VEW 2024: Don't count the likes: How to be authentic on social media

Mastering social media has become an essential to building medical practices and professional careers alike, and optometry is no exception to the rule in our digital age. Adam Ramsey, OD, gave his tips on how to build a social media following that engages and relates to eye care content during a panel at Vision Expo West in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Examples of his social media posts can be found on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Video transcript

Editor's note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Jordana Joy:

Hi everyone. I'm here today with Dr Adam Ramsey, owner of Socialite Vision in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He recently sat on a panel entitled, "Visionaries Unveiled Education for Change Makers Making an Impact on Social Media," at this year's Vision Expo West. So welcome. It's great to have you here today.

Adam Ramsey, OD:

Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Joy:

Yeah, of course. So first, could you give us an idea of what you had discussed on this panel?

Ramsey:

So the concept of the panel was to make sure that doctors and eye care professionals alike utilize social media in a positive light and find ways to connect and engage. I think some people that struggle with social media, they forget the first word, which is "social." You gotta want to be social. So anybody's like, "I don't know how to connect. I need to connect more on social media," but that person doesn't like to actually be social, you're going to have a hard time doing that. Or a practice owner that says, "I want to grow my social media following," yet they don't use social media personally. You know, if you use social media personally, it's going to be easier to connect with social media for your business, but you're going to have a hard time being great on social media for your business, but never using it for your personal life. So I would tell anybody that's trying to get with social media is that you gotta, for one, want to be social and pick the platforms that you like and you connect with. You can't use TikTok for your business if you don't want to use Tiktok for yourself, right? You gotta decide the platforms that work for you, what doesn't work for you. I do a lot with Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, but I don't really use TikTok like that, so even though it's the new hottest trend, I'm not using it personally, so it's not what I actually gravitate towards. So the purpose of the panel was to try and get people to connect and engage and get them to understand how to use social media in a positive light.

Joy:

Sure, so in those beginning steps of understanding which platforms work best for an individual, what are some of the most productive ways to gain a substantial following on social media once they have the groundwork?

Ramsey:

I think posting authentic content. I mean, anybody that follows me knows I post something authentic. I'm posting about my life, I'm posting about things I want to connect and engage. I don't share everything with the world. I just share what I would like to share. But I think the best way to grow a following is to be authentic and be yourself, and people connect with authenticity. They can see through fake, they can see through stock photos and stuff like that. So the more authentic and the more real that you can be on social media, the quicker your following is going to grow. But then I would tell people, don't stress over the numbers, because some people can have 1000 followers and have more engagement and more connection than somebody that might have 10,000 followers. Yet if they try to sell a t-shirt, nobody would buy it, because they might be following you, but they don't really connect with you like that. Sometimes your 1000 followers might be a better following than somebody with a lot more. So I would say, post stuff that you want to post and don't worry about how many likes or comments you get. Some people get really tore up with that and may take down a picture if it doesn't get 100 likes, and I posted a picture because I want to post it. If you like it, you like it. If you don't like it, you don't like it, it's not bothering me. So I think if you relax on some of those things, it'll make social media a little bit more fun and engaging.

Joy:

So say that there is a practitioner who's looking to develop both a social media account for their practice and an individual professional account. What different approaches are needed for those 2 different types of accounts?

Ramsey:

Thinking about the audience. On Instagram, I have a personal Instagram, I have a Doctor Adam Ramsey Instagram, and I have a business Instagram, and I got a family Instagram that I post stuff with my daughter. So the stuff I post with my daughter is different than what I post my own personal life. So I have the accounts set up based upon the target audience. Some people combine all in one, and I think that's not a good idea. It's very confusing to the audience when you're on vacation in the Bahamas and then the next week you're talking about eye health. The audience should curate the content to who you're speaking to. So I would tell people, just think about who am I speaking to, who is my target audience for this content, and make sure the posts work with that. And I think that gets you a better engaged following, and people stick with you because they're not confused by the content you're putting out.

Joy:

So first and foremost, why is it important for optometrists to be developing a social media presence?

Ramsey:

Patients will look you up. The same way they look up Google reviews, they look you up on social media. I would say the under 50 crowd – I used to say under 40, but I would say, probably the under 50 crowd – look you up the most on social media. The over 50 might just look you up on Google, but the under 50 crowd will look you up.

And then I have patients that drive from Miami and Jacksonville. Now that's 2 hours to 3 hours south and 3 to 4 hours north of me that drive that have found me on social media, that have seen an article that was written or something like that about me or the office, and that's strictly from social media. I have people that, I post on LinkedIn, where it's normally business to business on LinkedIn, but somebody else follows it and sees it, and is like, "You know what, you're around me. I'm going to make my way over there," and only knew me from LinkedIn. I wasn't intending on them seeing the content from LinkedIn, but I wasn't embarrassed by anything I posted on there, so it's not a problem. I grew my following that way.

Joy:

Absolutely, great. So what have you personally gained the most from utilizing social media?

Ramsey:

You get friends. People get to know you. When I go to a conference, people may know me from social media, and when you see somebody enough, or you see enough of their life, you start feeling like you actually do know them, like they're your actual friends. And so then they see me in in real life at a conference, and they walk up to me, and they just start having the biggest conversation as if we've known each other for years, yet this is the first time we've interacted. Maybe they've commented under some of my pictures. Maybe they've sent me a DM and I've responded, but we weren't really best friends. But because you've been seeing my life, or seeing the connection, or I see what they're doing, all of a sudden that rapport is much easier and much stronger in person, and now I can go to a conference and have you know, 10 best friends before I leave. They're like, "Oh, I've seen you on Instagram. I've been following you on LinkedIn. Can I have a picture with you?" And I'm like, "Sure, come on, let's have a good time. I'm a real person." But making that following and that connection is important.

Joy:

Absolutely. So was there anything that we haven't touched on yet that you wanted to add?

Ramsey:

Follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook. If you're trying to connect with me and you can't, you're not looking hard enough. I am everywhere, and if you see me at a conference or a show, don't be shy. Come up say hi. I'm a real person, and I love to connect and engage with people.

Joy:

Thank you for all the great tips, Dr Ramsey. It's been a pleasure to talk to you.

Ramsey:

Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.