Use Instagram for Healthcare?

The purpose of this article is to provide you with some information on how to maximize your Healthcare Organization's Business on Instagram   

 

Before we get started I want you you to look at the following logo of a Hospital and pictures from a hospital.  Which of these gives you a better understanding of what a Hospital is like?

  

This statement :      

 

MUSC Children's Hospital. Caring. Sharing. Giving.

 Or, these pictures :

These two pictures are the perfect example of how using Instagram can to tell your story.  The logo statement to the left simply states the facts.  It's boring, bland, and needs something more to portray the environment that it wants its customers to see.  It looks great on a header for a business letter, let's leave it there.  For social media and attracting followers and more consumers, it's time to step it up a bit.

The pictures, on the other hand, can portray a feeling (ie. happy, welcoming, safe, fun, caring) and an image that can stick in someone's mind about their idea of how they remember your business (branding).  The pictures indicate a fun loving environment, something that I don't necessarily get out of the logo, do you?  Plus, I'm much more likely to remember those  pictures than I am a logo.

 

 

OK! You've got my attention

 Tell me MORE

 

 

 

Let's start with the basics: What exactly is Instagram?

• It's an online photo sharing network. Have you ever heard someone say "a picture is worth a thousand words?" Well, that's the basic idea behind Instagram.  Sometimes a picture is all your business needs to brand itself - whether hospital or with health branding.  

• You just take a picture and share it (you can even edit it before it is shared)
• Connects to a variety of other social media tools (i.e.. Facebook)
• You use this application with many different devices: smartphones, tablets, or computers
• Your account can have followers, and you can follow others
• Photos can be found by using a # hashtag 

  

Let me explain why these points are important for your success.  Instagram has over 100 million users, and the odds of some of them being your clients or customers is pretty likely - don't you think?  The nice thing about Instagram is that is uses pictures which help continue to build the brand of company you want to portray - on a more intimate level - by allowing followers to get to see the personality of your business rather that read about it.  Check out my point below.

Rachel Seda shares some other ways on how your hospital or health brand can tell its story

• Don't just talk about the good, take pictures of the staff or brand your ambassadors to start gaining trust and loyalty to show to your fans.  
• Share sneak peek photos such as new products, ads, buildings or events
• Take behind the scenes photos of an event and give live updates to raise awareness about living donor transplants
• Take pictures of the lifestyle you wish to portray - share motivational pictures, healthy nutrition, healthy lifestyle
• Just be fun!  Be creative in how you share your pictures. Stand out from the crowd.  

It's crucial to build a fan base.  Healthcare does not have to be serious all of the time.  Today's digital age followers want quick and simple snippet about what you're trying to portray.  Instagram is perfect for that and at the same time allows your organization's personality to shine through.  I do think redirecting back to your main website for more information is important as well.  I would not recommend using Instagram by itself, but it is a great supplement for your business.  Not to mention it's free, utilize what you have available.  Spending more money does not always equate to getting  more customers.  It's not all about posting pictures, though!

 

 

Instagram may be simple in that it provides mostly pictures, but it is more than just about telling a story.  Here are some examples of how it can be utilized for its maximum potential. 

 

• It can help advocate for Healthcare 

Helen Gregg wrote an article about Downers Grove, an Illinois based Advocate Health Care, who had 670 followers by the second month of joining Instagram.  She mentions that 45% of adult internet users post photos or videos online, and 12% are on Instagram.  The Advocate's first major campaign focused on Breast Cancer Awareness Month using the hashtag #StoriesoftheGirls encouraging women to upload photos of their "best girl moments."  If the hashtag was used, a prize could be won!  The aim was to bring about more cancer awareness, and therefore advocate for breast cancer prevention.  An unexpected result from the campaign was that Advocate Healthcare got to literally see their populations profile - their diversity and what is important to them - which really told them a lot in terms of marketing! As this company continues campaigning with Instagram it will build on branding the service by engaging the consumers.  This is an excellent idea.  Anything you can do to draw consumers in and get them involved will help build the relationship with the community.

