Increase visitor satisfaction, social media followership, and the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns through the use of television. Our articles focus on TV solutions for waiting rooms, lobbies, displays and employee break rooms for medical, automotive, restaurants, retail, public and private companies.
You don’t need to appreciate classic rock to agree that waiting rooms take their toll on more than just time. We’ve all been there, the rows of padded chairs with wooden armrests, the piles of magazines, the TV, and the plant in the corner that may or may not be plastic. It’s these elements, and more, that make up the traditionally dull waiting room experience we know so well.
Empty Medical Waiting Room with Chairs
But does it have to be dull?
Sure enough, plenty of businesses and offices work hard figuring out how to make a waiting room more inviting, and put forth a lot of effort into improving their lobbies for their clients. But no matter where you go, whenever you end up having to wait for more than a few minutes you’ll likely see a TV.
And there’s a reason for that. TVs are an effective distraction. TVs draw people’s attention, and they’re a familiar element that we’re used to looking at on a daily basis – providing a quiet atmosphere with the comfort and white noise of what’s on. While televisions are great in that respect, there are many reasons that cable and satellite TV are not the best options for your office.
When you’re waiting to be seen by someone, you aren’t necessarily invested in a long program when you’re expecting to miss some, or most of it, as soon as you’re called away. And in the case of having the TV turned to any one station or giving visitors control over the remote, with a waiting room full of people it’s impossible to cater to them all and it’s likely that someone is going to get alienated.
So what’s a business owner to do about that?
It’s Relevant TV for Dentists and It’s Relevant TV for Medical Offices work to address those issues and more. Each custom TV network airs original content pulled from a vast library of categories tailored specifically for the practice it’s in. The segments run for two and a half minutes on average – meaning they’re brief enough to cater to an audience with limited focus, and the categories are varied enough that everyone is bound to see something that interests them on some level.
IRTV compliments an atmosphere in which people are looking for a distraction and aren’t there to be entertained. Going beyond aired content, the service can also be used to reach out to those people in waiting. Posts, photos, and even videos from your social media can be uploaded and played for visitors to see.
Whether you’re introducing your staff, highlighting local events, or even showcasing other services your business provides; it’s worth taking a look at: It’s Relevant TV.
“Brush your teeth twice a day, for two minutes. Once in the morning, and again before bedtime. And don’t forget to floss…”
– Every Dentist & Mother
The words every kid grows up hearing a thousand times. The very same words people often seem to forget despite the constant reminders. How is it that kids, and even some adults, throw oral hygiene out the window and neglect this most basic routine?
It all comes down to delivery. Good oral hygiene starts at home, and extends to the dentist’s office. From parents passing on good habits to their kids to dentists educating them on proper dental care. But how do you do it? How do you get the message across and stress the importance of taking care of your teeth? Aside from the words we all know, dentists use a number of aids to educate patients.
Post-visit, your dentist might sit with you one-on-one and go over the proper ways to brush your teeth. They might ask what kind of toothbrush, or brand of toothpaste you’re using, if you’re flossing, etc; maybe they even pull out that big pair of plastic teeth. Some dentists even hand out brochures on dental care or have them available in the lobby for all to see. And in this age of technology, you might even find blogs written by the dentists you visit.
But how effective is that in the long run?
Are patients seeing your content?
Reaching the patients is the key
Without being able to reach patients effectively you can’t pass on whatever it is you’re trying to say. It’s Relevant TV provides a unique and alternative solution to this problem…
Offices, waiting rooms, and even operatories, are often equipped with a television. Dentists’ TVs are usually tuned into something like the news, weather, or a talk show for white noise or casual comfort. In short, a custom Dental TV can run those same kinds of programs for less than it costs to run basic cable – and do more for your practice at the same time. With It’s Relevant, you can not only air those key channels, you can run original content you yourself produced and show it to the world.
Have a video introducing your doctors, or staff? A lovely office tour of the practice featured on your website? You could have that aired on your waiting room’s television – as well as any promotions or events you want to share with your patients. Connect with them, and present a more welcoming experience through a dental television network.
