The Gather Project reviews best practices in the use of social media by America's leading hospitals and health insurance companies.

1. :001 THE
GATHER
PROJECT
S o c i a l M e d i a S n a pS h o t : he a l t h c a r e
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2. T h e G aT h e r P r o j e cT
Social and mobile media have altered the marketing
landscape so dramatically in the past five years, even the
most experienced travelers have trouble finding their way.
citrus launched The Gather Project to uncover these changes
and track how companies across a wide spectrum of industries
are adapting. The end result will be a comprehensive roadmap
for marketers to follow as they explore the digital world.
ciTrus
citrus is a new breed of creative agency born to jolt your
audience from the ordinary with rich, integrated, immersive
campaign experiences. With a wicked mix of masterful expertise
and youthful enthusiasm, we perform a flurry of kicks and
chops that elevate brands into the hearts of people. The results
transcend the traditional model by bridging the space between
awareness and continued engagement to form a deeper,
amplified interaction with your story.
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3. :001
THE
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GATHER
PROJECT
I n t r o d u c tI o n
the Importance and
o p p o r t u nI t I e s o f s o cI a l m e dIa
G a t h e r p r o j e c t m e t h o d o l o Gy
101101010000
results
the health care scorecard
c o r e fI n d I nG
ro a d m a p : W h e r e d o W e G o from here?
c o n c l u sI o n
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4. Introduction
With over 550 million Facebook users, 150 million Tweeters and
50 million Bloggers, marketers can’t afford to relegate social media
to the second page of a marketing plan. In 2011, it will be one of the
most essential elements you use to connect with your customers.
According to the Society of Digital Agencies, more than 45% of senior
marketers named social media and networks as their top priority in 2010.
It’s not a fad, it’s a reality.
In the first of our Gather Series, citrus has conducted a study to better
understand how health care marketers are using social media. The end
result is a definitive snapshot of how the health care industry is adopting
social media and how health care marketers can improve the power of
these programs and optimize their social ROI in the future. The following
pages will paint a comprehensive picture of social media in your industry:
1. We reveal the findings of our national survey taken by your peers.
2. We show you what others are doing and reveal
who’s doing it the best (and worst).
3. We provide a roadmap to successfully integrate
social media into your strategy.
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5. The Importance and personal networks, thereby providing marketers with exponential
Opportunities of Social Media message amplification. Marketers now have the opportunity to
influence the influencers and help them broadcast their brand’s
Social media are highly scalable Internet and mobile-based message. It is this sort of relevant discussion that is proving to
platforms and applications for sharing and discussing information. be dramatically more valuable than traditional marketing efforts.
[ ]
In 2010, the primary social media platforms used for marketing are
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and Blogs. This list will undoubtedly H e a l t H c a r e m a r k e t e r s w H o
change as new platforms are created. We are already seeing great d o n o t u n d e r s t a n d s o c i al media
interest in location-based social platforms (geo-social), including m a r k e t i n g a r e s i m p l y n o t part
FourSquare and Facebook’s new Places. o f t H e l a r g e r c o n v e r s a t ion.
Unlike advertising, social media provides the opportunity for brands Given the growth of social media and its demographics, citrus
and businesses to build and manage real-time direct relationships with can see no way that health care marketers can postpone building
their target markets. As important, if not more so, social media helps industry-leading social media programs that leverage the interactive
brands build messaging that can be shared by individuals with their and community-building benefits of social media. This relatively
personal networks. People readily share information, thoughts, new media platform, on both the Internet and mobile devices,
impressions and opinions about their experiences across their will usher in a highly effective relationship-building tool.
