Health Care Social Media: Best Practices and Tips for Success

Lee Aase (@LeeAase) Mayo Clinic Center for Social MediaHealthcare Communicators of OregonFall Conference 2014November 7, 2014

Workshop: Best Practices and Tips for Success

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Agenda• Developing the right mindset• Starting with Strategy• Platform-specific tips and best practices• Discussion

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SMUG Thesis #14: Strategic thinking about social media is no substitute for action

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#29: Your kids arenʼt smarter than you are. Theyʼre just not afraid to look dumb.

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From Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation:Think Big. Start Small. Move Fast.TM

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The MacGyver Mindset

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• Why were you hired?• What problems do you need to solve for your

employer?• What existing programs do you have in place?• How could social strategies strengthen those

programs with an interactive dimension?

Start with Strategy

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• Who is currently gathering on a given platform?

• What platform features could be put to beneficial use?

• How could the platform be adapted for a non-traditional use?

• Is your use case compelling enough to get your audience to try a new platform or use an existing one in a non-traditional way?

Develop understanding of relevant platformsʼ capabilities, communities

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• Donʼt protect your tweets• Improve readability w/Camel Case (@LeeAase

v. @leeaase; #MayoClinic v. #mayoclinic)• #Hashtags help to a point. That point is two.• Use the symplur.com hashtag directory• Consider a custom link shortener (i.e.

mayocl.in vs. bit.ly)• 100 is the new 140

Top Twitter Tips

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• Organic reach has plummeted• Sharing > Liking• Images boost engagement• Consider and test boosting posts vs. other

advertising

Finer Points of Facebook

Reach: 23,856

4.6% of “Fan” base

Reach: 59,104

11.2%

Reach: 149,952

28.4%

Reach: 138,688

26.3%

Reach: 529,152

100.1%

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• Donʼt hesitate to Annotate• Optimize Titles, Tags, Descriptions• The right video length isnʼt necessarily what

youʼve been told• “Shoot first. Ask questions later.”• Four factors that massively improve quality:

Stability. Sound. Framing. Lighting.

YouTube Usefulness

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• Integration point; social media “home base”• Boost SEO • Embed videos, slide decks• Feeds make static site more dynamic• Social sharing buttons drive referrals• Framework for an “owned” community

Blogging Benefits, Best Practices

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• Some content can be universally available• Various levels of access based on individual

permissions for logged-in users• Mobile optimized• Option to link to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

accounts• Customization opportunities with possible cost

sharing on generally applicable feature requests• Secure, HIPAA-compliant groups

Power, Flexibility of CareHubs Wordpress-based Community Platform

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Recap• Deepen your understanding to think like MacGyer• Start with strategy, but donʼt let the perfect be the

enemy of the good• Social strategies should be part of any

communications/marketing initiative unless you have good reasons to not include them

• Good reasons to not include social are rare