Enterprise Trend Report: Social Media in HealthCare Marketing

Enterprise Trend Report 

Social Media in HealthCare Marketing 

More than ever, it’s essential for hospitals and health providers to rethink their healthcare marketing mix to include social media. 

The proof is in the numbers: 34% of consumers use social media to search for health information, according to research data from How America Searches: Health and Wellness. 

While it’s easy to identify demand, many healthcare marketers are not exactly sure how they might tap into the social web to reach business goals. To help understand the possible applications, consider these examples of how the social web can work for hospitals and others in the healthcare industry: 

Reach Mainstream Media 

70% of journalists now use social networks to assist reporting, compared to 41% the year before, according to a Middleberg Communications survey reported by PRWeek. With numbers that high, it only makes sense for healthcare marketers to leverage social media channels in order to achieve coverage by both mainstream media and industry publications. 

As part of healthcare marketing efforts, organizations can use social media channels – including blogs, forums and microblogs – to share success stories from out-of-the-ordinary operations or treatments, medical research or other significant achievements. For example, when Aurora Health Care tweeted a knee operation in April, it received significant media attention, both from mainstream media and industry publications including Good Morning America, the local Milwaukee public radio network and Hospital Management Magazine. 

Communicate in Times of Crisis 

When disaster strikes hospitals and healthcare providers are at the center of it all. Healthcare providers can leverage social media networks to provide real-time updates both for those directly affected by the crisis and those watching from afar. 

During the November Fort Hood shooting attack, Steven Widman of Scott & White Healthcare – one of the hospitals that treated Fort Hood victims, used Twitter to provide up-to-the-minute news. 

Through Twitter, Widman provided updates on emergency room access and hospital operation status, re-tweeted news from Red Cross and communicated with reporters.  

Twitter followers increased 78% in just three days. 

Scott & White Healthcare was listed on the front page of Twitter as a “trending topic” The hospital’s YouTube channel was ranked the 79th most viewed non-profit channel during the entire week surrounding the crisis.

Provide Accurate Information to Patients 

73% of patients search for medical information online before or after doctors visits, according to HealthCare New Media Conference. With the magnitude of health information available on the web – both accurate and inaccurate – it’s likely that these patients can easily be misinformed. 

By integrating social media into the healthcare marketing mix, organizations can share accurate, timely information regarding symptoms, diseases, medications, treatments and more. Social sites like Inspire are providing a forum for patients to share their health problems and questions about treatments with other patients, as well as qualified medical personnel. 

New Study Shows Most Companies Not Prepared for Social Media Crisis. Are You?

Ragan’s PRdaily.com reported that while many companies are eager to employ new social media technology to promote their businesses, most are not equipped to handle threats associated with that technology.

The report was based on a recent study conducted by the Altimeter Group. So, how does a company know if it is facing or is susceptible to facing a social media crisis? According to the study, “to qualify as a social media crisis, an event must have one of these four effects: It causes major media coverage, necessitates changes in company processes, directly causes a decrease in revenue, or results in fines from the government.”

While some companies have put social media policies into place to monitor their online presence in an effort to control branding, reputation and even the safety of trade secrets, many have not communicated these policies efficiently to their employees and have not regulated them or even updated them as new social media outlets surface. To rectify this, the report suggests that “processes for what to do should be shared companywide. Companies should have formalized social media crisis response plans ready to go. More than half the companies surveyed didn't have one.”

Think about your company’s online social media activity. Do you know what’s posted daily about your company and where and why it’s being posted? Do your read the comments section on your blog or corporate Facebook page? Furthermore, do you really know who you’re following on Twitter and who is following you?

Ongoing social media training programs for employees and high-level administrators is an integral part of crisis management and is vital in ensuring that a social media crisis doesn’t damage your business. Companies should develop a solid crisis communications response plan, not entirely unlike a natural disaster response plan or fire safety plan, that incorporates a strategy for what employers and employees will do and say should an emergency arise.

If a social media crisis hit your company today, would your employees know what to say to the media when they call?

10 Tips for Using Social Media for Your Business

Social media is an easy way to give your business an edge over your competition. Social media is the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue. The 2 most popular are Facebook and Twitter. According to Inc.com, here are some of the top ways to use social media.....