8 9

6. social neTworkinG use conTinues To Grow amonG older users
The perception of adult users who use social networking sites in each age group
The 50+ Opp OrT uni T y
If health care marketers are looking
100%
for additional rationale for building
sound, effective social media programs, 86%
83%
they need to look no further than 76%
80%
the growth of social media usage 73%
67%
among people 50 years and older,
61%
58%
a key demographic for the industry. 60%
48% 47%
According to the Pew Internet &
36% 36%
American Life Project (August, 2010), 40%
18-29
“Social networking use among Internet 25% 25% 26%
22%
users ages 50 and older nearly 30-49
16%
20%
doubled—from 22% in April 2009 16% 11%
13%
50-64 12%
to 42% in May 2010.” 7% 4%
5% 7%
0%
65+
Sept May Nov April Dec May
2005 2008 2008 2009 2009 2010
Source: Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project Surveys,
September 2005 - May, 2010. All surveys are of adults 18 and older.
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7. Gather Project Methodology
citrus utilized two techniques to create our analysis.
N a t i o Na l P o l l
We held informal discussions and used an online poll with health
care marketers to determine their usage and attitudes towards
social media. The review was conducted in October, 2010.
Social Media Scorecard
We reviewed 21 predominate health care providers on their Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube and Blogs, as well as other social media tools.
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8. Results
Despite the fact that most health care marketers have yet to build
robust social media programs, they are becoming actively involved
with and testing various social media platforms.
some of o u r f i n d i nG s 4. Most organizations have not realized the power
of social media for product or service delivery.
1. Over three-quarters of health care marketers
plan on investing more in social media in 2011. 5. Facebook is by far the most used social media tool. Next
is micro-Blogs like Twitter and YouTube, followed by Blogs.
2. The top social media priorities: building brand awareness
and stimulating informal two-way conversations. 6. Most organizations do not have detailed social media
policies or guidelines.
3. Most organizations do not believe that they are engaging in
meaningful dialogue with customers through social media. Staffing 7. Privacy issues are a constraint. These will need
for social media management will be a pressing issue in the next year. to be addressed in corporate policies.
As you will see in the following sections of this report, there is a wide
range of commitment to social media in late 2010. However, we do expect
that more health care organizations will begin to link the opportunities
of this new medium to marketing objectives and staff allocation.
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9. The Health Care Scorecard
Introdu c tIo n
Methodology
The Health Care Scorecard grades 21 health care organizations,
including hospitals, health care systems and health plan providers, We are using four criteria in our social media analysis.
according to a set of quantitative criteria and citrus’ perception of
social media program maturity. Note that we are not grading based IntegratIon - 30%: Is the marketer integrating their social media
on overall Internet strategy, including a review of websites. However, program into their overall marketing program? We believe that
we do believe that an organization’s social media strategy and synergy breeds efficiency. additionally, each element, from the
execution is an indication of digital marketing prowess. Digital website to social media to mobile media, adds to the overall
marketing proficiency is now inextricably tied to marketing success. integrated marketing effort in a world where people now get
their information from a much wider array of sources.
The information and data used to create our analysis are dynamic
and time-based, as social media usage is growing exponentially. BrandIng - 30%: Building a strong, effective online brand
It is our intention to keep our data fresh, and we will publish includes the delivery of consistent branding across program
updates in the coming months. elements, cohesive messaging and brand voice, and the
establishment of a competitive positioning.
SocIal MedIa relevance - 30%: Brand presence in this relatively new
space, brand and consumer activity, authenticity and marketing dedication.
dIgItal MarketIng - 10%: activity in Blogs, interactive website
elements, mobile marketing and email marketing.
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10. Healt H C a r e SC o r e C a r d
COMPANY RANk CATeGORY ASSeSSMeNT
Mayo Clinic 1 Hospital System Though relatively low Facebook numbers, Mayo rules YouTube and Twitter to drive leadership positioning. “They get it.”
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital 2 Hospital System Almost 40 years of a dedication to marketing is reflected in a superior social media program.
Children’s Hospital Boston 3 Hospital System Another children’s hospital recognizes the power of the social conversation. Parents have passion.
