1. Utilizing Social Media to Market
and Communicate
Lessons from Mayo Clinic
Lee Aase (@LeeAase)
Director, Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media
#MCCSM
April 8, 2011

2. About Lee Aase (@LeeAase)
• B.S. Political Science
• 14 years in politics and government at
local, state, national levels
• Mayo Clinic since April 2000
− Media relations consultant
− Manager since 2004
− Media Relations/Research Comm
− Syndication and Social Media

4. Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media
• Our Raison d’etre: The Mayo Clinic Center
for Social Media exists to improve health
globally by accelerating effective application
of social media tools throughout Mayo Clinic
and spurring broader and deeper
engagement in social media by hospitals,
medical professionals and patients.
• Our Mission: Lead the social media
revolution in health care, contributing to
health and well being for people everywhere.

5. Social Media Health Network
• Membership group associated with
Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media
• For organizations wanting to use social
media to promote health, fight disease
and improve health care
• Dues based on organization revenues
• Industry members, but no industry
grant funding

6. One of my heroes...

10. A Brief History of Social Media
at Mayo Clinic ...

11. Mayo Clinic Medical Edge
Syndicated News Media Resources

12. First Foray in “New” Media
• Existing Medical Edge radio mp3s
• Launched Sept. ‘05; Downloads up
8,217 percent Oct. vs. Aug.

13. Regrouping to Plan
Just as genomics is the future of personalized
medicine, personalized media are changing the
way people get the news and information they
want and need. But as genomics increasingly
supplements and improves traditional medicine
without replacing it, new media are helpful
additions to mainstream, mass media. We
strongly recommend reforming our processes
to efficiently produce content that can be used
for both mass media and personalized media.
Content Creation Task Force, 7/26/2006

14. We recommend a three-phase approach. First,
take our existing products and, with minimum
incremental effort, place them in new media
formats. Second... work across teams ... to make
best use of the audio and video production
resources we have. Third, get more resources...
to produce timely or even daily content...
We have not recommended a blog strategy at
this time, primarily because we have emphasized
developing audio and video content that could
have multiple uses in both mass media and
personalized media, with relatively limited
physician involvement.

15. My First Blog Post - 7/30/06

16. Jan. ’07 - Warming to Blogging

17. Private Blog for Public Affairs

18. Free Wordpress.com option

19. Our First Social Media
Consultant: Feb. 2007

20. Executing Phase One Strategy

22. @LeeAase on Twitter: 3/13/07

23. Personally Exploring Business
Uses of Facebook - Aug. ‘07

24. Blogging an Event: Nov. 2007

25. Discovering Involuntary Social
Network Representation

26. Facebook: 11/7/07

27. A Pivotal Presentation

35. Second Consultant: Jan. 2008
“The world has voted, and we want to
watch videos on YouTube.”

36. Reclaiming YouTube: Feb. ’08

37. Joining The Blog Council
• Membership organization of blogging
“companies”
• Typically Fortune 500 members
− Coca-Cola, P&G, Wells Fargo, etc.
− Mayo Clinic, Kaiser Permanente, U.S.
Navy among “non-traditional” members
• Now the Social Media Business Council

38. @MayoClinic on Twitter: 4/29/08

39. Podcast Blog: April ’08

40. Transforming YouTube Channel
• Started with Medical Edge TV foundation
• Coca-Cola Conversation @ Blog Council

41. The $4-a-month online newsroom

45. Let’s Talk “site” - May 2008

46. Sharing Mayo Clinic - Jan. 2009

47. Wordpress MU Platform

48. A Broader Historical Perspective...

54. Thesis #1: Air was the
original social medium

56. Mayo Clinic and Word of Mouth
• 91 percent of patients surveyed say
they have said “good things” to an
average of 40 people after a Mayo visit
• 85 percent say they recommended
Mayo to a friend
− Advised an average of 16 to come
− 5 actually came

57. Sources of Information Influencing
Preference for Mayo Clinic
Word of mouth 84
Stories in the media 57
MD recommendation 44
Advertising 27
Internet/Websites 26
Personal experience 24
Mailings to home 18
0 20 40 60 80 100

58. #2: Electronic tools merely
facilitate broader, more
efficient transmission by
overcoming inertia and
friction

60. #4: Social media are the
third millennium’s defining
communications trend

62. Gutenberg: Global Mass Literacy
Zuckerberg: Global Mass Publishing

63. If you’re still in doubt, ask these guys:

64. #7: Hand-wringing about
merits and dangers of social
media is as productive as
debating gravity.

