Social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook are continuously evolving, even when healthcare organizations aren't ready. The Mayo Clinic and Baylor Health have embraced social media and are sharing best practices with others.
No hospital or health system takes social media as seriously as the Mayo Clinic. Its peers have looked to Mayo as a leader in healthcare quality and medical research for decades, and now they turning to the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media (MCCSM) for help with how to engage with patients and employees on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and an expanding array of social media channels.
"The whole idea is to help healthcare organizations figure it [social media] out," says Lee Aase, director of MCCM.
For some hospital marketers, nothing is more cringe-inducing than social media. It can seem overwhelming to "figure out," as Aase says, even though the premise of every social media channel, whether it is YouTube or Facebook is simple: Communicate with patients.
One of the reasons that social media is still such a hurdle for health systems and hospitals lies in the fact that the technology supporting it changes quickly, therefore changing the way the audience views carefully crafted content.
Take Apple's new operating system for the iPhone, iOS7. A new camera, web browsing capabilities, and file sharing features will impact the way content is viewed, meaning that marketing messages may have to be reconfigured to maintain a positive user experience and audience metrics.
Facebook and LinkedIn are two other platforms that are continuously evolving, even when organizations aren't ready. The rapidly changing pace of technology and quantity of ways to communicate is enough to induce not only head-spinning, but head-burying (in the sand). Healthcare organizations are aware of the industry's reputation for being latecomers to social media, and most are at least acknowledging the need to join the conversation because patients expect it.
Path to social media begins with one click
Mayo makes the transition from no-presence to some-presence on social media easy for hospitals, no matter the size. The center's resources are geared to helping novices and advanced practitioners.
Its Social Media Health Network, a project of MCCM, connects more than 130 hospitals and other healthcare related organizations to share best practices. And the members' names are not just a who's who of hospitals. It includes smaller facilities, too, such as Faquier Health, a 97-bed hospital in Warrenton, VA.
In the years since MCCM debuted with podcasting in 2005, Mayo's social media presence has grown to more than 570,000 Twitter followers. It's Facebook and YouTube presence is equally enviable. And there's no real "secret" to social media, says Aase.
Aase asserts that instead of thinking of social media as big ball of confusion, it should be thought of more like the USDA food pyramid. An organization's use of social media channels need to be balanced and focused toward specific goals.
Going Big
Of course, there are health systems that have jumped into social media seemingly fearlessly. Dallas-based Baylor Health Care System, which boasts multiple blogs, a strong Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube presence, has also used Google+ for some of its specific social media pushes.
In 2012, Baylor Health relied on the relatively new social media channel to host a hangout with one the breakout characters in its three-part documentary about cancer called Dallas Hope. Each 30-minute episode chronicled the lives of three cancer patients at a Baylor Health facility.
The aim of the program, which aired on a local ABC affiliate, was to increase awareness of the system's new Sammons Cancer Center complex. Promoting the show on its blog, on Twitter and Facebook, helped drive traffic to the show's landing page. The show's content definitely resonated with viewers. Baylor Health's Facebook reach doubled from 1,436 before Dallas Hope to 3,098, after the program aired. There were 200 #DallasHope Twitter posts, and 7,200 YouTube views.
Baylor Health's focus on social media paid off. An estimated 25% of the web traffic was driven by social media efforts.
Learning Curves
Figuring out social media a destination—there‘s no real end point. Instead it's a constant process of learning what is working for a specific organization at a specific time to reach a specific goal. And whether you consider your health system or hospital a beginner or advanced player, there is still a lot to learn.
Lee Aase, director of MCCM, and Ashley Howland, social media manager at Baylor Health will participate in a HealthLeaders Media webcast, Mayo Clinic & Baylor Health Care System: Social Media Marketing Playbook, July 24th.
Jacqueline Fellows is a contributing writer at HealthLeaders Media.