Perks of being social

There are many advantages from a user perspective regarding social media, in healthcare and other realms.

In the restaurant realm, the advantage can be getting a free meal, or enticing the establishment to offer deals or new menu items that you're interested in. On a couple of occasions, social media has worked to my gastronomical advantage, although it wasn't my goal. As of late, I blogged a review of a new restaurant, complete with suggestions. I tweeted it, and posted it to my Facebook page. I received a very detailed response a few hours later from the owner. A few days later, I received a coupon via email from said restaurant. My intention wasn't to try and get something for free, but it sure was a nice bonus.

The same can be said for health care social media. In health care, an important advantage is finding a hospital, healthcare center or physician that can help you with whatever medical problem your experiencing - getting the best care that meets your individual needs. This story tells about how an online search procured a kidney for a transplant patient. So not only can you locate a physician, in certain situations and when used correctly, social media may also be able to find you a solution to a life-threatening situation.

Today I posted an article to our hospital Facebook page related to our cultural diversity program, and within a couple of hours received a response from an employee who had an example from the other night of how interpreters helped register a patient who didn't speak English. The perk here is that our fans are engaged - they respond, they participate, they share.

Love it. Absolutely love it.

Connectivity

I just finished a post here about our first ever heart-kidney transplant. It was an amazing story to be a part of, from meeting the family to filming the kidney transplant, and this is one of the reasons I like working in social media for health care.

Another reason is the connection that is made between people. The personal connection with the patients. The professional connection with the doctors and nurses, coordinators and dietitians. The connection between departments, facilities and hospitals. There are people and stories and memories that have enriched my existence, and lessons I've learned that I apply in many facets of my life.

The scale of humanity's connectedness is tremendous and miniscule all at the same time. In transplant, you have a large collective of people all working together to make sure that one patient receives the organ they need to survive. You also have a few people in the operating room, one of them making a small stitch in a kidney to connect it to that one patient.

Okay, I think I've reached my metaphysical limit for the week. Below is a taste of what we're putting together to tell Jonathan's amazing story.

Gauge the engagement

Social media is still new. Every day, so many new tools are launched, tried, reviewed, thrown out, or modified to fit an organization's needs. For every "Top 10" post related to tips and tricks, there are no hard-line constants that suit everyone's strategy or audience.

For example, Hardees may not post on their Facebook fan page everyday - or they may have three posts in one day. It all depends on what kind of conversation they're having with their consumers. They get a ton of engagement, but rarely respond back in the comment chain. They've found that this type of communication works well for them and their followers, so they go with it. But again, there's no set standard they appear to be following in terms of how often they post.

Trying new tactics and listening to how your audience responds is the best way to have good communication. Switching things up every once in awhile keeps your community on their toes, and helps you to gauge who's listening and how tuned-in they are. You may have the die-hard fans that engage with just about every post, but then you may see a new fan sneak a comment into the mix - both kinds of engagement are rewarding.

Don't get stale. Tactics for reaching your audience must remain fluid to reflect the needs and wants of your audience - it's a two way street as we push information to pull people in and they push back to pull information out. And don't hold on too hard to the latest Top 10 list - make your own Top 10. And then remake it, again and again.

Commitments

Blogging takes time. And more often than not, meetings and reports and strategic planning gets in the way.

I've often thought about how to stay consistent with my blog posts - schedule a certain amount of time per day, or every other day, or weekly to devote to blogging.

It's a great plan. In theory.

What I like most about blogging is that it's unregulated. I find myself liking my posts more when I have something to say.

I read this recent post and am not convinced it's the way to go. I like the setting goals and networking points on which the writer expounds - my feeling is she's right on the mark. However, if the goal is keeping the content fresh and relevant, I'll blog when I have something to say, not because it's Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 and I've yet to post this week.

So, this was my post for today. A post on how I like to post. And that's alright with me.

Dead Air

The term "dead air" usually applies to the silence that happens on a radio station when the DJ takes too long on their bathroom break, the record is done, and no one is there to start the next song.

The term "dead air" can also apply, in my opinion, to blogging. It's when there is a long break in between blog posts - to some this means days, to others, weeks.

Dead air when it comes to blogging is okay. I've never been one who's bought into the hype that I must blog every day or I lose my audience. If you have something to write about, find the time to do it. If you don't have an idea, let it sit. It makes no sense to spend time trying to come up with a post when you're not inspired - it will come across as false, and even worse, you waste time and alienate your audience.