• Can promote text-to-give campaigns   

Can you imagine posting ONE single picture on Instagram (for free) and receiving donations from it?  Well, you should! Check out this picture from Save the Children.

This is an example of text-to-give picture.  It has a message on the picture that can easily be shared.  Now, I think it should include a hashtag in order to cluster the conversation about the picture, but this is a fantastic and easy way to raise money real-time.  Instead of going through long drawn out paperwork to raise money, this concept can be posted in a matter of days versus weeks and bring in money faster because of it. 

This is a fantastic way to promote a cause and help get your consumers more involved with the community at the same time.

•  Speaking of hashtags, you can even promote a hashtag fundraising campaign

Sometimes fundraising over a longer period of time can be helpful, which raises awareness at the same time it helps raise funds.

This is a great idea.  Using a hashtag clusters all of the messages together relating to this one topic.  You just have to continue to be involved and not let the momentum slow down.

I would suggest using a different picture weekly in order to keep your followers' attention, and keep sharing the post!

•  Promote fundraising events, promotional discounts, and don't forget to thank your donors!   Check out these pictures to see what other businesses have done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are all wonderful ideas to use Instagram for fundraising and reaching out to the community with very little money spent on advertising or manpower.  The only drawback is that you have to have a little imagination in what you want to create and what you want to say!

 

 

 

Alyssa Anderson wrote an article for Pop Health and says there are a number of public health organizations already actively using Instagram

• Chicago Department of Public Health (By the way, congratulations to the Blackhawks!)
• American Public Health Association
• Austin, TX Department of Health and Human Services (what they did is really great, more to come!)       
• The Red Pump Project (Hey, National HIV Testing Day is June 27!)
• American Cancer Society

If you click on the Red Pump Project link, you'll see how engaging and interactive this company is with their followers.  The pictures include a variety of activities, campaigns, bragging rights from awards they've received, they include short videos, sell tickets to events, show highlights from followers who attended, post informative photos, and even market their products that redirect the followers back to their link.  This is a great site to get ideas on how to diversify your page and keep the interest of your followers.  Just be sure to market to your followers, which may have to adjusted as time changes. This site targets a very specific demographic, be sure not to limit your audience if it is composed of a variety of people. 

 

Here are some ways to formulate and implement effective marketing strategies to help you create a successful Instagram page

 

Cultivate a Following - Engagement is the key to success. Keep up with your followers and do not let this be a one sided relationship, interact with them by commenting back.

Balance fun pictures as well as business pictures-  show your personality (remember the photos of the doctors dresses as clowns?)

Create an occasional video - This is a new feature, but can be fun for a quick short clip to promote or advocate for campaigns

Create trends - You can create a trend with either a hashtag or by mentioning other services or providers.  No need to overdo it, keep it simple yet effective!

Check out the competition - It's OK to look!    

Ask for advice or check out videos to learn more about your specialty.  Here is a great example of how a small business Healthcare Professional asks for tips on how to utilize her Instagram account to its fullest potential.  Pay attention to the following suggestions as you listen:

• Be sure to identify the business in the profile picture
• Must include a bio for a quick explanation to identify your business
• Link your website
• Be sure to represent your brand in your pictures
• Show some personality to help your follows connect to you
• Use hashtags to promote the business - personalize/customize them to stand out and include them in all of the relevant posts
• In order to get followers to visit specific URL's direct them in your posts

  

You should have a goal and a plan in mind in everything that you do with your Instagram account.  Utilizing the points given in this blog and remaining actively involved with your followers can boost your Healthcare business in many ways.

Images from

Dog with glasses

Doctor holding instagram sign
Clown Woman
Clown - Man
Junior Ambassadors - Children's Hospital Los Angeles
Advocate 
Save the Children 
December beard
Breast Cancer Fundraiser

Botanical Choice
Thank you Donors
Thank you Donation
Feeling left out 
Let's get started
Tips
Count me in

Why in the world would Healthcare Organizations use Twitter?

