1. Making the Business Case for Social
Media and Getting Started
Lee Aase
Manager, Syndication and Social Media
Mayo Clinic
#AHIP
November 18, 2009

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

3. A Grandpa who appreciates the
power of Facebook

6. Disclaimers
• These results not typical
• Use as directed
• Read and follow label directions
• Side effects may include vertigo, watery
eyes, crackberry thumb and iPhone
application addiction
• Social media tools are an essential part of a
balanced communications diet
• If insufficient media coverage persists,
consult your communications doctor
• Batteries not included
• Some assembly required
• Your mileage may vary

7. Disclosures
• No financial interest in any product or
service mentioned in this presentation
• Full-time salaried employee of Mayo
Clinic

8. Today’s Goal:

9. Help you make the case that
social media tools are...
• Immensely powerful
• Consistent with your organization’s
values (or should be)
• Free (or ridiculously inexpensive)
• and...

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

21. 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

22. 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

23. #2: Electronic tools merely
facilitate broader, more
efficient transmission by
overcoming inertia and
friction

25. #3: The mass media era was
a temporary anomaly

26. Evolution of Community
• Local: Pre-1930
• National: 1930-2005, made possible by
mass media
• Global: Post-2005, individuals members
of multiple communities of interest
without regard to geography
• Succeeding levels build upon earlier
stages without completely supplanting

28. #4: Social media are the
third millennium’s defining
communications trend

30. #7: Hand-wringing about
merits and dangers of social
media is as productive as
debating gravity.

31. What else do patients
know about you?
 Copyright 2009, Health Grades, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

32. #9: Mass media will remain
powerful levers that move --
and are moved by -- social
media buzz.

38. #10: Social media strategies
can’t compensate for an
inferior offering or bad service

39. United Breaks Guitars Breaks United

41. #11: Social media strategies
can help make a product,
service or experience better

42. #13: Social media offer
unprecedented opportunity
for transformational change
and productivity

44. #14: Strategic thinking about
social media is no substitute
for action

45. Tips on Personal Steps to Explore
• Establish a permanent personal email
• Get profiles in Facebook, LinkedIn
• Get a Twitter account
• Get a Flip camera (or iPhone 3G S?)
• Create a personal YouTube account
• Start a personal Blog

46. Starter Steps for Nonprofits
• Claim your Twitter “handle”
• Create a Facebook “fan” page
• Create a YouTube channel

47. #17: Social media are free in
any ordinary sense of the
word (or at least ridiculously
inexpensive)

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

51. In England, based on current
exhange rates:
£0,00

52. In the European Union:
€0,00

53. Cost for a Standard Definition
Flip Video Camera
$149.99
HD available for an additional $50

55. podcasts.mayoclinic.org

56. newsblog.mayoclinic.org

57. sharing.mayoclinic.org

58. Yearly Cost for a
Customized Blog
$75.00

59. Cost for Your Global TV Station
and Publishing Platform
$300.00

60. #18: As I approaches zero,
ROI approaches infinity

63. #19: MacGyver is the model
for social media success

64. The MacGyver Mindset

66. Mayo Clinic Medical Edge
News Media Syndications

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

68. Step 2: More, Longer Podcasts

70. #20: Social media enable
authentic communication if
you don’t purposefully
complicate things

72. Key Tool: Flip Video Camera*
• Affordable
• Recording interviews (with tripod)
improves existing processes
• Authenticity without writer’s cramp
• Provides potential blog resources
− Audio of full interview
− Video excerpts
• Limited group of video editors to ease
adoption, ensure quality

74. Case Study: Simple Storytelling
• 8:45 a.m. Colleague mentions article
coming off embargo at 3 p.m.
• Interviewed M.D. via Flip at 10:20
• Edited video, had password-protected
post on blog by 11:55 for pitching
• Uploaded files to YouTube channel
• WSJ Health Blog used video

76. #24: Compelling content is
much more valuable than
advertising time or space

77. The Octogenarian Idol Story
• Alerted to interesting video of elderly
couple playing piano in Gonda atrium
• Video shot by another patient and
uploaded to YouTube by her daughter
• Video had been seen 1,005 times in six
preceding months since upload
• Embedded in Sharing Mayo Clinic,
posted to Facebook, Tweeted on 4/7/09

78. The next day...

79. Six days later...

80. April 22

81. Sunday, May 3

84. May 4

85. Cinco de Mayo

86. May 10

88. May 11

89. May 12

90. May 15

91. Early Morning May 26

92. May 26, 2009: Live in Studio
Good Morning America

94. Results to Date
• More than 5 million views on YouTube
• >1.4 million views on Sharing Mayo Clinic
• From 200 views/month to 5,000 views/hour
• Validation of Thesis #26

95. #26: Your mileage may vary,
but you’ll go a lot further if
you get a car.

96. 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 1969
− Pitney Bowes free fax machines and
supplies in 1989
− YouTube, Facebook and Twitter free in
2009

97. If getting involved in social
media doesn’t excite you...

98. #28: Paying for advertising
while not taking advantage
of FREE social media tools
isn’t particularly astute

99. A Story from Facebook...

103. Tamiko says...
“I’ve had lots of people ask me about the
YouTube video and I’ve told at least 30
people they should go to Mayo. ”

106. The most harmful TV show in
U.S History?
• Married with Children?
• Baywatch?
• The Survivor series?
• The A-Team?

109. “Kids will take a chance.
If they don’t know,
they’ll have a go.”
-- Sir Ken Robinson, TED 2006

110. #29: Your kids aren’t smarter
than you are. They’re just
not afraid to look dumb.

111. #33: Social media will
decrease diffusion time for
research and innovations

113. Thesis 9 and 33 Combined!

114. Mayo Clinic/USA Today #kidsflu
Twitter chat 8-9 p.m. ET tonight

115. #34: Challenges of
introducing social media in
healthcare are not unique

116. Businesses Already Revolutionized
• Music - iTunes vs. Tower Records
• Classified Advertising - eBay, Craigslist
• Bookstores
• Movie rentals - Local, Blockbuster, Netflix
• All mass media
• Video cameras
• See The Innovator’s Dilemma; TI Solution
and TI Prescription - Clayton Christensen

117. #35: Social technologies will
transform healthcare

118. How can we accelerate the pace?
• Free/low-cost practical experiments
− Virtual support groups w/medical pros
− More collaboration within and among
organizations via Yammer, Twitter, etc.
− Share case studies within industry
• Fund some experiments in care delivery or
case management

120. If you have an iPhone, Let’s Bump!

121. If not, contact me by...
• Googling Lee Aase or SMUG U
• @LeeAase on Twitter
• aase.lee@mayo.edu
• Continue conversation at #AHIP, or via
SMUG comments