So going back to oral hygiene and getting the message across, how is TV a better platform for this? The answer is pretty straightforward, people watch TV. They watch it, and they pay attention to it – sometimes moreso than face to face.
TV has a lasting impact
Speaking from my own personal experiences, I recall a time years ago when I was young and my mother was bringing me to a new dentist. And in her motherly attempt to relieve me of anxiety, she casually mentioned that the dentist I was going to see “Has a TV in his office, so you can watch it during the visit.”
The comfort and distraction that the TV provided turned an otherwise dreadful experience into something less so, which is precisely why it was there in the first place, and are often found in waiting rooms and operatories today.
As a kid, or even an adult, that period of time in which you are at the dentist, you are always looking for something to take your mind off of what’s going on. The patient is invested, and focused – and can be entertained and informed with the programs you choose to put on the TV.
If you’d like to create a better environment for your patients, and connect with them more, it can be as simple as changing the channel on your TV. Schedule a free consultation with one of our TV experts to help reach your goals. You can call 203-588-0994 or email: sales{at}itsrelevant.com to set up a conversation.
If you print a sign to promote a new service, and then you never hang it in the business, you’re missing an opportunity, right? That seems pretty clear, and yet business owners think nothing of buying a TV and filling it with useless programming. But how is that helping your business and customers?
Reality Check
There is an important reality about including a TV in your business location: your business is not the customer’s living room. They have a TV in their own living room and they have complete control over that one. Having a TV in your business with the remote freely available is not going to draw anyone off their own couch to come sit in your waiting room.
You may have a television in the waiting area of your doctors office or automotive service center. And you might leave the remote out for your customers to pick what they want to watch, but why? Did a customer ever say “I feel like watching the Steelers game, so I’m going to the doctor’s office”? Of course not!
Additionally, leaving the channel selection to your customers poses some risks. What will they choose to watch? Will they be annoyed by the preferences of the other customers? Some business owners who hold the remote at the desk or behind the counter complain that dealing with changing the channel wastes time and frustrates employees also.
Customization is your Right and Duty
The truth is that you designed your business location with purpose. The paint color, the flooring, the lighting, the furniture: you selected these to create a certain feeling in your space. Until now there were very limited options to customize your TV with that same care, but now you can.
Your TV can influence your customers to spend more money, come back more often, and follow your business on social media. Choosing the right programming is all you need to do to make your TV worth something. With It’s Relevant TV, your TV is an asset that helps drive greater sales.
Magnetic Television
Whatever channel you have on, your customers will look at the television at least once – it’s human nature. But how can you keep them looking without giving them the remote? Keep changing the type of content every few minutes automatically!
If you have national news, sports, travel, gardening, food/cooking, fashion, kids programming and more available to mix at all times, you’ll have something for everyone. It’s Relevant TV is the subscription service that provides you this flexibility. The system automatically mixes content from categories you choose so your customers are never bored or frustrated with what’s on the TV.
And While You Have Their Attention
When your customers are looking at something, you put your brand on it, right? Custom water bottles, notepads, refrigerator magnets, this is a pretty common practice. With your TV, you have the opportunity to do so much more! Put your logo on the screen, add your own informational videos, and add your own marketing messages and specials as images next to the broadcast. Show off your social media posts to gain followers. All of that would be impossible with cable TV.
It sounds like a promotional dream, but it’s very easy to achieve with It’s Relevant TV. Get your customers to look, keep them watching, and harness their attention to grow your business.
Businesses Need to Have A Presence on Social Media
The vast majority of consumers are on at least one, if not multiple, social media networks. For this reason, it is obvious that your business should be there as well. Every B2C business owner, no matter their industry, size, or location, has to think about using social media to reach their customers. But, using social media for your business is different than using social media for yourself. Business owners need to strategize how to best reach the people that are the most likely to utilize the business.