The purpose of this blog is to show you why Twitter is an important tool for Healthcare Organizations and Healthcare Professionals

What exactly IS Twitter?

Twitter is a free social network that allows a user to either write online posts (limited to 140 characters) or read them - over 500 million active users to date.  Here's how you get started 

• Create a profile
• Give a short handle to state who you are
• Upload a photo
• Provide a short description of the yourself
• Start to follow organizations that you are interested in

Check out this video on a successful use of Twitter for Healthcare Organizations and Professionals

This video addresses the large scale population that can be reached on Twitter by the medical director of Cardiology of the Mayo Clinic.  He emphasizes the importance of Twitter to the Healthcare community: it has a broad reach, easy access, and high usability.  These are all great qualities when considering how to makes the best use of your time and money as a Healthcare Organization.  

Here's a great video explaining why Healthcare Managers should be on Twitter.

• One of the points that he emphasis that I think is crucial to understand is that Twitter is not only about SHARING it's about LEARNING - now that's a new way to think about it! 
• He also focuses on the fact that with all of the time constraints managers have today, Twitter can help simplify information to do the job better - quick tips versus lengthy articles.  Who has time to read long articles today? (Except of course if you're a student? :OP)
• Having the option to only follow organizations that you choose to follow helps categorize and narrow down the information that you, as a Healthcare Professional, are genuinely interested in.  
• He also points out that Twitter has become the source of real-time and breaking news, and being in the profession of Healthcare that is an important source to be a part of.  
• Not only that but professional associations are sharing articles and information.  How much easier is it to have all of the organizations you are interested in on one site versus visiting each of them individually?  
• The great thing about Twitter is that it can be used efficiently in only 5 minutes a day!  Time is money, they say :) 

How can twitter be useful for Health Organizations?

• It's an opportunity to deliver information directly to people who actually want to receive it without having to have a large budget set aside for advertising, or waiting for the media to cover the organization.
•  Help amplify a message by reaching target audiences quickly and easily 
• Can help strengthen the reputation of both the organization and area of work

Twitter benefits the Healthcare Professional as well

• An effective tool to engage in colleagues
• Can disseminate important and timely news
• It is a resource to large audiences
• Increases awareness of issues 
• Build and Strengthen networks

There certainly are many reasons why a Healthcare Organization or a Healthcare Professional should get involved with Twitter.  Being able to do so much with such little funding, time and effort is certainly to the benefit of the provider.  Having the ability to share information in real time allows it to be current and much more useful to those who follow.  Having the ability to network with other organizations and healthcare professions opens up a communication forum that is simple yet effective.  The younger generation is online more and more, and Healthcare Organizations have to tap into their world.

Top 10 suggestions for tweeting effectively

1. Include relevant and interesting content - don't be boring
2. Be informative and engage the audience - get information as well as feedback
3. Keep it short - so others can re-tweet you
4. Give credit where credit is deserved - you'll get re-tweeted more if you do
5. There is no rule as to how often you should tweet 
6. Be involved in the conversations and mention partners/organizations
7. Use hashtags such as #healthcare for others to find your message easier
8. Tweet in the afternoon it's the best time to do so
9. Provide links - don't just give a piece of the information give your followers a way to find out more
10. By all means, please, use proper grammar and don't use abbreviations (because not everyone knows them!)

These tips will allow you to be a better tweeter, which will lead you more followers, and broaden the audience you wish to serve.  Keep it interesting, simple, and yet informative. 