Cleveland Clinic 4 Hospital System Smart CeO driven integrated marketing program is beginning to leverage social tools.
kaiser Permanente Thrive 5 Health Care Delivery System “Thrive” positioning owns “wellness” and is brought to life across social media with second highest list of videos.
Johns Hopkins Medicine 6 Hospital System Highly integrated Facebook, Blog, YouTube and Twitter program.
City of Hope National Medical Center 7 Hospital System In the game but could use much stronger social media branding and customization.
Duke University Hospital 8 Hospital System “Connect with your health care at Duke Medicine” positioning is missed opportunity on their social sites.
BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois 9 Health Plans A leading provider in social space but no presence on YouTube. Health care videos are too strong not to leverage.
Rush University Medical Center 10 Hospital System Considering medical college focus, social presence is limited.
Scripps Health 11 Hospital System One of the more active on Twitter but not reflected across Facebook and YouTube.
Oregon Health & Science University 12 Hospital System Tepid social marketing from Oregon’s only health care and research university.
Massachusetts General 13 Hospital System Social media policy stated on home page but limited social media. Privacy concerns outweighing marketing?
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center 14 Hospital System Surprisingly limited social media effort from a leading major market university hospital.
Banner Health 15 Health Plans Middle of the road social program but it is integrated into master website.
BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota 16 Health Plans Low energy for such a strong brand.
Providence Health Plans 17 Health Plans Twitter and Facebook are well integrated on website home page but little call to action equals low activity.
Southwest Washington Medical Center 18 Hospital System Well integrated program including a dedication to the use of video. Could use more fans and views.
UnitedHealth Group 19 Health Plans Huge health care insurer is not a huge participant in the social universe. Missed opportunity given traditional advertising programs.
New York Presbyterian Hospital 20 Hospital System New York’s top ranked hospital hasn’t found its voice. Very limited, low involvement social strategy.
WellPoint 21 Health Plans Very conservative brand position. Little social media presence.
Data collected in October, 2010
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11. A c t i v i t y t rA c k
We believe that activity data is a clear indication of an organization’s
interest in social media, its on-going support and resulting consumer
participation in messaging.
Activity such as Facebook Likes, Twitter Followers and YouTube
Views are clear indications of a company’s social media success.
Facebook “Likes”: Likes are the ultimate marketing amplification
tool. When someone Likes you or your content, it is broadcast
to their Facebook Friends. (On average, each Facebook user
has 130 friends). Likes are a good thing.
Twitter Followers: Simply put, Twitter refers a ton of traffic
to websites. It’s meant to be a content-referral network,
so link-sharing and click-throughs are a given in many cases.
YouTube Views: YouTube videos are searchable (they
account for approximately 30% of all Google searches).
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12. Faceboo k a n a l y s i s T W I T T E R A nA l y s I s
COMPANY # FANS CUSTOM TABS # VIDeOS COMPANY # SUBSCIBeRS BRAND PAGe # TWeeTS PeR Week
Children’s Hospital Boston 439,440 Give, Connect, Invite, Interact 0 Mayo Clinic 90,641 Yes: MayoClinic 20
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital 306,077 Patient of the Month, Thanks and Giving Campaign, Shop 4 St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital 10,366 No: StJude 16
Mayo Clinic 31,434 None 143 Johns Hopkins Medicine 9,029 Yes: JohnsHopkins 29
Cleveland Clinic 16,334 About Us, Facts, Let’s Move It!, Patient FAQs 413 Scripps Health 6,594 Yes: Scripps Health 25
BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois 13,393 Contest, Welcome, ecards, BCBSIL on FB 10 Cleveland Clinic 6,527 Yes: ClevelandClinic 42
