Friday, July 10, 2015

5 Key Principles for using Social Media to promote Health Organizations

After writing about social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Google + I've come to realize that even though each of them differ in their platform, a Healthcare Organization can be successful by having a good understanding of these 5 Key Principles:


1. Don't just post random information, have a purpose in what you post. 


You are a healthcare organization and your followers look to you for information regarding your specialty.  Having a strategy and purpose in what you write will keep people interested in what you have to share.  If the information is random, disorganized, and unrelated followers are less likely to keep an interest in your business.




Aflac's is a great example of using purpose in social media for a year-long media campaign was.

  • Help deliver relevant and timely information to help small businesses understand more about the HCR changes and how they would be affected by them.
  • Help clarify regulations and helped make educated decisions about their benefits programs.



Here is how their purpose message was posted on LinkedIn and Twitter











2. Know who you are speaking to versus just blindly sending out information hoping someone is interested.



Just like standard advertising in magazines, on TV, or billboards you have know who you are sending your message out to.  

It's important to be interesting to the those who are reading your posts.

In order to do that you have no know who your followers are, what they like, their age, their interests, what is important to them.






The Red Pump Project is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating women about HIV/Aids.  They know who they speak to, their demographic focuses on women of all ages.



Their posts are geared towards empowering women with information whether it is by educating, providing outreach or educational workshops, or posting new and exciting medical research.





3. Make sure that your brand is seen throughout your posts, keep them relevant.


There is a lot of information available on social media, what is going to make you stand out?  What is going to differentiate your business from the other businesses?  You need to brand yourself.  You have to find a way to tie in the information you post, pictures you share, videos you provide, discussions you communicate with, etc to your specific business.  It is a way of earning trust in the community, gaining recognition to those who don't know our business as well, and having a personal connection with your followers - all of which combine to portray quality of care.





Do you recognize some of the companies in this picture: Pfizer, Bayer Health Care, Merck? When you see these brands, do you they portray competent and successful Healthcare Businesses? That is because over the years they have continued to make themselves stand out from the crowd, and become more recognizable.  





The American Red Cross is the perfect example of a large and successful non-profit healthcare organization that has branded itself around the concept of safety and caring.
 










4. Be creative - post pictures, about upcoming events, tag others, videos, create discussions   






Please! Whatever you do don't just write a sentence and call it a day!  You have SO MUCH to choose from!  






Here's a list of things you can do to keep your followers interested, engaged, educated and coming back for more!

  • Host virtual tours
  • Find potential candidates for open positions
  • Share health snippets
  • Use hashtags and tie in other businesses
  • Post videos of what is happening in your business
  • Share research
  • Post infographics instead
  • Promote national health weeks/months
  • Spotlight employees
  • Have podcasts
Here's a great example from the YMCA campaigning for Healthy Living.  It's not just a sentence that is posted on Facebook stating that this is what they do.  They are giving an individualized account of what they have to offer.


5. Stay engaged - it's a two way street that requires 2 way communication not just posting facts.   

If you are not actively participating in questions, comments or discussions then you are not engaging in the conversations that you started.  Answer questions that your followers post, even if they are negative it is a perfect chance to straighten out myths or show that you are willing to work at resolving issues.  Thank followers for their comments, or answer any questions they may have.  If you participate in a discussion you are showing them your invested interest.



There are even social networks for doctors that utilize this very concept!  SERMO is a social network for the US and globally that allows discussion to take place virtually - helping solve medical cases, aiding in medical care to help access information for floating doctors, having a discussion forum with people from all over he world get together to resolve unanswered questions.  This site is successful because of the interaction and engagement that occurs on this website.



Keeping engaged is the key to success, here's a great example from Chiropractic's Certainty Advocate Dr. Dan Sullivan on Facebook as he answers a question from one of his followers.  










































Images:PurposeAflacWho are you
Branding 2
RedCross
Boring

Friday, July 3, 2015

It's time for your Healthcare Organization to shine on Social Media

You're in the Healthcare Business and ready to get started on Social Media, but don't know where to begin? Feeling a bit....... overwhelmed??























No worries!  I'm going to give you the tools you need I'm going to help you get you started, and help you evaluate your progress.   




