Using Social Media in Behavioral Healthcare

Using Social Media in Behavioral Healthcare2011 Institute for Behavioral Health Informatics:October 20, 2011 presented by Jennifer Barbour

About me  Blogger, copywriter, new media consultant  Chief Engagement Officer (CEO) for Another Jennifer Writing Lab  Former communications specialist for Crossroads for Women in Portland, ME   Author of Women & Substance Abuse blog (crossroadsforwomen.org/blog) and monthly e-Newsletter  7 years working in behavioral health doing public communications

What we’ll cover  Social Media Policies  Social Networking Strategies & Best Practices  Content Ideas  Time Management Tips & Tricks

Millions use social media worldwide.“The Big Three”•  More than 750 million users•  More than 100 million active users•  More than 120 million membersSources: http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics; http://mashable.com/ 2011/09/08/twitter-has-100-million-active-users/; http://press.linkedin.com/about/ (retrieved 9/9/11)

Plus…•  More than 10 million users in first three weeks•  2nd most popular search engine•  More than half of social media referral traffic•  Powers 14.7% of top million websites in worldSources: http://mashable.com/2011/07/16/google-plus-guide/; http://mashable.com/2010/12/28/social-media-marketing- predictions/; http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/stumbleupon_delivers_half_of_us_social_media_traff.php; http://wordpress.org/news/2011/08/state-of-the-word (retrieved 9/10/11)

And don’t forget…

Why use social media?  Mostly free (except for time)  Easy way to get out information fast, in real time, and reach a big audience  Levels the playing field  Gives everyone a voice  Allows people to connect all over the world at any time  Establishes expertise  Platform to educate, advocate, inform

Writing a Social Media Strategy1.  Who is your audience?2.  What actions do you want your audience to take?3.  What does your audience need to believe in order to take those actions?4.  Which social media channel (or channels) will you utilize? (e.g., blog, Facebook)5.  What will you talk about?6.  What is your social media policy?

What’s your social media policy? When you post something on a social media site, imagine that post on a billboard for everyone to see. With your name on it.

What your policy should consider  Who is allowed to post for your organization? Where?  What will the posts say?  Do social media postings need to be approved?  How will your posts comply with your confidentiality policies?  How will you handle negative comments?  Are employees allowed to post or comment during work hours? (Can they access the social networking sites?)

More policy considerations  What is appropriate to share; not to share on a social networking site?  What is your procedure for sharing client stories, photos or videos?  How will you educate staff, volunteers, board, supporters, etc. on utilizing your social media sites?  What happens if staff, volunteers, board, etc. don’t comply with the social media policy?  Who is the go to person if/when questions arise?

Be clear and set boundaries

Why Facebook?  Most widely used social network in the world  Reach all ages  Connect and share with people in recovery, alumni, donors, community partners, supporters and more  Publishing platform  Spread the word about what you do

Getting Started: Facebook Pages  Create a page, not a personal profile (facebook.com/ pages/create.php)  Fill in all information: about, info, mission, etc.  Upload a profile picture and 5 more for the top of the page  With 25 fans, create a unique url (facebook.com/ username)  “Like” other pages  Add a few status updates before telling everyone

Facebook Content Ideas  Your (or your organization’s) thoughts, ideas and observations  Links to your blog posts and e-newsletters  Inspirational quotes  Video and photos  Info about upcoming groups, events, workshops, etc.  Ask questions (How do you celebrate recovery?)  Information from partners or other helpful resources  Relevant news articles or blog posts

Facebook Best Practices  Have a strategy (tweak as needed)  Share regularly, but not too much – don’t hog the news feed! (best times: noon or on Saturday)  Aim for at least 3 posts per week to keep things active and engaged  Don’t limit people’s ability to share on your page  Monitor, monitor, monitor!  Reply to comments, keep the conversation going  Be authentic!*Source: socialtimes.com/infographic-reveals-the-best-times-to-post-to-twitter-facebook_b67570

Why Blog?  Establish expertise  Your platform to educate, inform, advocate, etc.  Build brand awareness  Drive traffic to your website (SEO)

Blog Content Ideas  Your specific expertise  Stories of treatment success, recovery  Education for family and friends affected by addiction, mental health issues  News/Research from behavioral health field  Public policy issues (be informative)  Current events  Guest post or cross-post

http://crossroadsforwomen.org/blog/?p=1660

Blogging Best Practices  Have a strategy (tweak as needed)  Find your voice  Use tags, categories, social media sharing options  Keep posts simple and short, add an image  Aim for at least 1-2 posts per week (more in the beginning)  Monitor and reply to comments  Share/Publish posts on other social networks  Be authentic!

