In his SocialMedia.org Health case study presentation, Rush University Medical Center's Web Managing Editor and Social Media Manager, Thurston Hatcher, talks about how Rush is creating more shareable and social media-friendly health and wellness content to promote on their social channels.

1. Member Meeting 2
October 25, 2016
New York City
Learn more about Member Meetings
health.socialmedia.org/meetings
Rush University Medical
Center
Thurston Hatcher
Optimizing health and wellness
content for social media

2. Optimizing Health and Wellness
Content for Social Media
Oct. 25, 2016
Thurston Hatcher
thurston_hatcher@rush.edu

3. Rush University Medical Center
2
• 664-bed academic
medical center on
Chicago’s near West
Side
• a.k.a. Gaffney Chicago
Medical Center on
“Chicago Med”
• 57,000+ Facebook
followers
• 15,500+ Twitter
followers

4. What to Post?
• Launched social media in
2009
• Initially, content was
heavily reliant on
– Photography
– News releases
– External content
– Rush InPerson blog
– Rush News Blog
3

5. 2009-2012
• Rush InPerson was content hub: Strong first-
person stories from doctors, patients
• Effective for engagement, brand awareness
• Not driving traffic to Rush consumer website
• Dated, unattractive website
4

6. Rush InPerson Blog
5
Rush InPerson features first-person stories by doctors, nurses, patients, faculty
members and other staff

7. Content Marketing
6
The rise of content

8. In Plain Sight
• Discover Rush: Quarterly
newsletter distributed to
150,000+ households
• Discover Rush Online:
Monthly e-newsletter with
3,280 subscribers
• Rush Generations:
Quarterly e-newsletter for
older adults
7

9. In Plain Sight
8We had the content, but weren’t taking advantage of it for social

10. Health Info on Facebook
9
• Health content gradually became a key source of Facebook, Twitter
content.
• Problem: posts limited by dated website, inability to adjust metadata

11. Content Adjustments
• More high-engagement
content with broader appeal
(dog-walking injuries, health
benefits of coffee,
relationships)
• More evergreen content
• More lists (“5 Facts About …”
• Improved recipe presentation
• Balanced with focus on key
service lines
10

12. Discover Health (new & improved)
11
• New website launched Sept. 2014
• More reader-friendly
• Easy to add Open Graph, Twitter Card info
• Still, limited engagement on rush.edu

13. Discover Health 2.1
12
New Health & Wellness section launched in May 2016

14. Discover Health 2.1
13
More calls to action:
o Appointment
requests
o Doctor profiles
o Related stories
o Related videos
o Trending stories
o Email signup
o Prominent,
clingy social
share icons

15. Redesigned Recipes
14
Optimizing
with Rich
Pins
metadata
for Pinterest

16. Facebook
15
Increasing frequency of Facebook posts

17. Twitter
16
• Increasing frequency of tweets, 8-10 daily, including weekends.

18. Social Media Referrals
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
40000
45000
50000
1-Jan 1-Mar1-May 1-Jul 1-Sep 1-Nov 1-Jan 1-Mar1-May 1-Jul 1-Sep 1-Nov 1-Jan 1-Mar1-May 1-Jul 1-Sep 1-Nov 1-Jan 1-Mar1-May 1-Jul 1-Sep
Monthly referrals to rush.edu from leading social media sites
Google+
Pinterest
LinkedIn
YouTube
Twitter
Facebook
17Source: Google Analytics
Trending Alzheimer’s post on Facebook

19. Social Media Referrals
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
1-Jan 1-Mar1-May 1-Jul 1-Sep 1-Nov 1-Jan 1-Mar1-May 1-Jul 1-Sep 1-Nov 1-Jan 1-Mar1-May 1-Jul 1-Sep 1-Nov 1-Jan 1-Mar1-May 1-Jul 1-Sep
Monthly referrals to rush.edu from top social media sites*
Google+
Pinterest
LinkedIn
YouTube
Twitter
Facebook
18*Excluding January 2016; source: Google Analytics

20. Top Health Stories on rush.edu
Rank Story Pageviews
1 What is a Healthy Weight? 5,867,000
4 5 Facts About Chest Pain 158,825
8 Losing Belly Fat 94,756
10 How the Body Regulates Heat 81,042
14 Eating for a Healthy Colon 43,854
17 New Year, New Start 33,388
23 Keeping Your Lungs Healthy 30,706
24 5 Blood Pressure Facts 30,662
25 5 Facts About Shoulder Injuries 30,330
30 Jumpstart Your Weight Loss 20,920
19
Google Analytics, Oct. 1, 2015-Sept. 30, 2016

21. Height-Weight Chart
20
Height-weight chart: 5.8 million views, Oct. 1, 2015-Sept. 30, 2016 (43.6% of all rush.edu traffic)

22. Discover Health Email vs. Social
Story Email Social
Views Bounce Views Bounce
10 Early Signs of Alzheimer’s 412 66.77% 2,244 94.75%
Your Aching Feet 449 62.54% 337 66.96%
The Truth About Toxins 599 92.75% 2,806 89.23%
Health Benefits of Cleaning 337 57.25% 486 90.78%
Does Your Relationship Need
a Checkup?
258 67.12% 898 91.29%
21
Social drives traffic, but email has lower bounce rate, more time on page

23. Sharing
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
Mar-16 Apr-16 May-16 Jun-16 Jul-16 Aug-16 Sep-16
Social/email shares from rush.edu
AddThis
Social
icons
(Health &
Wellness)
22
Source: Google Analytics/AddThis

24. Social Conversions
2015 2016
Appointments 7 7
Newsletter
sign-ups
29 100
Event sign-ups 1 0
Ask an Expert 0 1
23
Discover Health articles
Room for improvement

25. Next Steps
• Increased focus on Pinterest
• More $ for boosts, page followers
• Increase email subscriptions
• Improved content calendar/coordination
• Quicker turnaround to capitalize on trending
stories
24

26. health.socialmedia.org/meetings
Member Meeting 2
October 25, 2016
New York City
Learn more about Member Meetings
health.socialmedia.org/meetings
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