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.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, May 3, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
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?
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?
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