I ran across this blog post about when to blog, and it's mostly right on the mark. I don't wholly agree with points 3 and 4. For me, it's okay if your blog post is only a few sentences - sometimes, that's all it takes. And just because it's so short, that doesn't mean it should be relegated to Facebook or Twitter. Additionally, I disagree with needing a solid argument - perhaps my goal is to put my thoughts out there anyway in hopes of getting some feedback.

Remember the saying, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"? Same goes for interesting - if you've got nothing of consequence to blog about, take your fingers off the keyboard until you do. Let's not waste each others time.

Pick and Choose

One of the great things about social media is that there are many tools to choose from. This means you aren't limited as to how much relative content you output on a daily basis - you pick and choose the tool that works best, in a way that resonates with your audience.

Let's say you received 100 photos of a recent hospital-sponsored event. Posting a couple of them on Facebook, provided you feel that they would be received well by your audience, works well. Posting all of them in your Flickr account is great alternative, and posting that url on Facebook and Twitter is a good way to let your audience know that there are more in existence so that if they want to invest the time in reviewing them all.

There are no hard and fast rules here - again, it's about listening to your audience and letting them tell you what they like. Adjust from there.

Transparency - the human element

While the hospital is categorized as a non-profit, we are still a business with a service to promote.

However, we are also a community of individuals. There are many faces that make up who were are as a whole, and each employee is a respresentative, ambassador and example of the hospital. That said, what is the best way to convey who we are as a hospital to those who want to know, to those who are attempting to get to know us?

In our case, the best way is through transparency. Bringing the humanness through in every tweet, post, comment and communication is essential in letting our audience know who we are, what we do, and how we can have a positive effect on their lives.

Make it personal. Make it personable. Bring the truth.

Lighten (it) up

From a healthcare perspective, it's important to provide your audience with the latest medical breakthroughs, innovations, news and information. But in measuring what resonates with your audience, you might find that lighter fare sometimes brings on the most positive responses.

We recently shared a video that our Media Services produced in light of Nurses Week - they choreographed dance numbers for different nursing departments to the tune of "I've Got A Feeling". While some were quick to call it cheesy, it garnered a huge response from our fans. Why? Because our fans, who are our employees, patients, families, and nurses, were pleased to see themselves or their friends & family having fun on the job. It's a huge moral booster, and it can provide a release from what may sometimes be a difficult day on the job.

We're a hospital, but we're also human. And this video put a face, or rather many faces, to our organization. Cheesy or not, it made people happy, and at the end of the day, that's what matters.

Impromptu stand-ups

We've all been there - working in an office, you may be in close proximity to other departments, but even being 10 feet away it can be difficult to learns about events/info/news that might be of interest to your social media audience. Inevitably, you get busy, they get busy, your own deadlines and agendas trump any chance of hitting all of the meetings or connecting with key people, and you miss out.

However, there is a way to connect. As the old adage goes, where there's a will...

Sometimes all it takes is grabbing a few key people on the fly for a quick 5-minute "stand-up". I'm not calling this a meeting, because that term can be painful to some, and may make them check-out in their head before you even get started. Make sure you have a short agenda in your head to keep it productive. Keep the group small, manageable. Each person gets a minute to share - short and sweet. You'll be amazed at what tips and gems you can garner in such a short "sitting".

Sure, planning ahead is great, and sitting in on those pub, marketing or internal communications meetings are key, but we're not Stretch Armstrong - we can only go so far.

Listen, Listen, Listen

There is significance in that I have three "listens" in my title.

The first is a give. A large part of working successfully in social media is listening to your audience/community. They will tell you what they want to know more about. They'll tell each other the secrets that you have been wanting to hear but had no place to eavesdrop. They will let you know what's wrong, what's right, and by not speaking up, they'll tell you what doesn't interest them.

Secondly, a portion of that success comes from listening to your peers in the industry to learn new things. What new tool is your competition using that might be of benefit to your next campaign? What can you take from a recent "Top 10" post and meld to make your own? With such a new industry, we're all trying to find what works best, and tuning into those external conversations will keep you in the loop.

Finally, listen to your coworkers. Just because they don't actively participate in social media at work doesn't mean that it's not of interest to them. I'm not a burger-flipper, but I do have an idea of what toppings I'd like to see on my double cheeseburger that, if they were used, could end up being a best seller. I'm lucky in that most of my extended team are personally socially active, so they understand the basics. I am also lucky in that they are also hungry for knowledge and like to share. So give your colleagues the chance to speak - you're no expert (yet) and collaboration can only help.