Here is an infographic to help you with your Twitter account

• It's a bit overwhelming at first but once you take one section at a time it will help your Healthcare Organization, or you the Healthcare Professional, create smart and effective tweets.  Here are some highlights

• There's a Handle (user name account) which helps you decide who to follow versus the Hashtag which a keyword or topic (the top 10-15 are considered the current trend)
• 80% of what you tweet should be conversations and only 20% should promos
• Join your own tweet subjects to keep them active
• Focus on your passion - it will encourage the audience to see you as the influencer in the industry
• Remove pointless words from your tweet - keep it short and sweet

But, sometimes you have to be careful not to read your feedback incorrectly.  Monitor it Carefully.  Here's an example of what can happen if you don't.

• An article posted about the Chicago Department of Public Health used Twitter because it "reaches groups not widely reached by traditional media and its use is growing in the U.S. and globally."  That sounds great right?
• They released a series of tweets about a policy that would ban electronic cigarettes and received hundreds of feedback tweets against the policy it was trying to regulate.  
• They received great response, but found that a large percentage of users were against the policy but also NOT local.  The locals actually were in favor of the policy.  The opinion of the locals was NOT represented by the feedback because it was overwhelmingly represented by 90% of people from other cities (non-locals).  
• Lesson learned "professionals should be aware of these sorts of coordinated responses to controversial topics and recognize that the sentiment expressed may not be that of their local constituency."  

Though it may sound a bit overwhelming the city still got feedback of what the majority of the public things about this topic and still learned from the experience.  At the end of the day it is a great way to create an interaction - whether for education, survey, feedback, or information.  It's a simple forum that is easy to follow and share.  That ease helps create discussion at a fast pace, and the world of healthcare certainly changes quickly enough for Twitter to be an effective tool for that!

One of ways Twitter creates discussion is with Healthcare Tweet Chats 

Remember the #hashtag discussed earlier?  In simple terms, hashtags cluster conversations together about a specific topic. Symplur.com has an important link to connect Healthcare Organizations or Healthcare Professionals:

• Healthcare Hashtag Project  
• Where healthcare conversations are taking place
• Is a place where you can be discovered and followed within your specialty or disease
• Where you can see what healthcare topics are trending in real-time
• Typically has multiple tweet chats going on at any given point in time

Symplur aims to utilize Healthcare Social Media and Twitter to make the healthcare community more accessible as a whole. 

By utilizing hashtags, the site is attempting to bring together conversations of interest and importance regardless of where healthcare communities live and what time zone they live in.  With social media and faster internet Symplur has found a dramatic upsurge in healthcare communication which can "bring incredible value by segmenting, analyzing and curating online healthcare discussions to answer unique questions and needs."  

• Can you imagine being a physician wanting to have a discussion about a healthcare topic that has you perplexed with anyone, from anywhere in the world, with experiences that you don't have and find answers in a matter of seconds? 
• Can you imagine being a part of the hashtag phenomenon wanting to market your product and finding doctors from around the world who are interested without having to step foot outside your office?
• Can you imagine holding a conference about a topic with people from all over the wold simply by using a hashtag?

It's all possible.  Twitter has the ability to connect Healthcare Professionals in a way that many other social media don't.  Twitter has a way to market a Healthcare Organization and collect information from consumers, gain feedback and share information - for free.  

  

Images found
Twitter Marketing
Healthcare Professional Face
Twitter Bird with X
Doctor using Tablet
Health Chicago
Symplur
Good Ideas Here

Why do Healthcare Organizations need to use LinkedIn??

The purpose of this article is to discuss Healthcare Organizations using the social media site LinkedIn.

Why use LinkedIn? 

LinkedIn is considered to be the world's largest professional network where an online identity can connect your business to others, help find businesses, and be found.  It is a site where the latest news and insights can be shared as well as a place to discover professional opportunities, business deals and new ventures.

 

 

  

LinkedIn is the key to success for Healthcare Organizations!