Offer something special. Offering first looks at a new product or idea can cause buzz and improve sales. Post special deals in a tweet or a facebook post about a sale your company is having. Example: 50% coupon.

Frequently update. Updating your social media sites frequently will keep your readers interested. Update at least once week or your readers will become bored and places to locate the information elsewhere.

Feedback. Social media is an easy way to get instant feedback. You can ask questions or use surveys on social media sites to receive answers to questions you might have for your customer base.

Interaction. You must remember that social media works both ways. If you expect to ask questions, you must be ready to answer questions.

Know your customers location. A growing number of social networks are designed specifically for users on the go, and some, such as the mobile application Foursquare, offer tools specifically for businesses.

Allowing your customers to interact. Include forums or communities on your company’s websites and social media sites. This function allows your customers to interact about issues or show excitement over a new product.

Help others promote you. Social media can help you find passionate customers who are more than willing to spread the word about your company.

Do not promote too much. Your followers are interested in your company or they would not be following. However, I have yet to meet anyone who enjoys a spam of advertisements.

See what people are saying. Using social media opens conversation about anything and everything. This can help you determine your reputation in the eyes of others.

Social Media is free. The majority of social media sites are free. This means quick turnaround because you will be able to receive publicity and advertisement without having to pay a dime.

Picture Source: http://www.ismoip.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/social-media.jpg

Tuning in to Opportunity: How Companies can use online videos as the new TV

Tuning in to Opportunity: How Companies can use online videos as the new TV

Think about the amount of time each day you spend listening to a radio. Next, think of the time each day you spend watching TV. Finally, think about the time you spend in front of your computer each day. In each of these scenarios, the time growth is exponential. You may not have noticed, companies and organizations have been carefully watching the technology trends and have made a point of incorporating online videos into their efforts to reach you, the audience. In fact, EMarketer.com predicts that in five years, B2B firms alone will spend 20 percent of their annual budgets on social media, which includes communication through online videos.

Far beyond simply being engines for online ads, companies, nonprofits, even politicians and celebrities are posting online videos as public relations tools to reach a people who are quickly trading in their television remotes for iPads.

Does this mean that television is fading and going the way of hard copy newspapers or those radio broadcasts you used to tune into on the weekends? Not at all. It simply means that television, as well as those same newspapers and radio programs, are learning to utilize new methods for reaching patrons.

According to a recent study by Nielsen, online video usage in the U.S. is up considerably from the same time last year. Results showed that time spent viewing video on personal computers, Macs, and laptops from home and work locations increased by 45 percent in January 2011. The study showed that this year, viewers streamed 28 percent more video and spent 45 percent more time watching.

Among favorite sites to tune in were MSN, Windows Live and Bing, which were the fastest-growing video brand month-over-month, increasing 26.1 percent. Furthermore, top online video brands used by unique viewers in February 2011, included AOL Media Network, YouTube and Facebook.

If the audience is allocating more time to online video, then, logically, they are spending less time utilizing other media. So, how can companies incorporate online videos into public relations campaigns? Look at BP after last year’s Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill or Toyota after the massive recall. The companies not only ran spots for television, radio, and newspaper, but also invested a great deal of time, money, and effort in posting their public relations message all over the internet via online videos that were crafted to patch up their reputations and sell the repaired image to the online viewer.

This year, look for even more companies and organizations to tap into online viewership in even more creative ways. In this society of instant access, these online videos will be tweeted, texted, instant messaged, and so on. The message will be accessible from anywhere and will penetrate everywhere.

When Social Media can Turn a Balk into a Boon

How important has social media become? Well, Cincinnati State Technical & Community College just opened a Social Media Institute, following suit many communication programs across the globe. Given its influence and reach, it’s surprising that according to mashable.com, less than 40 percent of CEOs are engaging in social media.

When some CEOs think of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other social media engines, the idea of business strategy may not be the first thing that comes to mind. However, these sites can be just the tools to strategically execute brand repositioning, philanthropic, and other positive agendas.

Case in point: When Panorama was hired during the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster to help reshape the image of a little fishing town on Alabama’s coast, leveraging Facebook as a communication tool was one of the first orders of business. The timing couldn’t have been more appropriate, as the town was under siege by the spill and still recovering from residual effects of Hurricane Katrina, and needed an online presence to increase visibility. Facebook was not only a means to gauge perception but a way to promote positivity near and far.