kaiser Permanente Thrive 8,743 RSS/Blog 15 City of Hope National Medical Center 5,191 Yes: cityofhope 20
Johns Hopkins Medicine 8,719 Twitter 4 Duke University Hospital 4,450 Yes: Duke_Medicine 8
City of Hope National Medical Center 7,338 YouTube 6 Children’s Hospital Boston 3,497 Yes: ChildrensBoston 15
Duke University Hospital 2,861 None 0 Rush University Medical Center 2,147 Yes: RushMedical 11
Massachusetts General Hospital 2,774 email Sign Up, YouTube 16 BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois 1,604 Yes: BCBSIL 7
Rush University Medical Center 1,660 Welcome, Rush Resources, YouTube, Twitter 6 Oregon Health & Science University 1,589 Yes: OHSUHealthcare 30
Oregon Health & Science University 1,440 extened Info, e News 0 Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center 1,021 Yes: UCLAHealth 1
Scripps Health 1,111 Jobs, Twitter, YouTube, RSS/Blog 12 Banner Health 881 Yes: BannerHealth 2
Banner Health 1,042 New!, Twitter, YouTube, Job, Reviews 7 UnitedHealth Group 565 Yes: uhcfeds 5
BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota 1,020 Twitter 33 kaiser Permanente Thrive 491 No: kpthrive 8
Southwest Washington Medical Center 776 Reviews 1 BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota 480 No: BlueCrossMN 5
New York Presbyterian Hospital 396 None 0 Massachusetts General Hospital 380 No: Mass General 2
UnitedHealth Group 347 None 0 Southwest Washington Medical Center 263 Yes: swhealth 20
Providence Health Plans 331 None 2 WellPoint 178 Yes: wellpointhealth 5
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center 231 None 1 Providence Health Plans 150 Yes: ProvHealth 4
WellPoint 175 None 0 New York Presbyterian Hospital 141 Yes: PAatNYP 0
Data collected in October, 2010 Data collected in October, 2010
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13. YouT uBE A nA l Ys i s
Core Finding
COMPANY # FOLLOWeRS BRAND CHANNeL # CHANNeL VIeWS # VIDeOS
Mayo Clinic 2,203 Yes: mayoclinic’s Channel 183,865 959 s o c i a l l y u n h e a lT h y
Providence Health Plans 1,473 No: otmills’s Channel 78,101 19 Our findings indicate that although there is high awareness
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital 730 Yes: MyStJude’s Channel 36,206 8 of the options, few health care marketers have created effective
Johns Hopkins Medicine 692 Yes: JohnsHopkins’s Channel 42,201 13 programs that take full advantage of the range of marketing tools
Duke University Hospital 633 Yes: DukeMedicine’s Channel 26,892 121 and opportunities provided by social media. Bottom line: few marketers
Cleveland Clinic 358 Yes: Cleveland Clinic 54,193 424 are integrating social media into their master marketing programs.
kaiser Permanente Thrive 302 Yes: kaiserpermanenteorg’s Channel 35,120 125
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center 225 No: UCLAHealth’s Channel 11,160 28 Most marketers are content to place a Facebook or Twitter logo
City of Hope National Medical Center 225 No: cityofhopeonline’s Channel 8,492 38 on their website as the first step toward integration. This low priority
Scripps Health 118 No: ScrippsHealth’s Channel 86,526 170 approach leaves the potential of using social media to build strong,
New York Presbyterian Hospital 100 Yes: newyorkpresbyterian’s Channel 26,128 210 long-lasting relationships with patients, caregivers and current
Rush University Medical Center 63 Yes: rushmedicalcenter’s Channel 7,395 117 and future employees untapped.
Children’s Hospital Boston 45 Yes: ChildrensHospital’s Channel 4,627 31
Banner Health 38 No: bannerhealthonline’s Channel 3,251 41
Oregon Health & Science University 35 No: OHSUhealth’s Channel 1,469 16
Massachusetts General Hospital 21 No: MassGeneralHospital’s Channel 1,462 16
BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota 16 No: bcbsofmn’s Channel 2117 32
UnitedHealth Group 6 No: UHSInc’s Channel 5,298 9
Southwest Washington Medical Center 6 Yes: swstories’s Channel 3,459 16
WellPoint 3 No: ThinkWellPoint’s Channel 813 9
BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois None None None None
Data collected in October, 2010
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14. Roadmap: Where do we go from here?