Regardless of which social media path you choose, there are some basic start up strategies to help make your business successful



  • Listen.  When it comes down to it, social media is not meat to simply broadcast information it is meant to be a network that engages and listens to its followers.   
    • Google Alerts, Twitter search, Facebook Search, etc. are all great search functions to get you started
  • Communicate.  Know your target audience, and how much time and effort you want to put invest in your media presence.
    • One of the biggest benefits of social media is that you can segment your audience.
    • Keep it short and simple. Provide links for those who want more details.
  • Reflect a Brand.  Your content has to reflect your brand.  
  • Stay Engaged.  Social media is not like a website.  The key to effective marketing on social media is interaction.  Don't just set it up and walk away.  Build a relationship.     
  • Have a purpose with your Content.  Do not just post what you think.  Every post has a purpose.  
    • The personality of the business needs to be represented in your posts
    • Have some variety in your posts - educate, ask questions, give advice, share info, problem solve and by all means time your posts according to what is going on in their lives. 

Let's take a look at how the Mayo Clinic puts these strategies into action.  This hospital dominates social media in Healthcare and as you can see below even back in 2011 it already had over 4,000 Social Media sites!
































Here are three examples of the Mayo Clinic on social media to give you a better idea of how these strategies are incorporated


On Pinterest: 























  • The main page is branding itself as a lifestyle choice with many avenues of information to achieving a healthy lifestyle 
  • It is staying engaged by allowing followers to only choose categories of interest
  • This also gives the hospital a way to communicate information and serve it's a purpose



On Facebook:




























  • A perfect example of targeting your audience, how about making their Facebook page available to the Spanish Speaking population!  What a great idea.

  • Check out the column to the left and you'll see other opportunities for communicating to the followers by of offering information, keeping the followers engaged by offering an events tab, even showing photos to continue to brand the hospital as a place that encourages a healthy lifestyle
  • Look at the comment to the right.  Communication is important not to forget!  Listening to the community and actively responding is crucial to having an ongoing relationship that does not fizzle.





On Twitter:






































  • Having a purpose with your content - in this case educating about Menopause and Tips for Parents and Caregivers
  • The Mayo Clinic can communicate new information and events in this way
  •  Great way to engage with the community by replying to other posts, follow the hashtags and actively listen to the community without necessarily replying to everyone but learning a lot about what is being said

Now that you have an idea of how to strategize a well functioning social media Healthcare site - we need to establish how to evaluate whether or not your site is giving you a ROI (Return on Investment) 

True or False:


What do you think?  Do you think that if you started a social media platform, gained hundreds maybe even thousands of followers, posted an array of information (links, events, videos, photos, etc) and then slowly dwindled away from posting daily, to weekly, to monthly that it matters that you have more followers?

  • Nope  -  Simply having more followers does NOT increase your sales 
  • Your followers are important in that they share your information, but if you have nothing to share they cannot do much for your business.  They are your tool to success.   
The key to increased sales is more than just having followers, it's listening, engaging, and communicating with them.  So how do you evaluate whether or not you are being effective in your social media if the follower count is useless?

How can my business evaluate its success in social media if not by the amount of followers then? 



  • Conversation Rate - This can be measured on every social channel (Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube) and is basically the number of comments per post 
  • Amplification Rate or Brand Reach and Exposure "Mentions"- If you have 5,000 followers and they repost, retweet, or share your post you've amplified your post to their network, all of whom can continue to share and spread your content increasing your amplification.  In turn you'll find out what it is that interests them (because you're listening)
  • Applause Rate - Different sites have different versions of this, but all versions tell you if your followers like what you have posted (Facebook has the "Like" option, Google+ the "+1s", or Twitter using the "favorite" posts)  
  • Share of Voice and Sentiment - This is very much like the applause rate, but it is a Quantitative approach that does not just count the number of mentions, but goes a step further to tell you what kind of mentions.  For example, "75% of the shares were negative." The data has to be collected on the number of times the brand was mentioned over a set time, and then given one of the three categories: positive, negative, or neutral.
  • Influence - How influential are you to your followers? You can measure that with tools such as PostRank, or TwentyFeet!  These sites give you a metric evaluation on the number of links to your content, retweeted messages, etc. 

















Your Healthcare businesses has to have a plan that can be successfully carried out by the strategies provided to you.  The evaluation process focuses on those exact strategies.  It's simple folks, your social media healthcare sites are like a garden: With a little bit of time and effort your business can flourish.













Images 


Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Healthcare Organizations using Google+?








The purpose of this article is to explain why Google+ is an important social media platform for a Healthcare Organization





























What on earth is Google Plus 



Google "Plus" was introduced in 2011 and has since become the second largest social network in the WORLD (only outnumbered by Facebook)


Google+ stands out from the social media crowd because of the concept of CLOUD Computing

It works much like other social media sites except that it integrates all of Google's other services - Search, Gmail, Maps, Calendar

There are almost 370 MILLION actively participating members.  