Why Twitter?  Microblogging service (140 characters or less)  Real-time information network  Publishing platform  Social search engine  Be where people are sharing what’s on their mind on every topic imaginable

The Language of Twitter  Handle: Your Twitter username is referred to as your handle, and is identified with the @ symbol (ex. @anotherjenb)  Tweet: What posts are called on Twitter  Follow: The act of connecting with someone on Twitter  RT/Retweet: When someone posts something like, you can RT it and share it with your followers  DM/Direct Message: A private note between two users on Twitter  Hashtag: Words preceded by a # sign; can be used to tie various tweets together and relate them to a topic

The Language of Twitter (cont’d)  Lists: A way to combine select people you follow on Twitter into a smaller feed  Search: Use Twitters search feature to look for tweets containing a keyword, phrase or hashtag  Timeline: The chronological listing of all tweets in a given feed, be it your own, in a list, or another user’s  Tweetup: A term for in person events (i.e., meetups) that spring from Twitter connectionsMore lingo descriptions: socialquickstarter.com/content/6-whats_twitter

Twitter Best Practices  Have a strategy (tweak as needed)  Display a complete bio and profile pic  Share as much as you want (1-4 tweets/hr ideal, best times: 5pm, midweek and on the weekends)*  Interact – ask questions, answer questions, mention people, comment on tweets  Follow and be followed  Reply to RTs, FFs, mentions, etc.  Be authentic!*Source: socialtimes.com/infographic-reveals-the-best-times-to-post-to-twitter-facebook_b67570

Why LinkedIn?  #1 Social network for business  Grow professional relationships  Participate in professional discussions  Recruit staff and volunteers  Publishing platform

LinkedIn Best Practices  Have a strategy (tweak as needed)   Individual, organization or both?  Have a complete profile and picture  Add connections (under Contacts tab)  Interact   Join relevant groups; create a group   Comment on group discussions or start a group discussion   Ask and/or answer questions (linkedin.com/answers)   Share blog posts or interesting articles   Make recommendations

You are not alone campaign: ThePartnership at Drugfree.org

Time Management Tips  Dedicate a specific amount of time each week to social networking  Develop an editorial calendar (or have regular meetings)  Set up Google Alerts to keep track of topics (google.com/ alerts)  Use automatic publishing tools like NetworkedBlogs  Use a social media dashboard like TweetDeck or Hootsuite  Sign up for NutshellMail (nutshellmail.com)  Post and monitor using a smart phone  Know when to ask for (or hire) help

Listening Tools Wiki  http://socialmedia-listening.wikispaces.com/Tools

More Resources  Social Media Quickstarter: socialquickstarter.com  Facebook for Business: facebook.com/business  Mashable – The Social Media Guide: mashable.com  Social Media Examiner: socialmediaexaminer.com  Join Together: drugfree.org/join-together  Beth’s Blog: bethkanter.org  Kivi’s Nonprofit Communications Blog: nonprofitmarketingguide.com/ blog  Katya’s Non-profit Marketing Blog: nonprofitmarketingblog.com

Final Tips Know your audience (and where they are) Have a strategy Engage Monitor Don’t be afraid to experiment!

Stay Connected  Jennifer Barbour email: jennifer@anotherjennifer.com phone: 207.653.4542 website: anotherjennifer.com (links to blog + writing lab pages) facebook: facebook.com/writinglab twitter: @anotherjenb stumbleupon: stumbleupon.com/stumbler/anotherjenb google+: plus.google.com/u/0/113035568086313299781/about slideshare: slideshare.net/jbarbour (download presentation)

Using Social Media in Behavioral Healthcare

by Jennifer Barbour on Oct 18, 2011

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Using Social Media in Behavioral Healthcare Presentation Transcript