E i g h t S o c i a l ME d i a M uS t S
The chatter about social media is constant. We are bombarded
on a daily basis with advice, white papers, opinions and seminars.
While all of this chatter can be unnerving, citrus believes that 1. An Objectives Driven Program
companies ignore the potential of social media at their own peril.
We may not yet know the true power of social media, but we 2. Brand Consciousness
cannot ignore the fastest growing area of the Internet.
3. Integrate
By comparing the social media programs of both leaders and
laggards with the best practices of the overall marketing universe, 4. Ignite Action
citrus has established a set of guidelines to help health care marketers
achieve smarter, more competitive programs moving forward. 5. Provide Value
In the following section, we outline these eight key Best Practices 6. Authenticity and Voice
and examine the social media programs of five health care
marketers based on these principles. 7. Think Mobile
8. Measure and Optimize
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15. 1 . A n O b j e c t i v e s D r i v e n P rOgr Am
All social media programs must start with a high-level marketing objectives
statement. “I need Facebook, Twitter, social media” simply isn’t a starting
point or a sustainable program. Your social media program has to support
your Master Brand Strategy and specific marketing objectives. You must
understand your target market, what you expect them to do and build
on their current social media habits.
The reason to use social media isn’t that it exists. The reason is that
it provides unique communications benefits that can be utilized to meet
clear objectives. Very few media options offer the network effect of social
media. Leveraging your target market’s personal networks across Facebook,
Twitter, YouTube and Blogs provides a significant amount of highly efficient
marketing and brand advocacy.
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16. T he Ob jec T i v e O f fa me
Building a strong national reputation is a clear objective of many
major hospitals. By examining the Facebook “Like” numbers for five
of the most famous facilities in America, it is clear who has an objective-
based approach to social media and has dedicated resources to
achieve their goals through the use of social media channels.
Cleveland Clinic, over 16,000 Likes
Johns Hopkins Medicine, over 8,500 Likes
Mayo Clinic, over 31,000 Likes
New York Presbyterian Hospital, over 350 Likes
St. Jude Children’s Hospital, over 306,000 Likes
And, then there is Dr. Oz who has over 814,000 Likes.
in L O v e w i T h S T. jude’S
In addition to having focused on building an astounding Facebook
Fan base, St. Jude’s goes even further to meet corporate objectives
by opening their Facebook site on one of their custom tabs that
seeks donations through the sales of merchandise. Another custom
tab called “Donate Now,” links directly to the donation page on
St. Jude’s master website. The St. Jude’s objective is clear, and
with over 306,000 Likes and growing, they appear successful. Many
hospitals have foundations. Why is St. Jude’s alone in leveraging
the power of social media for generating donations?
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17. 2. Brand C o n sC i o u s n e s s
Social media, like all outbound media, is a branding tool and should
reflect, support and enhance the essence of your brand. Unfortunately,
many brands do not use the design tools inherent in many social media
channels to support their brand.
Facebook allows brands to control their image on the left side of their
Wall, or more importantly, open directly to a custom designed page.
Custom branded apps are an effective brand-driver as well. Twitter allows
branding around the core message box, YouTube provides tools for custom
branding via Channels, and all Blogs are 100% controlled by the marketing
department. However, in the health care category, even leading hospitals
are not delivering a robust brand experience.
C a se in p oin t:
Massachusetts General, a leading hospital with over 1.5 million patient
visits per year, has a well-designed website, but has chosen to take
a default route to their Facebook page.
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18. Scripps Health’s Twitter page has a brand supporting graphic look
while Kaiser Permanente Thrive has again gone the default route with
the placement of a small virtually impossible to read logo on the top of
the page. It is so easy to take advantage of first stage branding tools that
we wonder why this isn’t an element of many marketing programs.