Social Media Followership Starts in Your Location
For a long time, businesses have focused on getting more people to “follow” or “like” accounts on social media. They target people on their computers and phones to get a “like”. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram all have ad platforms designed with that goal in mind. The problem that we’ve heard from our clients who have tried these ad platforms is in conversion (making those new followers into customers). In fact, the vast majority of the new followers you gain online never turn into actual customers.
We’ve found that getting existing customers to follow you is a much better goal. These people are more likely to purchase from you in the future, and to tell their friends about your business. Plus, they have already found you! They know how to get to your business, and they have enjoyed being there in the past.
Gaining Real Followers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
But how can you get your customers to follow you from your physical location? Up until now social networks like Facebook have been promoted with physical signs and stickers. While it lets people know you have an account, it doesn’t give them a real reason to follow you. What will “liking” your business do for them? What kind of posts will they be seeing? A static sign just doesn’t show it.
Static Facebook sticker in a store window
It’s Relevant TV has the answer. Built into the TV service is an automated display of your most recent posts. Having all of our most recent real posts leads to more customers following your social media profiles. The service syndicates your posts from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to your televisions, in between TV programs. This lets customers not only see that you have social media profiles, but also gives them a “free sample” of what they can expect to see when they follow you. It’s a gentle way to prove to them value in following you.
Get a Demonstration
It’s Relevant TV offers live online demonstrations of the social media TV system. For more information, and to book a consultation please visit: www.itsrelevant.com
Regardless of who you voted for in the presidential election, your decision was influenced by television. Between the constant TV news coverage and the paid ads that ran, everyone formed judgments and impressions based on what they saw and heard. TV makes a lasting impression. Let’s take a look at what this means for broadcast television, and for TVs inside your business.
24/7 News Networks Care About Their Businesses, Not Yours
Today’s 24/7 news networks turn a 1-day event into months of drama. They take the normal “coverage” and inject scrutiny, conspiracy theories, and sex scandals to bring viewers on a rollercoaster of ups and downs before the grand finale (election day). News feels more and more like entertainment, and that’s not by accident. Plenty of intelligent people have already pointed out that networks do this to boost ratings and generate greater revenues for the crowded networks. And while I would agree that revenue is a driver, I feel that the larger problem is a growing laziness among the people that design the format of these shows.
The News used to be a place that you would come for facts and knowledge. It was the work of large teams of people that spent days or even weeks to bring you researched programs that included quotes from actual experts and your trusted newscaster. The best part was that you left each broadcast better informed than when you began watching.
Trusted CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite
Things have changed. While the basic format of having a news anchor inside a studio reporting on the day’s top stories has been constant for decades, the pressures to do more with less money is changing the face of it.The fact of the matter is it’s much easier and far less costly to put a few people around a table to argue about a topic than it is to research and report on a news story.
News reporting can be extremely costly, especially for TV. I ran a video news company in the Northeast for almost 4 years, and we put a lot of work into each story the staff produced. From sourcing a story idea to setting up interviews, cross checking facts, recording the actual video, finding b-roll (cut-away shots), editing the video, fact checking, publishing and distributing the story – it took hours just to produce a minute or two of content. It’s hard to sustain a business with the kind of effort needed to do news reporting right.
Replacing the Reporters & Experts
Taking a look at most prime time cable news shows you see a familiar pattern these days. At the top of the hour you have the team of reporters and experts that are unbiased and reporting the facts of the day without forming judgments. All sitting or standing in the beautiful professional studio.
Then a few minutes later the professional journalists and experts peel away, and a panel of professional-looking people start to share their opinions – in the same space. Panel members can say whatever they want to say and their statements appear to be researched, authoritative and official. It feels like you are hearing from other experts when in reality you are hearing from surrogates (people that will stand by the candidate they support no matter what).
If you recognize any of the people below, then you have come across exactly what I am writing about:
Some of the many 2016 Election Surrogates
This Would Never Happen Anywhere Else
Imagine a doctor’s office for instance. You schedule an appointment with a well-established practice. You go to the office and sit down with someone in an exam room. The person gives you their opinion on your physical condition and makes recommendations on things you should do once you leave. It feels a lot like you just sat down with a doctor and got a medical opinion.