 It can help in the following ways   

• Branding
• Marketing
• Sales
• Hiring

 

Check out this video for a better understanding of what LinkedIn is

How to   get started

In order to be successful with LinkedIn, your Healthcare Organization has to have a marketing plan so that it can deliver ongoing results.  The Social Media Examiner lists 5 marketing ideas that will help create a comprehensive marketing program:

• Build a Robust company page on LinkedIn.
• Launch a Linked Group based on company or industry
• Create an "All hands on Deck" ongoing through leadership program
• Leverage paid LinkedIn ads and sponsored updates
• Monitor Track and Adjust

 These are all great ideas, however they certainly require a commitment not only from the Organization, but employees as well.  Often long and fluctuating hours worked by healthcare personnel are demanding enough, finding committed employees may be more of a challenge than expected.  Finding someone to specifically monitor, track and adjust the business goals can be a full time position, and making sure that designation takes place at the beginning of this plan is crucial.

What about Non-Profit Healthcare Organizations?

According to the Serenic Connect LinkedIn is one of the top social media channels for nonprofits when wanting to market online, but it's so much more!  LinkedIn can help

• Reach out to prospective donors
• Help find volunteers
• Recruit possible board members

5 LinkedIn tips for Non-Profit companies are noted by this site:

1. Can visit resource pages to build relationships -some of which can be free
2. Keywords can be used to draw the searchers in giving maximum exposure
3. LinkedIn has new showcase pages to help highlight campaigns or programs
4. You can target relevant organizations and influential people

LinkedIn is what you make of it!  If you have a plan, and learn how to use the site for what it offers it can have a large impact on your Non-Profit.  One of the biggest challenges for Non-Profits is funding, and any site that can advertise, market, network and draw attention to the business is well worth the investment!

Here's are four examples of Showcase pages 

that are used heavily for Healthcare Marketing

Healthcare Data Solutions states that these pages are very beneficial to large companies who have multiple brands because each can be put in the spotlight and strategically placed into one portal.  That's great, but smaller businesses can be creative and do the same even if they have less to offer.  Unfortunately, a drawback with LinkedIn is that out of the one million Physicians who are a part of this social media site most are aware of this feature.  LinkedIn is known for posting resumes and allowing Healthcare Organizations to find each other more easily, but with Showcase Pages LinkedIn can be greatly improved in healthcare marketing as well.  More data should be collected and researched to see how Healthcare Organizations have benefited over the last two years from these Showcase Pages. 

The Healthcare Professional can also benefit from LinkedIn

 Andrea Santiago points out why and what you can do on her website about health careers

• It is user friendly 
• It is easy to get connected
• Healthcare hiring managers often post positions - making them easier to find
• Healthcare professionals can be easy to identify by placing themselves into categories: Medical Practice, Hospital and Health care, Pharmaceuticals, Medical Device, Health Wellness and Fitness
• You can join groups in order to connect with other healthcare professionals
• Increase exposure by being proactive and proofreading your profile

 At the end of the day it really is true when people say "you get what you put into it" :O) A little bit of effort from the start can go a long way with a social media site such as LinkedIn.  How much easier can it get?  To have a free site that does most of the work for you is priceless.  If social media did not exist life would be so much more difficult.  Think about it.  Newspapers used to be the go to for anyone looking for a job or looking to hire.  The ability to network, find people who work in the same field, have the option for healthcare organizations to scout you out all at the same time is priceless.  To be able to reach people from across the state, country or even the world at almost no cost to you is invaluable.  One of the biggest features that LinkedIn has over other social media sites is the professionalism it maintains. This site is about business, and those who want to learn about it, associate with it, work in it and be a part of it.

Go check it out, the world is at your fingertip!

Images from:

Globalstudentsuccess

Calldoctormary
Socialmediaexaminer
councilofnonprofits
Chooseust
martofwords
media.licdn
startupist
S-media

Every Health Organization's business should be on Facebook!

