This document outlines a framework for healthcare organizations to develop an evidence-based social media strategy. It recommends establishing clear objectives, audiences, and guidelines. A pilot project should formalize the strategy, provide a process for managing social channels, and allow organizations to experiment and learn. The framework involves identifying goals for existing social properties, creating content plans, and setting metrics for success. It also provides tips for setting up accounts, building communities, and reviewing progress over several months to refine the strategy based on lessons learned. The overall message is that social media can support organizations if done through a thoughtful, evidence-based process while staying true to defined parameters.
5. 5
“We need an
Instagram
account for
our
cafeteria.”
“The pharmacy
wants a
Facebook
page.”“Doctor so-and-
so Googled
himself and
didn’t like what
he saw.”
“What about a
‘dogs of our
urgent care
clinics’ account
17. Phase One: Leveraging existing
social
properties and growing
engagement
Identify
goals and
define
audience
Create a
content plan
Budget?
Set your
timeline
Tips
17
18. Phase Two: Establishing a
social presence
Setting up and
securing
accounts
Content
calendar and
plan
Boosting and
budgeting
Monthly and
quarterly
reporting
Tips
Community
guidelines
18
32. That’s nice, Jen. Now what?
Take a deep breath
Stay true to the strategy
Measure, report, repeat
Create parameters you can
trust
Find and love your sources.
32
Born at TG; love sharing this photo b/c Polariod and post office was the fastest way to share a photo of a baby in 1982
Studied journalism and have followed my professional path as it’s unfolded. Unintentional health care marketer who is a copywriter and creative at heart.
MultiCare is the largest community-based, locally-governed health system in the state of Washington. We are not-for-profit and our system includes 9 hospitals, 240+ clinics, 1,978 beds, 17,256 employees, 1,467 employed providers. In 2018 8,689 babies were born in our hospitals.
Let’s start with a spooky story…it was clear black night, a clear white moon…it started at a board meeting, where most horror stories begin. The meeting between our CEO and regional leaders was coming to a close when a doctor from a practice we acquired said “My practice can’t market the way we used to because we don’t have a Facebook page.” The CEO
Situation
Frustration and misperceptions
Objectives
Education and access
Audience
Everybody in the system
Deliverables
Documentation and process
Success
Elevated perception of social
Stakeholders accessing documents
Participants setting goals and meeting them
Understanding of current social activities
We want them to know more about the system’s social media program.
We want them to feel excited about the opportunity and supported by the process.
We want them to try social media.
Know feel do
State of Social Media documentSocial media footprint
Where is MultiCare? Who manages the accounts? How is it managed?
Approach & philosophy
Brand + patient experience
Standards + engagement
Greatest hits
Top Facebook and Instagram posts for 2018
Results
Blog and web traffic, donations and conversion metrics
Best practices
Inform, teach inspire
Dos and don’ts for photos
Facts
Stats about social
One Pilot in two phases.
Establishing and securing accounts
Collab with social team
Content calendar and plan
Ideas to get started
Boosting and budgeting
Recos for targeting and spending
Monthly and quarterly reporting
Template provided
Tips
Cross-promote
Original photos
Refence best practices
Templates for community guidelines
Copy/paste
As part of the Pilot we also developed guidelines for responding to negative feedback that includes our reputation management strategy overview, context for how consumers read reviews, contacts in patient advocacy, response protocols, our four tiers of negative feedback and an appendix with examples.
Does your hospital have a fundraising bicycle ride? So does ours?! This year Mary Bridge Children’s Courage started an Instagram page. This is a small but very engaged community and the interest for Instagram began with riders. The ride is pretty spectacular, it goes across a mountain pass on the Eastern part of the state is filled with photo-ops. The Foundation team launched the Instagram account through our Pilot project and has been pleased with the slow and steady growth.
Dogs. So this was an evolution so I’m going to share the origins and interest in this account because I believe it will be very familiar for many of you. Daze, wanted IG, didn’t have IG, decided not to. Told Daze’s story through MB page. Then comes Olaf. Kristen interest, meeting…decided to make it about facility dogs and had 300 followers in the first month. This works because it’s a community connection. It’s also something that exists in real life. Real life interactions and experiences drive online engagement, amirite? This also works because we aren’t trying to change perception/ideas or sell people something. It’s an extension of our community and it’s working. People meet the dogs in real life, they get trading cards that have this IG account and then have the chance to stay connected from afar. Who wouldn’t want that?!
It’s too soon to tell with this page but I’m going to loop you in on the top secret scoop from my brain. Because I know exactly why we’re here and where this is going. The growth has been slow but you can reverse engineer the request that lead to this page. You can probably also related to the challenges: Care line wants a Facebook Page and Instagram account. Care line gets both. Care line too busy to supply content.
So here’s the thing with this page that is a little magical. I could have said all of these things 6 months ago (and I probably did) but people would not have heard them.People don’t want to connect with care lines or services. They want to connect with community. There’s value in flop and failure. That’s something I know as a parent, I’m always teaching my kids to fall forward. But at work we don’t embrace it the same way. The value in the flop here is to learn
We created new sources for content, grew our community, found new ways to engage with our community and amplified our efforts. We also developed new ways to engage with our communities and build on relationships. And it forced us to be disciplined and document our approach and procedures and protocols.
Social media road show, added a team member and created a page on our intranet with Social media information including these flow charts to help people navigate their interest in social.
Take a deep breath. It’s not open-heart surgery or a neck tattoo. It’s also normal to feel panic when organizational charges challenge your professional philosophies. Ask questions and listen for opportunities in your leaders’ answers.
Stay true to the strategy. Sometimes things in life let us down (I’m looking at you, Facebook algorithm) but you can always count on your strategy to catch you and be your guide. If the work can tie back to the strategy, your leaders will be happy and you’ll be able to sleep at night.
Measure, report, repeat. Numbers never lie. Use your analytics to track the performance of everything you do on the Internet. Report the performance to key stakeholders and involve people and numbers in planning your next move.
Create parameters you can believe in and trust. Guidelines and decision trees aren’t sexy — but they set everyone up for success. Make time at the front end of any major change to get your support documents dialed in.
Find and love your sources. This is by far my favorite lesson. Find your internal sources and creatives and make them feel like a part of your team. Celebrate their successes and figure out how to amplify the content they create to help tell the big brand story.