Why is Cloud Computing so important for a Healthcare Organization?


Let's start with explaining what Could computing is.  It is storing and accessing data and programs over the internet versus an actual computer hard drive.

  • This allows Google+ to offer HIPPA Compliance (a critical feature for businesses that handle healthcare information)

  • This gives the healthcare industry quick, safe and accurate access to healthcare information 

  • Allows healthcare employees to have access to their information when the need it, where they need it.   




Google+ provides your Healthcare Organization with powerful tools that you can use through Cloud Computing


  • Audiences can be segmented by CIRCLES to target specific messages to specific segments of your audiences
  • Use HANGOUT a free alternative video chat up to 10 people versus video conference call software or using webinar or broadcast a public video with Hangout On Air
  • Increase visibility of blog posts with AUTHORSHIP by linking your articles to this application
  • Participate in COMMUNITIES to have discussions, asks questions or provide advice
  • Use WHAT'S HOT application to see what the popular and trending topics are based on hashtag trends 
  • Get found in LOCAL search results since Google+ is combined with Pages, Maps and Search you're automatically part of that social component allowing people to see your ratings, hours of operation and anything else you want to show all in one place. 


When you're connected to Google+ you have the key to driving traffic to our website: Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Youtube, and Google (which just happens to be the largest search engine on the PLANET.)





Here's an example of the Children's National Medical Center in  Google+ 


  • The first thing you see when you get to the main page (on Google+) is a link to the Medical Center's main website
  • Their Google+ account has a great mix of posts, photos and vidoes
  • You have an immediate invitation to follow their Google+ page
  • There's a picture focusing on a curious child
  • Whether you are a follower or not you can post a comment on anything that is posted publicly, which is great to see because it engages the viewer and allows active participation on the site from the Medical Center
  • I do wish that they would have the mission statement or some type of a purpose statement for all to see at the start of the page.  If the viewer is unfamiliar with the Medical Center a short purpose statement indicating what the Medical Center is or does is important to connect to the page.  





Here's an example of a video on how to set up your Google+ Page 







This video is great because it shows in a very simple way how to get started, and how easy it can be to expand the marketing platform for your business with no cost.  Once the initial set up is complete, the rest is up to you in how many of the tools you will utilize to maximize your business on Google+.  




Did I mention Google+ is FREE. That's right.  No cost to you. 





In today's world of budget cuts and financial strain, the fact that Google+ is free to businesses should be music to your ears.





If you are a Nonprofit Organization it cannot get any better than this!




Whether your Healthcare Organization is big or small there are 370 Million people on this network that you can connect with, and 6 incredible tools to help you get started.









Images from
Wait What
People
Free
Google+
Children's National Medical Center
Cloud
Google+ Toolbar
Growing your business with Google+
Free tags



Here are some great links for more information:



Nonprofits


6 Ways nonprofits can use Google Plus 6 Ways nonprofits can use Google plus

 Why your nonprofit needs to be on Google+ Today

 22 Must-Circle nonprofits on Google+

Google Plus for Nonprofits

The Ultimate 2 Minute Google+ Guide for Nonprofits 



Web


Why Healthcare Organizations should add Google+ to their Social Media Mix

Google+ and Why every Healthcare Organization needs a social profile

 Hosting a Google+ Hangout on Air for your Healthcare Organization

6 Google+ Positives for Healthcare

 Google+ local is now friendlier to Healthcare 

5 Social Media Trends that will change out Healthcare Marketers Aproach strategy in 2014

 The healthcare industry is moving to Google Apps for Work (2015 article - HIPPA)

 How 3 of Healthcare IT's Top Companies Are Tackling social media in a highly regulated industry 

 24 Outstanding Statistic & Figures on How Social Media has impacted the Healthcare Industry 


Scholar


Google+ vs Facebook: The comparison

Investigatin of Google+ with mobile device implement into public health nursing practice course

The success of Google Search, the Failure of Google Health nd the Future of Google Plus

Assessing Patient Satisfaction through Patient-Authored Reviews of HealthCare Systems, Hospitals, and Clinics

Hangout at the library: video conferencing and more with Google+

Subculture-centered public health communication: A social media strategy

Physical Activity Line

The fifty percent rule: The challenge of engaging students in social media in the classroom