"Facebook is primarily a broadcast site, so your focus will be in building and nurturing a community and promoting content to your community so they will eventually make it to your website"

Facebook is important to health organization marketing for a multitude of reasons, here are some tips to using Facebook effectively: 

• patient stories can be shared
• staff achievements can be acknowledged
• community involvement can be expanded
• hospital milestones can be noted
• the latest advancements can be bragged about
• it's a great place for sharing posts from fans
• real time feedback through surveys/questionnaires can be gathered
• data can be shared - such as the latest CLABSI results
• it is a way to be discovered
• it is a way to tailor and target to an audience

Check out this video on how the Boston Children's Hospital has designed their  Facebook page to draw people in.

The page as cover page with their model on the main page, but more importantly tabs along the bottom to encourage views to explore other information about the Hospital.  Their site has videos, external links for information, easy to use search options to find doctors, educational links to learn about treatments and conditions, request appointments, and ways to have a book sent that further encourages fundraising and attending events.  The Facebook page even has stories of prior patients who have had a great experience, examples of younger children reading their free book, research the hospital has been participating in that intertwine with links to the main hospital's website.  This is a great example of utilizing Facebook to draw people in and get them curious about the hospital, and the hospital more involved with the community.

Even small health businesses can flourish on Facebook!

Here's are just a few examples of how 100PercentChiropractic has added over 1500 people to their Facebook page (must be signed in to Facebook).  Sites like these can lure in potential clients based on the information they post, and share to encourage Chiropractic health.

• If the site posts X-rays to learn about problems and conditions, they are likely to get shared on Facebook.  Links can be provided for more information - including the Chiropractic office to draw clients into the office. 
• Websites can be shared to encourage a healthier lifestyle - for example Are you texting your way to back pain? 
• Encourage more visitors to the site by having current customers tag friends and family to win a free appointment, and in the meantime having Facebook users advertise your business! 
• Posting snap shot stories/pictures of younger clientele and creating awareness of Chiropractic care through client stories.
• Involving Facebook users for fundraisers and events participating on the business's page in order to encourage visits to the site.  
• Posting videos - providing education to pregnant woman on spinal and epidural anesthesia, potentially drawing in a new demographic to the business. Here's an example of a video that can be posted that could warrant a consultation at the Chiropractic office prior to giving birth.

Facebook is great because Healthcare Organizations can utilize it not only for advertisement but also for education, interaction, linking health care professionals together, addressing current issues, getting feedback in minutes versus weeks - and so much more! It can be a bit intimidating to start a page, just check out CSC's recommendations for effective social media use in healthcare marketing.  Another great source is KunoCreative, which lists the top 5 tips for using Facebook as a healthcare marketing site.




Sites Referenced:

MDG Advertising

Marketo

Vendesocial

Images from:

Static 1

Barziservice

Blogs - why use them

Did my shirt get stained?? 

picture source://www.successfulblogging.com/16-rules-of-blog-writing-which-ones-are-you-breaking/

What on earth is a Blog??

Ever wonder what a blogspot is?  No fear, we are hear to help! Basically a health blog helps you communicate information online to anyone who is curious about what you want to share:

•  post medical links so that others can find further information on other websites 
•  share information about new and exciting technology
•  help clarify any confusion about the latest medical and health related news 
•  remind people about important upcoming events such as blood drives or flu shot clinics
•  give information about the latest medical recalls 
•  and so much more!

Blogs can be used to serve as a platform of information from health organizations to the general public, between the general public and also between medical personnel.

Check out this blog to see how they are used privately for the general public:

The Slender Student

This blog is a great way to encourage
a healthy lifestyle by eating right!

Check out this blog to see how it is used between health care professionals:

Pediatric Education

Continuously posts important information 

to help serve as continuing pediatric education and be used 

as a resource for other medically related persons.   

Check out how this blog is used by the professional health organization:

USDA

This site is a great way to relay information and categorize it according to content.  These blogs are typically written by people who work with the USDA to help explain current topics and then allow for comments by anyone in order to create a dialogue versus simply posting information on a website.  It's a great way to establish a trusting relationship to the public as well as interact with them.  Feedback is important and this type of set up encourages interaction that everyone can see, and educate themselves about.