66. If you think blocking is a viable
long-term option...

68. Implication
• You already have most of the risks...
why not also get some of the benefits
from these powerful tools?

69. #12: Communications and
marketing professionals
who fail to understand
social media flirt with media
malpractice

70. #16: Social media tools
make the once-scarce power
of mass media available to
everyone

72. As Uncle Ben would say...

73. Not that Uncle Ben. This Uncle Ben

75. #17: Social media are free in
any ordinary sense of the
word (or at least ridiculously
inexpensive)

76. Total Cost for Mayo Clinic
Facebook, YouTube and Twitter
$0.00

77. In the European Union, based on
current exchange rates:
€0,00

78. Answers to Objections
• “But what about the cost in staff time to
maintain all of these social media
platforms? They’re not really that
cheap!”
− AT&T free phone service in 1971
− Pitney Bowes free fax machines and
supplies in 1991
− YouTube, Facebook and Twitter are free
in 2011

79. #18: As I approaches zero,
ROI approaches infinity

82. #28: Paying for advertising
while not taking advantage
of free online opportunities
isn’t particularly astute

83. #33: Social media will
decrease diffusion time for
research and innovations

84. Discovery by Richard Berger, M.D., Ph.D.
Ulnotriquetral (UT) Ligament Split Tear

85. Jayson Werth’s Experience

90. USA Today
Nov 12, 2009
3031031-7

92. Last Friday
3031031-9

93. Less than 24 hours after my initial appointment, I not
only had a new diagnosis - a UT split tear - but had
surgery to correct the problem. As I write this, my
right arm is in a festive green, but otherwise
annoying cast. The short-term hassle, however,
should be more than worth the long-term gain - the
potential for a future without chronic wrist pain. A
future, that without Twitter and those in the medical
community willing to experiment with new
communications tools, might not exist for me.
3031031-10

98. The 37th Thesis
Applying social media in health care isn’t
just inevitable: it’s the right thing to do in
the interest of patients.

99. Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media
• Our Raison d’etre: The Mayo Clinic Center
for Social Media exists to improve health
globally by accelerating effective application
of social media tools throughout Mayo Clinic
and spurring broader and deeper
engagement in social media by hospitals,
medical professionals and patients.
• Our Mission: Lead the social media
revolution in health care, contributing to
health and well being for people everywhere.

101. Social Media Health Network
• Membership group associated with
Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media
• For organizations wanting to use social
media to promote health, fight disease
and improve health care
• Dues based on organization revenues
• Industry members, but no industry
grant funding

102. Social Media Health Network
• Announced Sept. 28, 2010 with six
charter members
• Currently 51 member organizations
• http://socialmedia.mayoclinic.org/
network/

103. Key Benefits
• All employees of member organizations
have access to Network member site
− Curriculum
− Sharing case studies, developing best
(or at least better) practices
• Discounted admission to conferences,
webinars
• No added charge for member meetings,
some workshops, webinars, calls
• Network site as prototype for yours

104. Launched Feb. 10

105. Member Site Features
• Practical, step-by-step “how to”
curriculum
• Sharing of Case Studies, Practices
• Prudential curriculum on Privacy,
Professionalism, Ethics
• Forums for discussion
• Wikis for collaborative resource
development
• Networking with peers

106. Upcoming Events
• Webinars
• Seattle Summit April 13-15, 2011
• Rochester Summit October 17-19, 2011

107. Will you join us in the Revolution?
http://socialmedia.mayoclinic.org/