretty much always include them in the digital marketing strategies I create for my clients.

2) Pharmacy Flu Jabs

I teamed up with PharmData to create a platform called Pharmacy Flu Jabs which helps the public find a pharmacy that provides the flu jab service quickly and easily. At this time of year, there is always a spike in the search terms associated with the flu jab, meaning people are looking for information about it online. By adding your listing on here, you’ll become much more visible as a flu jab provider online, making it much more likely for people to choose your services.

3) Update your website

Your website is your online shop window, so make sure you or your developer updates it to reflect that you’re providing the flu jab service. Just like I’ve done with this client. As soon as the user lands on the site, they can’t miss it. The button leads to a blog post I created about the service which is now showing up on page one of Google, or if you have an online booking calendar, it could just as easily direct to that too.

4) Create a post on Google My Business

It’s imperative as a local business that you have a Google My Business profile owned and validated for your pharmacy. If you don’t, then you’re simply missing out on a great opportunity to improve the visibility of your pharmacy online. Within the application itself, you can create posts about your flu jab which is fantastic free advertising.

Look at the post I created for Crosspool Pharmacy a few days ago. If someone now types in “Crosspool Pharmacy” into Google, they’re going to land on their Google My Business profile, and you can see a very visual promotional post on the Flu Jab service they offer. If you click on it, it gives them more info and this button takes them to a blog post on the flu. Not only is this helping with service awareness, it’s helping position this blog post higher on the google rankings. A great little feature that all pharmacy businesses can be using.

If you’d like to set up your pharmacy on Google My Business, then you can take this course which will walk you through the whole process, step-by-step. Using instructional videos, the Drive Pharmacy Footfall with Google course will teach you how to use the tools within Google My Business to attract new customers.

5) Yell.com

And the last thing I’m going to talk about is yell.com, the biggest business directory in the UK. Here, you have the contact details of pretty much every business in your locality who you can connect with and talk to about your flu jab service. Whether it’s through email or by phone, contact every single business and offer them the option to get them and their staff vaccinated. You could offer them a 10% discount to make your offering more attractive. Get one of your staff to take an hour out each day for a week and contact everyone within your catchment area.

Think digital. Think further than the walls of your pharmacy

By using these online tools, you’re gonna maximise the exposure of your flu jab service and capture more business than simply using the marketing material present in your pharmacy. If you need help with any of the platforms, again, I’m here to support you as always. Thanks for watching and I wish you the most successful flu season yet.

Thanks for visiting and see you in the next learning module!

Saam

September 20, 2017/0 Comments/by Saam Ali

Business and Innovation, CPD Learning Modules

Totley Pharmacy Case Study: Stale Facebook Page to Engaging Hub of Activity

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“Saam has been very helpful in explaining how to use the information in the course. Material is explained in a simple yet informative manner. Thanks for your help.”

Taj – Director and Superintendent Pharmacist

In this short blog post, I’m going to show you how one of my students who enrolled onto The Pharmacy and Social Media Mastery Course has completely transformed their Facebook Page into a very powerful and engaging marketing tool.

Taking it into your own hands

Taj from Totley Pharmacy already had a Facebook page for his business but it was severely lacking in creativity and activity. In fact, it was being managed by a 3rd party who was doing him no favours, posting generic content once every two weeks or so and utilising none of its features. It was stale, un-engaging and didn’t really serve a purpose.

Fast forward to today and the story is totally different. Their Facebook page is a thriving hub of activity. When Taj and his team took control of their Facebook page and began the course a few months back, I remember them having 57 page likes. They have managed to increase that by 2400% up to 1,400 likes and it keeps rising. Although this isn’t the most important metric of a Facebook Page, they have expanded their direct audience dramatically meaning they have the opportunity to influence 1000’s of people every week.

Connecting with the Community

They’re now posting on a daily basis and it’s relevant content for their audience, which is keeping them engaged. They’re beginning to use their Facebook page as a standard communication tool with their customers and responding within minutes. This is great customer service and really helps with retention and loyalty. And they’re also beginning to drive customer reviews, building trust into their brand which is so important in the digital world of today.

Although Totley pharmacy are still not using all of the tools their Facebook page has to offer, they are dominating the core function of it and engaging with their community with great success. They are fighting against the funding cuts by marketing in new and innovative ways and I wish them all the best.

Are you ready to engage your Community in new ways?

If you’d like to create a powerful Facebook marketing strategy for your pharmacy, then The Pharmacy and Social Media Mastery Course is for you. It empowers you and your team with the tools to drive your business on Social and embed it into your current business model. And at £99, there are no monthly fees and with that, you get lifetime access and support.

If you’d like more information about the course, or to simply talk about your Social Media strategy, I’m all ears. Together, we can take your pharmacy business to newer levels.

Thanks for visiting and I wish you the best for your business.

Saam

August 31, 2017/0 Comments/by Saam Ali