A Natural Evolution

April 5th was the first day we posted about a patient who was in the ICU awaiting a heart transplant. We had learned of her blog from a news story on that day. The television station had learned of the patient's story from the blog that her father was managing to help keep friends and family in the loop.

The patient's father had never run a blog before. The sole reason he started blogging was to get the word out about his daughter's situation, and to keep friends and family updated. He wasn't a social media strategist, nor did he have any aspirations for fame or accolades - he simply wanted to write about his daughter's fight to survive. And the writing was and continues to be heartfelt, passionate, and informative.

The passing-on of the patient's story took on an organic flow - it went from blog to the news media, to being posted through our various social media channels, back to the news media, and so forth. The community took notice - they started to send her personal emails through the hospital website. They sent well wishes through our Facebook page and her blog. The telling of her story happened through natural evolution - as natural as it can get when you combine traditional media, social media, and a father's infinite love for his daughter.

Her story was heard by many, and a surprise was planned and organized through posts on Facebook and her blog. On April 24th, over 100 of the patient's friends, family and strangers who had followed her story wore the shirts being sold on her blog and gathered in the park across from her hospital window, where they formed a "heart" and sang songs to her, encouraging her to get well soon. The St. Louis Fire Department showed up unexpectedly, and lifted a firefighter via the ladder five flights into the air to show her a t-shirt and tell her they were rooting for her. A local news station covered it, and it was great to see.

This is a great example of how a partnership of different mediums can form naturally, and produce incredible results. Sure, we received more traffic than usual to our blog, and our Facebook fanbase increased during this time. But that's not why we told her story, and continue to tell it. We do it because our audience told us to. And we do it because it's a part of the exceptional care we try to provide to our patients.

Different Hats

I don't know of anyone lately who isn't wearing more than one hat in their job. Part of growth in an organization is to take on new challenges, so that you can become a more integral part of the overall team.

One good thing about wearing different hats is that you may get to be someone's back-up, and you yourself might get a back-up should you be out of the office or just too swamped to get to everything. Safety in numbers, so to speak.

Another good thing about being diverse is that you get to experience a bit of someone else's job, and that can either make you thankful for what you get to do or make you rethink why you chose the position you did.

Since social media is new to many organizations, it's typical to have other duties aside from the day-to-day social media strategy tasks. This can work to a social media strategist's advantage in that social media touches, and is touched by, so many other areas within an organization. Traditional and online marketing, intranet, publications and the website are just of few.

So, I embrace the many-hat approach. No reason to fight it - first, it's inevitable, and second, it's an opportunity. And with opportunity brings growth, learning, and newfound insight.

Disclosure

One thing that I'm still learning about in terms of social media in health care is disclosure.

When running a Facebook account for a for-profit business, you're usually dealing with things and not people - coupons, deals, promotions and the like. With health care, you must always keep in mind the patient's right to privacy, and HIPAA enforces that.

Recently, we were updating our community as to the progress of a patient who's father had been blogging about their status almost hourly. Local news channels were following the patient's situation also, and when it came to posting an update on our Facebook, one would think it okay to repeat (reworded, of course) what the patient's father had just reported on his blog.

This is, in fact, not okay. Just because the patient's family reports it, and they've signed a release to us to use their image and interviews on our social media channels and website doesn't give us the right to discuss what procedure the patient will have next, or what the doctors will be doing later on in the day in relation to the patient's recovery. That personal information is for the patient to disclose.

What we can do is let our community know that the patient is doing well, and for a more detailed update, direct them to the latest news video or the blog the patient's father runs. This is part of the privacy that we owe to our patients. If they want to explain in their own words or on tape what's going on and give us permission, we can post that using our various social media channels. But we cannot speak for them.

As always, our main concern as a hospital is to provide our patients and their families with the best care possible. This includes protecting their privacy.

Seminar Recap

I attended the Social Fresh seminar yesterday, hence no blog post. I had been looking forward to it, and it didn't disappoint.

Amber Naslund from Radian6 was a commanding keynote speaker, and she cleverly "chopped up" her topic, “Zombie Fighting, Handling the Social Media Questions That Just Won’t Die." into bits that were understandable to a newbie and entertaining to someone who's been in the social media business for a few years. What I liked most is that even though she's leading a team, she admits that she's still learning like the rest of us are. Other memorable speakers include Jason Gertzen from Sprint, Jason Falls from SocialMediaExplorer.com and Jenna Petroff from Hardees.

