Health Communicator's Guide to Social Media (J. Schindelar)

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Health Communicator’s Guide to Social Media
At the Crossroads of Social Media and Clinical Trials: A
Workshop on the Future of Clinician, Patient and
Community Engagement
June 8, 2018
Jessica Schindelar, MPH
CDC Social Media Team Lead
Office of the Associate Director for Communication

2. Getting the right message
to the right audience
at the right time
is critical to changing behavior.
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

3. Why Is Social Media Important?
Social media is a primary way people now discover digital content
Translate research and policy into actionable plain language
Increase direct engagement
Share relevant content in new spaces
Reach new and unique audiences
Listen and respond in real-time
Support CDC mission of saving lives & protecting people
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

4. Keys to Success with Social Media
Strategy
Good Content
Engagement
Evaluation
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

5. Social Strategy
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

6. Think Strategically
Who is your audience?
What are you trying to achieve?
Where can social media support your strategy?
What are your existing resources?
What social media tactics will you use?
What does success look like?
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

7. Social Media Goals
Reach/Awareness Information Sharing
Engagement Education + Conversations
Influence Share of Voice
Advocacy Message Spread
Action Traffic + Behavior
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

8. Social Media Tools
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

9. Facebook
2.2 BILLION monthly active users
Reach is earned through engagement
Well suited to sharing information, raising
awareness, engaging with audiences, and
advocacy
Images and video are most shared content types
Consider using Facebook Live for richer audience
engagement
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

10. Twitter
336 Million monthly active users
Well-suited for information sharing, raising
awareness, and driving traffic back to your website
Include media: images, videos, gifs perform better
than text alone
Include links and consider using Twitter Cards
Experiment with threaded tweets, polls
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

11. Instagram
800 Million monthly active users
Well suited for engagement and awareness
building, advocacy
Instagram is all about great visuals
Videos must be short
Hashtags work well for discovery
Links aren’t clickable doesn’t drive web traffic
Consider Instagram Stories
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

12. LinkedIn
562 Million registered users
Well suited for education, information
sharing and thought leadership
Content geared toward professional audience
performs well
Individual training, recruitment, and
professional development
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

13. Creating Effective Content
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

14. Rule 1
Mobile First
Social media users are on a mobile device.
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

15. Rule 2
One Second
You have just one second to catch your audience’s attention.
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

16. Rule 3
Be Engaging
Be human. Use language your audience uses.
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

17. Be of service. Educate, empower, and inspire your audience.
Rule 4
Provide Value
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

18. More Tips for Social Media Success
1. Post regularly, when your audience is online
2. Engage with your community
3. Use hashtags, carefully
4. Use @ mentions & tagging
5. Avoid multiple calls-to-action
6. Stay on top of platform changes
7. Learn from successes and failures
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

19. Questions?
@CDCgov #clinicaltrialsSM

20. For more information, contact CDC
1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636)
TTY: 1-888-232-6348 www.cdc.gov
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the
official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Thank you!
Jessica Schindelar
ghq1@cdc.gov
404-498-6174
@jaschin

21. http://www.cdc.gov/socialmedia/tools/guidelines/index.html
CDC Social Media Resources