19. 3. Integrate
citrus knows that the strongest marketing programs integrate all elements
under common objectives, strategies and creative themes. Social media
should not be viewed as a stand-alone program. Often we see that health
care organizations are content to simply show a Facebook or YouTube logo
on the front page of their website as a means of integration. This is a major
missed opportunity to link messaging across communications channels.
Examples of integration include using YouTube both as a branded channel
and integrated video platform for your Blog, website and Facebook page.
You can integrate your Tweets and Facebook messages across both of
these platforms and your website automatically. This provides a sense
of activity and freshness to all of your messaging and Internet channels.
36 37

20. On a very simple level, MD Anderson Center at least pushes their
Twitter audience to their Facebook page though the link at the left. While
rudimentary, it is more than most Twitter pages do to deliver synergy.
Johns Hopkins links its efforts through a website page that lists
all of its social media programs.
Alegent Health goes farther by integrating their Facebook Fan effort
on their Blog. Alegent could be going further to include their Facebook
posts as a live stream, but they are at least providing a tool to increase
Facebook “Likes” into their Blog program.
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21. M ayo Cl iniC: T he l e a der
The leader in hospital branding and marketing integration
is, without question, Mayo Clinic.
The Mayo Clinic treats over 500,000 patients every year. Because
of the power of their brand, approximately 25% of their patients come
from other states and countries. The Mayo Clinic’s reputation, which
benefits both patients and staff, is not an accident. Marketing has been
viewed as a major element of hospital operations and the Mayo Clinic
clearly recognizes the power of social media. The Clinic frequently posts
YouTube videos on a variety of topics, and has over 1 million views on
their YouTube account and 30,000+ Facebook Likes. This July, the Clinic
announced that it would be launching a Center for Social Media.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Center “will expand social
media tools beyond the traditional P.R. and marketing functions to
use by staff, physicians and patients.”
The Mayo Clinic also offers resources on their website, Blogs
and Podcasts (with dozens on iTunes). This information is easily
searchable via search engines, and drives their marketing reach.
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22. 4 . I g nI t e A c tI o n
By the nature of being social, Facebook, Blogs, YouTube and Twitter are
active communications environments. However, many brands do not
actively engage their Fans and social networks beyond the use of default
tools and outbound—rather than truly engagement-oriented—messaging.
Being active in the social realm requires a dedicated communications and
programming effort that many marketers have not staffed to full advantage.
W e rec ommend A f our - pA r t p r o gr A m.
1. FosTer Dialog
it’s not dialogue unless you foster a two-way conversation. seek out
interaction and visitor comments and posts. Then respond with a sense
of immediacy. Create fresh subjects that your visitors will want to respond
to. in the health care field, we all too often see posts that sound more
like press releases than compelling messages. Most visitors are not that
interested in the name and photo of a new doctor or machine.
42 43

23. A key benefit of driving conversation between you and your audience, 3. Build in Action
and even peer-to-peer conversations, is that your Fans will automatically Facebook in particular offers the ability to create custom experiences
alert their network about their dialogue. This amplification effect through the use of apps. Facebook can go beyond its core functionality
may be one of the major benefits of your social media program. to offer your visitors an active, participatory, even website-like experience.
We’ve seen simple apps that help broadcast health-related messages like
An interesting gap is how organizations use their “voice.” The vast getting a flu shot. Apps are limitless and can be health quizzes, polls, video
majority of social statements sound like they come from a corporate contests, promotions, appointment bookings, etc. When apps are used by
drone, not a person. Who is posting the comments, the discussion your Fans, they alert your Fan’s Friends that they have taken an action.
points, the Tweets and the Blog posts? Why not provide an air of Remember St. Jude’s app-based Facebook e-commerce site. if someone
personalization and authenticity by leading with one or more buys from St. Jude’s page, St. Jude’s gets a donation and an automatic
personalities. Real people that your visitors can really relate to. referral to all of the buyer’s Friends.