A common thread throughout the conference was that you have to find the right fit or mix of social media tools/strategy for your company. What fits Hardee's might not fit a healthcare organization. It's really a trial-and-error situation, and you have to be able to really understand your audience, listen to them, analyze the data, and switch things up when they're not working. And what I mean by not working is, you aren't having conversations with your customers/community. You're not giving them what they want, what speaks to them.

Another common thread was ROI - specifically, upper management asking for ROI prior to campaign's completion. ROI and analytics are important, but building and maintaining the community ranks higher.

Something I learned long ago when I helped companies build websites was to start off with a basic set of questions - what is your purpose for the website? Who do you want to reach? With social media, the question is, what are your success metrics? My answer won't match Kellogs - there answer might be a certain number of sales per quarter. Mine, right now, is building a community that activates with us. Activation can be commenting on a facebook post, or attending one of our events, or contacting our appointment line after they've read a blog post about Crohn's Disease and are seeking a physician/diagnosis.

So if anyone is out there listening, the best thing you can do for your company's social media efforts is to ask yourself that question - what are your success metrics?

Social Media is not a fad...

Found this very interesting video that provides some interesting statistics on social media - food for thought for the weekend. Enjoy!

Have Care

I've been blessed to interview some patients with really incredible stories. Let me tell you - these particular folks have been through the ringer when it comes to health issues, and came out swinging and wanting to share their story.

We sometimes come across a potential story that we'd like to share with the public, and sometimes the patient may not be up for it. Whether they're just not in the right state of mind, or are tired from whatever illness they have or procedures they are going through, they are just unable to share.

In these cases, we do our best to follow up with the patient and their caregivers (charge nurse, coordinators, etc.) to see how they're doing, and try to tell their story through other means. And that's okay. Because we make it a point to remember that they are here to get the best possible care they can so they can go home healthy and happy. Getting to hear their story, told from their perspective, is and always will be a bonus for us. What we really want is for our patients to get better.

So, what you see in videos and articles and photos is just a small portion of the story. It all comes down to this - patient care is the agenda. And in everything we do pertaining to social media, our motto is to "have care".

Content is King?

In my opinion, this is one of the most overused cliches used in social media today. I am very wary when I hear an "expert" drop this phrase in a presentation - their credibility instantly drops and it's about that time I start to tune them out and reach for my iPhone for some real insight.

Content is not king. It's not queen, it's not even royalty. The new king, and rightfully so, is the community, the audience. They tell us what they want by giving us feedback on our pushed-out content. Yes, we push - let's call it what it is. BUT, if your plan is to push out content with the intent to pull someone in for feedback, relationship and collaboration, then you're doing it right.

Again, it all goes back to listening. So make sure you are "serving" the real king - in this case, it's the people. And that, my friends, makes perfect sense.

A couple of examples

After professing my love for the Flip cam, it occurred to me that I should probably post some examples of videos we've done using the Flip to support my opinions.

Flip It Good

I'm not being paid to promote the Flip. I don't have any back-end deal with the manufacturer, nor do I want one. I just love this ingenious little invention and thought I'd tell you why it's a sure investment for any organization doing social media.

If you work in social media, you should have a Flip with you at all times, or at the very least at your immediate disposal. I compare it to a reporter having their notepad or mini-recorder with them - you never know when a story or situation will present itself and you need to be ready to document it.

The Flip camera is, in my opinion, an almost perfect video camera for social media. I say almost because it's missing one thing - an external mic option. With the success of YouTube, people are used to lower-quality video, but the audio can always be better.

The Flip is unobtrusive. It doesn't scare people the way a larger HD camera does. It's cute, silent, quick and gets the job done. And, while we attempt to treat our Flips with the utmost dignity, sometimes they get a bit tossed around. So far, they're indestructable.

We have a few video cameras at our disposal - a basic Flip, a Flip Ultra, and a Panasonic HD. Which camera we use to shoot depends on the subject matter and who's doing the filming, but the Flip is great for most anything.

We don't use the Flip editing software - we take the extra time to upload it into Windows Movie Maker so that we can sweeten the audio and utilize the additional transitions and title options. Hardly takes any time at all, and allows for more creativity.

One of the best things about the Flip is that due to it's ease of use most anyone can use it, which means that we can give a patient transporter or ICU nurse or lab tech the Flip for a day and get back some really incredible footage. "A day in the life of...". You get the picture (pun intended).

A couple Flip Tips:

- For those longer shoots, stabilize the flip using a tripod. At $15.00, it's totally worth it.