But what if the person you sat down with isn’t a doctor at all?
What if he/she wasn’t a nurse, or even in the medical profession?
What if you found out that the person you saw and heard from is merely someone that knows of the doctor, nothing else? Their medical opinion would hold absolutely no weight.
This is exactly the problem with the overuse of surrogates and non-experts in news programs today. They have the appearance of authority and are happy to share their opinion even though it’s not necessarily in your best interest.
Unbiased vs. Balancing Bias
For years the news industry has strived to be fair, factual and unbiased. However, in this election season we took one of the most noticeable turns away from that. The strive now seems to be more towards “balancing the sides”. Instead of sticking to the facts, these broadcasts allowed people to share their opinions much like facts, just as long as someone on the opposite side of the argument could do the same.
This created some real distractions within the campaign. Ultimately it may have created some single-issues for voters that moved them one way or the other in the election. Hearing that Trump “sexually assaults women”, or that Hillary “will be put in jail for deleting her emails” creates serious concerns for voters. But all of these kinds of things were being spoken countless times a day by people who looked to be authorities on what they were talking about.
You know it’s bad when the news broadcast has to fact check itself.
Television has Become Bad for Businesses
While television as a whole has more offerings than ever, and is seen in increasing numbers of stores and public places, it’s not helping businesses as much as it should. With endless channel choices at our fingertips, TV is great for the home. You can easily tune from one channel to the next when faced with something you don’t like, but not in a business. More and more stores, offices, and public places are installing televisions simply because they can. Unfortunately, the programming the businesses choose to display on the screen often does more harm than good.
The bottom line is: even with endless channel choices, you can’t control what appears on any given channel at any given time. You could watch CNN for instance and enjoy a heartwarming story about one of the CNN Heroes. But just one minute later you’re faced with disturbing images of war and terrorism half a world away. This can be off-putting and depressing to customers as they watch in a business.
Even when the topics aren’t disturbing in nature, they are often exhaustingly overplayed. It’s hard to forget the months of nearly non-stop coverage of missing Malaysian Airlines flight 370. With no new information CNN had to constantly improvise, bringing up new theories, even having anchors use toy planes.
It’s not just news stations that cause stress, discomfort, boredom or other negative feelings. I’ve heard complaints about even the most neutral of channels like The Food Network and The Weather Channel. People have different tastes, and leaving them with only one programming type for an extended period of time is a surefire way of losing their attention or worse: becoming a bother to them.
Take Control of the TV in Your Business
As a business owner, it is up to you to make the right choices for your business. You may have spent time choosing the colors of your walls, the hours you are open, the people you want representing your business, the type of music that plays, and the kinds of refreshments you offer to people when they visit. All of these examples are things that have some influence on the way people perceive your business. It’s the interactions your customers have with each element that dictates their overall satisfaction of your location.
TV has arguably one of the greatest abilities to shape how people feel. The combination of visuals and sound leave a lasting impression on people. What impression do you want your customers to leave with? How do you want them to feel when waiting at your place of business? What do you want them to know about your business, values, and offerings?
We’ve found that the happiest customers are the ones that get to see a variety of content. They don’t want to feel like they are being bombarded by advertisements. For this reason, we created a platform called It’s Relevant TV that provides an ever-changing assortment of short-form television shows. The service blocks out competitor advertisements and gently brings the business’ own messaging and real-time social media onto the screen. The custom networks can operate with or without sound; all of the video content can be overlayed with optional subtitles.
An experienced editorial team screens the included licensed TV programs before delivery to the businesses. All of the programs that we distribute are family-friendly. We keep all political coverage short, to the point, and truly unbiased. It’s Relevant gives each business 50 categories of video content to choose from. This ensures that the programming isn’t just risk-free, but is topically oriented to visitors of the specific business. The business easily controls the messaging and social media syndication.
Learn from the Election
This election season, one thing was obvious: the campaigns understood the power of television. They knew that messaging seen on TV will stick in people’s minds and influence their decisions. This is why we saw the campaigns push their surrogates to TV. The lazy TV networks were happy to invite them on because it saved money and filled their airtime.