2. FosTeR AdvocAcy 4. PlAn AheAd
Ask and you shall receive. Actively ask your Fans and Followers Blogs, twitter, Youtube and Facebook programs and posts will all
to “Like” you, ask them to participate in a poll or use Twitter to send be richer and more timely if you first develop an editorial calendar.
them to a page on your website where they can upload stories and Just consider the interest in flu during the flu season, skin cancer at
photos. Again, their advocacy and action beget the network effect the beginning of summer, and nutrition messages ahead of holiday
that social media delivers in spades. you know the numbers. If your meals. leveraging public interest in these specific subjects should be
average Facebook Fan has, on average, 130 Friends, then each of particular importance to health insurers and any hospital interested
of these Friends will see all activity in their Newsfeed. That’s 130 in wellness. there are seasonal triggers as well as dedicated messaging
free messages. But to get them, you will need to ignite action. related to your specific programs.
44 45

24. Flu.gov and HealthySocial is an example of a partnership that
meets all four of our criteria. They are fostering dialogue, advocacy
and action via the delivery of a Facebook app that spreads the word
about flu vaccinations. This simple, timely app could have been
created by any health insurance provider or hospital.
The “I’m a flu fighter” campaign goes even further to best industry
practice by integrating their message across multiple touch points
including Twitter, Facebook, the website, YouTube and an RSS feed.
What is truly inspiring about this program is that it is ultimately
low cost yet highly effective in using the network effect.
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25. 5. Provi d e va l u e
Because of the educational aspects of social media,
marketers should consider the benefits in providing educational
value. Value can be delivered in the form of consumer-oriented
news, entertainment, conversation-starters, promotions, and,
as discussed earlier, applications. In the video space where over
10.2 billion videos are streamed per month (July 2010, Brightcove),
not all videos should be corporate films with talking heads. Why not
take video to a higher level and deliver a deeper story and message.
Yes, a cancer patient will seek out a doctor’s perspective. But, why
not more preventive or wellness oriented messaging? This is a
social space that is virtually untapped at present.
Given the broad interest and confusion relating to the health care
bill, one would expect that health care organizations would see the
opportunity in commanding a leadership position in helping consumers
to understand the bill and its implications. Our search across the social
space netted one organization, BlueCross BlueShield of Michigan,
leading with this important message.
In respect to our point about integration, another of our Best Practices,
BlueCross BlueShield of Michigan extends the health care reform
messaging to a prominent section of their website with a call to action,
“Join the conversation” across their range of social media outlets.
48 49

26. 6. Authe n t i c i t y A n d V o i c e 7. Think Mobile
We will try not to belabor the point that any social conversation Social networking through mobile devices is the fastest growing
has to be authentic and must support your brand’s voice. While an use for smartphones, according to digital analytics firm comScore.
obvious point, we think that the need for authenticity is especially
critical in health care communications. All social networks can now be accessed on smartphones either
through a browser or by an app. In fact, the number of people using
here A re f our simp l e g o A l s. social networking applications on their smartphones has grown
by 240% to 14.5 million users since last year.
1. Determine your brand voice. This is how you talk and sound.
Most health care companies will fit between authoritarian, At this point in time, thinking mobile means being aware that
in the good sense, and caring. your social media audience is expanding beyond the desktop and
laptop and that your messages are now being seen in a much
2. Be true to and reflect your mission. broader 24/7 environment.
3. Assign an “editor” who is responsible for maintaining consistency.
4. Consider actually naming the person who is responsible
for your social media conversation. Why be so anonymous?
50 51

27. Active Mobile Apps
8 . M e a s u r e a n d O p t iM i z e
It has been virtually impossible to find hospitals or insurance
companies that have useful mobile strategies. We see both As we mentioned at the start of this discussion, all social programs
patient value as well as health care branding opportunities should lead with objectives. While social media is still in its relative
in two areas. First, using SMS to keep in touch, as appointment infancy, there are tools to help us better understand the value of our
reminders, even compliance. On a richer scale, smartphone apps social programs. We understand that management will be asking,
can be created as information and branding tools to help patients: “Why are we doing this and why are you asking for dedicated social
managers?” Well, in many cases, social media will actually provide
Take scheduled medicaTions
more user data than most health care marketing programs.
