best uses of social media in healthcare

Demystifying Social Media &Making It Relevant to Healthcare

Dan Dunlop, PresidentJennings

May 8, 2009

How I Got Started In Social Media:Fear of Becoming Irrelevant

Social Media Defined

“The democratization of information,transforming people from content readers intocontent publishers.” Wikipedia

“Social media contributes to informed choicesby aggregating and making available to theinterested individual the collective experienceand resultant conversation.” Dave Evans,Social Media Marketing

Why is Social Media Important?1. Marketing has been redefined2. Moving from professional story tellers to

conversation managers and facilitators3. Marketing is now a dialogue, not a monologue4. Engagement is what we’re after5. Today, being absent from social media is

conspicuous6. The conversations are happening with or

without us7. The quality of info being shared is suspect, so

we have an obligation to get involved

Social Media has its Detractors

• Andrew Keen - “The Anti-Christ ofSilicon Valley”

• “The Cult of the Amateur”• Distrusts the wisdom of the crowd• The demise of the expert• The Great Seduction:

http://andrewkeen.typepad.com

My Sister Kerry

• Essiac Tea - Alternativetreatment for cancer

• Lots of chatter on cancerpatient online communities

• National Cancer Institutestudies showed that it actuallypromotes tumor growth

Online Communities &Patient Resources

• PatientsLikeMe.com• Medhelp.org• DailyStrength.org• Organizedwisdom.com• Everydayhealth.com• Revolutionhealth.com• ACOR.org (OncoChat.org) - Online cancer

support community

Why is Social Media Important?Think of this perspective:

• She (your patient or a family member)may have a blog

• Or, she may have 1,200 friends onFacebook

Google Alerts

Hive Marketing• Providing a gathering place for active

supporters of your brand• Then activating them so they can go

forth and tell your story• Brand evangelists• In this era of citizen journalism, brand

advocates are more credible (to some)than professional marketers

Question: How can you beexpected to monitor these

conversations and manage yourinstitution’s brand if you areblocked from these sites?

Today, your reputation livesonline. Discussion?

Write a Social MediaMarketing Plan

http://www.wordpress.com

http://www.ning.com

Hospitals Adopting Social Media

• For examples of hospitals using socialmedia, go to http://ebennett.org/hsnl/

• Maintained by Ed Bennett of theUniversity of Maryland Health System

Tufts Medical Center vs. BCBS

www.YouTube.com

http://www.youtube.com/user/mayoclinic

ICYou.com & Flip Video

http://www.icyou.com/channel/dan-dunlops-channel

www.facebook.comhttp://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=20088101947

LMC & The State Newspaper

Mobilizing Brand Advocates

Lexington Medical Center Blog

• Great internal communications tool• On average 200 employees visit each

day• Beneficial external communications tool• Allows us to tell the LMC story without

media filters

Lexington Medical Center Blog

Seven Blessing and Seven Sins of Social Media

Seven Blessings1. Search engine marketing & rankings2. Hive Marketing - Activating brand advocates3. Engage grateful patients and employees4. Communication without media filters5. Crisis communications expeditor6. Quick publicity for physicians and service

lines7. Low cost communications tools

Seven Sins1. Failing to have a strategy before you start2. Fear - A loss of control; sudden transparency3. Cowardice - Panic in the C-Suite4. Requires vigilance and responsiveness5. Sloth - Social media requires time

commitment6. Free speech isn’t always pretty; someone is

always looking to be negative7. Gluttony - Too much, too fast (temperance is

better)

“Only Really Young PeopleUse Social Media. Right?”

Who Uses Social Media?• Nielsen 2009 Social Media Survey

– Two thirds of the World’s Internet population nowvisit online communities

– Account for 10% of all Internet time– Time spent on social media sites growing at three

times the rate of overall Internet growth– People 35 to 49 are Facebook’s fastest growing

audience– In the last year, Facebook has added twice as

many 50-60 year old visitors (14 million) as it has18 year olds.

– One third of Facebook’s audience is 35-49

“What if Someone SaysSomething Bad?”

• They’re going to speak out whether youprovide a forum or not

• Wouldn’t you rather know what’s being saidand have a chance to address it?

• Most likely, five people will jump in and saysomething good; very democratic

• Difference between a brand detractor and anunhappy customer; you can win back anunhappy customer

“It Will Take Too Much Time”• A partial truth• Be strategic in your use of social media• Repurpose content:

– Website– Blog– Facebook

“It’s Too Complicated andOnly for Tech-Savvy People”

• If I can do it, anyone can do it• Start by getting involved• Join Facebook if you’re not already

there• Get a feel for social media• Start a blog but don’t make it public; live

with it for a while

Online PR Tools

• PRLog• LinkedIn• EPR-Network• Pitch Engine• Flickr - Photo

sharinghttp://www.flickr.com/photos/3

2512493@N03/

Next Steps & Homework

Read a Book About Social Media• Groundswell, Charlene Li & Josh

Bernoff• Join the Conversation, Joseph Jaffe• Social Media is a Cocktail Party, Jim

Tobin and Lisa Braziel• PR 2.0, Deirdre Breakenridge• The New Rules of Marketing & PR,

David Meerman Scott

Homework• Write a social media marketing strategic brief

for your hospital; keep it to two pages• Start following a blog regularly• Join Facebook & LinkedIn• Join my Healthcare Marketing Community at

http://healthcaremarketing.ning.com• Share an article, whitepaper or book about

social media with your executive team

Contact Information• Dan Dunlop, President• Jennings• Blogs:

– http://thehealthcaremarketer.wordpress.com– http://healthcaremarketing.ning.com

• Website: www.jenningsco.com• Email: [email protected]• Phone: 919-929-0225

best uses of social media in healthcare

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