TV has tremendous power over decision making. Don’t be lazy with yours. Make sure your TV is working in your best interest as a business owner.
Written By: Jonathan Krackehl, President & CEO of It’s Relevant TV
With the decreasing costs of television screens, medical offices across the nation are installing more and more of them. Practices put TVs in both waiting areas and treatment rooms to help patients pass the time as they wait. But what exactly are these TVs doing for the practices that are hosting them? And as a practice owner, manager, or administrator, have you taken careful consideration in choosing what to display on them?
It’s an unfortunate reality that most medical offices have put very little thought into the programming on their screens. One of the most common reasons for having a TV is to help patients relax and pass the time, but certain types of content can do quite the opposite; creating an anxious environment and making it feel as though things are moving even slower.
Cable TV and Medical Networks
A large number of waiting room televisions are simply tuned to local cable stations and broadcast channels. These show hourly round-ups of mundane, recirculated news, unpleasant accidents, or otherwise pointless stories, soap operas, daytime courtroom battles, and semi-offensive talk shows. Howver; other medical-related options that seem forward-thinking on the surface can have an even worse affect. There are a host of medical-related TV products that bombard patients with irrelevant health content. These are paid for by ad services designed to subliminally sell their products to your patients.
What’s worse, your visitors might be tricked into thinking that they have a condition which doesn’t exist!
Either of these scenarios can present real problems for your practice. What started as an idea to make your waiting room a more inviting and comfortable space can actually backfire if you haven’t paid attention to what’s playing.
Taking Control with a Custom TV System
As a practice manager it’s important to be aware, and in control of what’s on your televisions. This sounds like a tall order, but with new solutions just released on the market, it is becoming easy. You can quickly control not only the programming, but also add some messaging to help the practice itself.
One such service is It’s Relevant TV. The subscription service allows you to choose from a catalog of 50 topic areas, including stories gathered by well known producers like National Geographic, Food Channel, Minute Science, HowCast, and Medical Minute, allowing you to decide what your patients see while they wait to see you. You can mix things like national news, sports and celebrity interviews, with cooking shows, pets and travel videos. A team of editors filters all of the content, assuring that each episode is family-friendly and office appropriate.
Michele Mirabel, community engagement director at Doctors Express Urgent Care said, “We have compared different opportunities of what we were going to provide in our waiting room. We chose It’s Relevant [TV] because it gave us diversity in the content that was being played. If it was just continuous medical coverage from pharmaceutical groups and on how to treat different ailments, not only is it uninteresting [to the patients] but it can also be anxiety and fear provoking. We really take pride in creating the right environment. From our staff, to the cleanliness of our place, to the information people are getting when they walk in the door.”
Promoting Your Practice on TV
That’s only part of it. On top of the content that is provided; you, as the practive, can promote your services, products and community involvement as well. Images, videos, and live social media tools get yout messaging across in a subtle way as your patients watch. Almost anything you can create on a smart device, you can upload quickly to your TV screens.
Joyce Ramirez, a Marketing Director at AFC Urgent Care said, “One of the challenges of marketing for an Urgent Care center is that it is not a primary care office and it’s also not a hospital. What I liked about It’s Relevant is that we’re able to showcase the services we provide. We’re not talking about blood pressure screenings and diabetes screenings because those are really for long term care, we’re really short term care. So we’re able to talk about travel vaccinations, immigration physicals, DOT physicals. We’re really able to convey the message of what we treat and the services we provide.”
It’s Relevant TV has been working with many medical and dental clients across the country. Managers love the professionalism the family-friendly content brings to their waiting room. They love how they can update their patients on their latest products and services, with a lower cost than most cable subscriptions.
Television screens can make a big difference in your practice, from higher review scores to increased patient referrals. But it takes the right programming prescription to be sure it’s a positive one.
It’s Relevant TV serves medical and dental offices across the country as well as a host of other hospitality businesses. For more information please visit: http://www.itsrelevant.com/medical
Magnetic Television