Track Pain
s OMe q ua n t i tat i v e Me a sureMen t t O O l s incl ude:
Track smokinG cessaTion
PromoTe beTTer sleeP
The measurement of inbound referrals to your corporate website
as a dieT Tool
from social media sites. Even basic Google Analytics can tell you
PrePare for Procedures
how many visitors are coming from social media.
Why does it seem that only private companies like ThePill.com Facebook has improved their analytics in the form of their Insights
and Livehappy.com are executing in the mobile app space? Dashboard, which shows data for fully integrated sites and sites that
Shouldn’t your hospital or insurance company’s apps be use Facebook’s social plug-ins. Data includes demographics, daily
listed on iTunes App Store? Likes, daily shares, feedback per share and re-share rate.
52 53

28. There are a number of third-party tools that help you
track Twitter stats including, Tweets per hour, per month,
Tweet timeline reply statistics, how many Followers are
online presently, who retweets your messages, what
people are writing about you, even your Tweeting habits.
YouTube can be tracked by individual video performance
detail, including number of views, time spent viewing,
geographic data and trends.
You can also track the conversation universe by using
tools that will scour numerous social platforms for any
mention of your brand. These tools will allow you to break
down search results according to where your brand is
mentioned: Blog posts, images, videos, news items and more.
Now comes the most exciting element of social media—
optimization. Digital discussion is constantly moving and
evolving. A good plan will adapt to the changes and build
on the successes. Each conversation with every customer
is an opportunity to strengthen the relationship.
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29. CONCLUSION
YouTube
A P Ath t o S u c c eS S
Next we recommend YouTube for added brand visibility. Your videos
Our discussions with health care marketers indicate that they
should be informative, interesting (not too many white coats please) and
face a significant daily hurdle: How to staff and manage labor-
search engine optimized to grow traffic. These health care videos play
intensive social media programs.
triple duty by being shared across your Facebook and primary website.
citrus recommends that marketers prioritize their needs based
TwiTTer
on a combination of business objectives, a clear holistic approach
After you have created robust Facebook and YouTube channels, add
and the development of a plan based on staffing requirements.
Twitter to your mix. Twitter primarily offers a platform for promotions
In general, we recommend starting with Facebook.
and customer service. Twitter requires daily feeding and offers direct
communications with your Followers. If you publish high-value,
FA ceboo k
high-interest Tweets, your messages will be shared.
Facebook offers a very large audience, consumer engagement, two-
way conversations and the amplification of messaging through viral
ciTrus services
momentum. Create a branded experience though the development
citrus is a group of marketers, designers, thinkers, and strategists
of a custom designed opening page and apps that deliver active
committed to delivering integrated communication programs
engagement. A key goal will be building a strong base of Fans
that connect, inspire and motivate.
that “Like” your Fan page so be active in asking for those “Likes.”
We believe that it is our job to help clients move their audience
Assign the management of Facebook to an experienced marketer who
to action. We help provide the fuel that feeds imagination that
can be trusted with your company’s voice. As we mentioned earlier, we
ignites action... that moves people.
think that you should consider actually naming this person (Proctor &
Gamble does) so your out-bound messaging and dialogue sound authentic.
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30. Conta Ct
If you are interested in our strategic advice on social
media programs and how they fit into and support
your master marketing objectives, give us a call.
citrus
107 SE Washington Street, suite 620
Portland, OR 97214
Peter Levitan, President & CEO
peter.levitan@hellocitrus.com
o: 541.550.4255
Tracy White, Marketing Director
tracy.white@hellocitrus.com
o: 541.550.4246
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