- Playback. Before you pack it up, review a bit of your footage to make sure the audio is usable. If not, try to find a location (if you can) that lets the interviewee be heard.

- Download and delete. Depending on how much you (or others) are using your Flip, download the footage on a regular basis and delete it from the camera.

- Batteries. Keep some spare batteries with you at all times. You never know when they'll go out, and you don't want to be in the field and have your Flip go dark without a backup.

The Flip is a solid investment. If you don't have one and want to up the ante in your social media strategy, it's a great fit.

Empathy

The healthcare community is unique in that they are searching for and expecting much more than what they might get from a car company or airline when it comes to social media. They are looking for empathy. Compassion. A deeper connection than most from their provider.

I see firsthand the challenges that many members of our community are dealing with. The tremulous wait for a donor heart. A solid diagnosis to a long and heady ailment. More time and resources to do everything and anything for a patient. These challenges affect our patients, our employees, and are felt by those that know them. They seek comfort and answers to one of the hardest questions - why?

In telling a patient's story through the use of social media tools, I find it's more than okay to add a personal message - it's not just okay, it should be done. Regardless of what faith any of us subscribe to, wishing our patients, employees and community well lets them know we're not just in it for the story.

We were recently made aware of a young woman who is in dire need of a heart transplant - she is on the list, awaiting a donor, and received an LVAD to keep her heart beating. Her father has been keeping a blog of her progress, and is candid in what she's going through and how he's feeling. Frequently, prayers are listed and pleas to a higher power are made as they seek an happy resolution to Megan's situation. I posted an interview this morning that her father did with a local station over the weekend. I didn't hesitate to add at the end of the post how we are pulling for her. We pull for all of our patients. When we tell their stories, we should say so.

So whether it's healthcare or another non-profit organization, it's important to give tribute and show our feelings to those who are so selflessly giving of their stories. That's what engagement and relationship-building is about - the caring.

Tips

This is not an April Fools joke - I'm not feeling very clever or impish today, or else I would attempt some sort of scam like these.

If there's anything I've learned over my many years in the biz, it's that prioritization is essential to keeping your head above water. This goes for social media also.

Because is still an "industry" (I use this term very loosely) that's in it's infancy, you can get sucked into every new tool or idea that's shouted from the rooftop by self-proclaimed gurus. A few tips:

- Stick with the basics that provide you with the most listen and engagement (Facebook, blogging, Twitter) and hone your strategy.

-Listen to the chatter and attempt to discern the true taste from filler - check out trusted follows, bloggers, industry leaders. They'll help you filter the noise.

-Break down your day. The highest percentage of your time should be spent listening (outside and in), then plan, enact, evaluate, respond.

-Stick to your agenda. Others may (will) come at you with their own priorities and either attempt to "push" them off on you or move up the deadline for immediate relief. Investigate just how hot the request is, and prioritize once the truth is known. What you do is important, too.

-Make the rounds. This goes back to listening in - talk to your colleagues, as they may be working on a story or outputting information that would be a great fit for campaigns or strategy your working on. Share the love.

-Be present and have fun. I forget this one often. I get bogged down in my own deadlines, stack of editing, and phone calls/interviews I have yet to tackle. It will all get done - maybe not in the time you want it to, but fussing about it may take you away from a great moment that's happening right in front of you.

How will you tell the story?

Sometimes it's difficult to choose which type of media you'll tell your story with - photos, video, writing only. Sometimes the subjects dictate what they're most comfortable with and the decision is made for you.

It's my feeling that if you can tell a story through video, that's the route to go. Giving a face, and voice, to a subject matter is akin to inviting the viewer into the story. The nuances you can capture through visual storytelling or information sharing can trump even the most well-written piece. We recently had a situation where a patient, who is a very gifted photographer, didn't want to be filmed, but was more than okay providing a voice-over for his personal photographs. We edited it all together, and the subsequent four-part video was very well received in all mediums it was posted to.

On the flip side (no pun intended), not everyone is eloquent or comfortable in front of the camera, and hitting all points can be difficult, especially when you're dealing with illness and healthcare. If this is the case, then perhaps an article with accompanying photos do the story more justice than a video can.

What it all comes down to is this - plan. Before you step out the door with a camera, or a Flip, or your DAT, talk to your interviewee if possible to see what they're comfortable with. Determine what, if any, ancillary material you'll need such as additional interviews or supportive information. Play out the story in your head, and attempt to determine how you would like to receive the information.

Partnership

Social media is just that - social. And working for a large hospital, one can get caught up getting social outside of the office, ignoring those within.

