Ear Works Inc. is proud to present Hearing Pages, a new initiative to improve the way the hearing industry reaches out to consumers.
Players on Hearing Pages are manufacturers who have product pages, professional and end-user reviews, and present their product in an aid-finder which is a selection tool for both consumers and clinicians. Product is presented and compared based on key features with the comparisons highlighting proprietary features. All this info can be gathered in showcases and presented on the launchpad for new product. The intent is to generate buzz, a more informed consumer and a better understanding of both technology and potential benefit it can offer. In forums, when a consumer asks a question, it is shared with reps in the region so they also know what is being discussed, and can contribute openly or quietly through a preferred provider. Manufacturers can manage their brand identity to the consumer and clinic while not interfacing directly with the consumer - their key 'client' is the clinic and will remain so in the Hearing Pages ecosystem.
Another key player is the clinic and their clinicians. Each clinic has a profile page or channel that collects all their contributions in terms of articles, blogs, reviews and more. The clinic finder allows consumers to search by clinician name, geographic tag like postal/sip code or city and can be rated and reviewed. Points are gathered by clinicians and shared with their clinic. When clinicians move to another employer, they take their points with them. Clinics can provide offers (as can manufacturers) but price-related offers are balanced with the opportunity to promote value added benefits for the consumer. A channel and clinic-finder presence is a low cost and low-time intensive way to have access to on-demand, targeted marketing.
Non-profit orgs have a lot to say and will not be marginalized in the Hearing Pages ecosystem. They can share research, opinions and forum contributions that can be of value for both the consumer, the clinician and the manufacturer. They are a key voice in the industry and now have a visible position in the conversation. They can also contribute on the forums about hearing aid reviews, manufacturer claims and clinic contributions. This includes consumer interest groups, schools, and professional organizations who get their channel for free.
Profit organizations that provide services and products to clinics and manufacturers are part of the ecosystem too. They would present their services and products on the professional side for a low-cost alternative to traditional marketing. With interactive "social" tools like forums and groups, available also to all players, B2B orgs can promote themselves, their brand, products and services efficiently and effectively.
Diagram on how Hearing Pages works
Of course there's also the consumer, participating for free with or without a login/registration. This is only required for forum postings, collecting information found at Hearing Pages in collections called Favorites and sharing their ratings and reviews about clinics and products.
Hearing Pages has a Pro side that has content not visible to consumers as well. This is great for organizations that have groups or events only geared at clinicians.
Currently the web offering in our industry is based on top-down information provision rather than localized interactivity and contextual information sharing.
The idea is that Hearing Pages is a multi-source (many authors) peer-to-peer and top-down approach to information sharing that allows all players to drive more traffic to their own sites through backlinking and therefore also improving their own and Hearing Pages SEO at the same time. This is unlike the current biased, fragmented, non-contextual, top-down, isolated and non-localized approach taken by the industry's online offering.
Hearing Pages will also promote a higher standard of practice and best practices of various organizations that join Hearing Pages.
Let's evolve and give the consumer a better environment to learn. Know more. Hear better. Hearing Pages is live to the public in June, 2011.