The city, which has a population barely beyond 2,700, has more than 600 Facebook fans (many
of whom live outside of the area—even as far away as European countries). It quickly became
an act of good faith in connecting citizens to city leaders (the page is accessible from the city’s main web site www.visitbayoulabatre.com).

When our firm posed the question, “What’s your favorite thing about Bayou La Batre?” there came a flood of responses from the food at local dives to the way the city’s name rolls off the tongue. All helped bolster a sense of community for the town.

Even more, statistics from the Facebook page could be a tool to prove there is a measurable level of investment in the community. In a public relations plan, this case is a true validation of the power of social media and proof that social media can turn a balk into a boon.

Word of Mouse: The Writing on the Wall

A recent article in Birmingham Magazine featured “Ghost Signs,” the faded advertising signs on buildings from decades ago. The business namesakes of these ads are long gone; however, their image remains. This evokes a thought about the methods companies once employed to gain customers and manage reputation.

The signs were big and bold and had great curb appeal. They likely prompted sidewalk or dinner table conversations about the establishment’s product or service experience— whether positive or negative. Then one person told another and so on. Either way, the process of passing a story from person to person was slow going, and the company likely had no opportunity to manage the message. Eventually, when the respective companies closed their doors, the signs remained, evoking an “oh, I miss [company]” or “we saw it coming” brand reflection.

Today, social media can likewise be helpful or harmful, depending on how it’s used. In contrast to the slow-paced public relations and advertising of yesteryear, many companies are now including social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook and FourSquare into communication plans. Moreover, even if these mediums aren’t part of an official plan, patrons and consumers use social media, and their opinions travel at the click of a mouse. A business hiccup or misstep that could have taken weeks to travel through the grapevine years ago can be dispersed to millions in a matter of seconds via the Internet and smart phone instant messaging.

That said, social media can also be used to herald good news for a business, and when used strategically, can help a company gain loyalty or even abate a critical situation. Note how quickly a Facebook account can be closed or Tweet deleted. Regardless, social media can stir up conversation about your business, so you should pay attention to what’s being “painted” on your company’s walls!

USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO NETWORK WITH TRADITIONAL MEDIA

Whether you’re an entrepreneur establishing a name for an early stage company or a fully mature company looking for new avenues to promote your business, integrating social media and networking into your public relations strategy makes good sense.

Why? Social media is the wave of the future in mass communications, as sites like Facebook and Twitter command more and more attention from consumers. Recent studies show that 20 percent of online ad impressions come from social networking sites. We are already seeing successful marketing and public relations campaigns that utilize social media as a key component.

Even traditional media are realizing that they must embrace social media now in order to remain competitive. As a result, social media has become an efficient way to establish new relationships with reporters and strengthen existing ones. Already, we have been successful at pitching reporters via Twitter. By adding reporters that we know as friends on Facebook, we are able to get to know them better.

Three of our favorite social networks that we use effectively for our firm and on behalf of our clients are ReportingOn, Help a Reporter Out and PitchEngine, each with unique attributes and all worth knowing about.

ReportingOn is a media tool that PR professionals use to identify and pitch stories to reporters. ReportingOn gives a reporter the capability to discuss their beat, or seek expert sources or information on stories they’re preparing to write. As PR practitioners, we use ReportingOn to pitch stories to targeted audiences, network with reporters to establish valuable relationships, and at any given time see what member-journalists are writing about, which provides us with ideas on stories and trends. www.reportingon.com

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is another social media network that is an outstanding resource for journalists looking for story sources and PR types looking to place stories. Once registered, you will receive three daily emails from the source-site (Peter Shankman, self-proclaimed entrepreneur and adventurist) each with anywhere from 15-30 queries per email. www.helpareporter.com

Lastly, we have PitchEngine, which is best described as an evolved wire service. PitchEngine provides a platform for creating social media releases that enables PR strategists to effectively package stories and share them not only with journalists, bloggers and influencers worldwide, but also directly with their audience via the Web. Social media releases can include images, video and tools for sharing news via social sites such as Twitter and Digg. www.pitchengine.com

For an entrepreneur with a new or recently-funded product or service, getting the word out to the right audience, with the right call to action, is critical. Now’s the time to embrace the new media options that are right for your company and gain that competitive edge.