One of the biggest challenges that an inside social media strategist can has is finding time to partner with their coworkers or complimentary departments. Take, for instance, the gal who is in charge of the intranet, the biggest source of employee information. I interact with her in one way or another daily, not just because our duties overlap, but because she is a very cool gal. Yet it took months for us to really start talking about collaboration on a social media front. Another excuse would be that working on multitudes of social media campaigns is taxing and she has her own objectives - we're both uber busy.

Social media is not just for the community at-large. What defines a customer when it comes to social media? Everyone your organization touches, including it's employees, is a customer. We get so many tips on hospital happenings, stories and news from our employees, yet we've been slow to partner with those whose sole focus is reaching those employees on an immediate and comprehensive basis.

I am attempting to rectify this challenge as quickly and completely as I can. I'll let you know how it goes...

Are you in or are you out?

Many companies see the need for social media strategy but due to budget concerns or lack of information, they don't make the jump to bringing someone on board. For some, they contract out the strategy to an agency or individual.

In my opinion, this is the complete opposite of what an organization that's concerned with their quality of outreach, PR and customer service should do. By trusting this new and delicate type of engagement to a relative outsider, they are short-changing not only the end user, but themselves as well.

TRUST
The value of having an actual employee manage the day-to-day social media interactions is the trust that results from this level of involvement. Whether it's a physician, patient, employee or neighbor, closing that gap and having that face-to-face connection (when you can) is essential to getting it right. You'd be amazed at how much someone is more prone to open up if you have built that short yet tangible connection. The end result is the story gets told from a very personal outlook - as it should. You do right by the interviewee and by your employer - win/win.

CREDIBILITY
Additionally, getting out to film the stories yourself lends credibility to the task and the position. Not only do people start to trust you, but they trust in the medium, in the process. The word gets spread, and "social media" starts getting a better rap, and in turn is more valued. I'm all about education, and have recently helped other departments and entities under our corporate umbrella understand the value of and get set up to begin social media strategy. This interconnectedness within the organization can only be nurtured by someone on the inside.

INVESTMENT
Finally, the value of investment is realized by having an insider. I like my job, and want to keep doing what I do, so I am heavily invested in doing all I can from an engagement standpoint. Yes, there is overhead when you hire someone, but the cohesiveness and personal investment (from the employee) far outweighs what little you might save by contracting out the position with an agency or individual. Agencies and freelancers are probably juggling multiple clients, and you can be sure that you're not in that #1 position for very long.

So, the question is - are you in, or are you out?

Embrace it all

I wanted my first post to be prophetic, profound, progressive, which are three adjectives to describe what social media is (to me).

I decided that I would go with a term I hold in high regard in all aspects of my life - embrace.

I embrace my existence here on earth. I embrace the change that happens every millisecond. I embrace the strife and conflict that are a daily part of life. I embrace the fact that I am not perfect, nor is anyone, and therefore slack should be cut.

I am fortunate to work for a hospital that has embraced social media completely. I have been given the tools to do the job to the best of my ability. I also am part of a marketing and PR team that is enthusiastic about social media, understands it, and helps me to educate those that are unsure or afraid. My employer recognizes the need for social media as part of their internal and external communication endeavors. They support. They embrace.

Our community embraces. Our physicians, nurses, hospital employees, patients and neigbors embrace our social media efforts, and the result has been a rate of growth that has exceeded everyone's expectations, including mine. From November 2009 to February 2010 we grew from 323 Facebook fans to over 1,000. Our Twitter friend base has increased also, and we have just added a blog to the mix so that's exciting.

But social media measurement isn't just about numbers - it's about engagement, interactions, and the quality of such. We've experienced a tremendously positive reaction to our patient and employee video stories, which are posted almost daily. We have also garnered favorable feedback from personal posts, photo diaries and podcasts.

The reason for all this is strategy, and embracing change. Some things work, others don't - moving fluidly from one tactic to another, testing, trying all work to our advantage. Listening to our community - what do they respond favorably to? What kinds of posts are mostly ignored? They speak, we listen, we plan, we enact. It's that simple.

To successfully integrate social media strategy into a hospital communications realm, the idea of it must be embraced. And for many, it's difficult to embrace as it's a new type of communication. New = strange and scary. Couple that with the mentality that "if the kids are using it, it's not worthwhile", and you've got a mental roadblock that may never be overcome.

This is a point of view I'd like to explore in later posts. For now, I'll end with this: embrace it all - the known and unknown, and save the judgement for later.