Posts Tagged: Social Media
When A Crisis Goes Viral
by Rebecca Kirkham on September 7, 2010 | no comments
in Crisis Communications, Healthcare, Social Media
It’s no secret healthcare providers are embracing Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media to connect with patients. According to new research, an estimated 90 percent of hospitals use social media and up to one third have a formal social media plan in place. But embracing social media also means committing to a new level of transparency – something many providers may not fully understand until the chips are down.
While most organizations want to be open and honest in a crisis, many find that’s easier said than done. Too often, the commitment to maintaining transparency gives way to a bunker mentality at the first glare of the media spotlight. That’s why it was refreshing to read about one hospital that not only responded to its critics, but also took the time to really listen to them as well.
Ball Memorial Hospital made national news last month when it issued an apology to a transgender woman who complained she was mistreated during a visit to the hospital’s emergency room. The patient’s Facebook post about her experience went viral, resulting in a full-scale social media assault. To its credit, the hospital addressed the issue head on – acknowledging the incident on its own Facebook page (which had been deluged with negative comments) and issuing a series of statements expressing concern and, ultimately, regret for what had transpired.
But more importantly, Ball Memorial took action. Administrators reached out to the patient to apologize for her experience and involved her in their decision to partner with local advocacy groups to develop lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) awareness and sensitivity training for employees. By gaining her support, the hospital was able to resolve this crisis and take the first steps on the path of change she sought.
This hospital’s very public gaffe – and their skillful handling of the public outcry that ensued – serves as an important reminder of the role transparency should play in not only social media efforts but crisis communications in general. Too often, an organization’s first instinct is to bury its head in the sand when confronted with an ugly truth. Others chose to handle matters privately – a luxury social media forums simply don’t allow. However, throughout this incident Ball Memorial demonstrated a willingness to listen, acknowledge its own failings and provide detailed information about how it would remedy them. The hospital also resisted the urge to remove negative postings on its own Facebook page and, instead, used the forum to address the situation directly through official statements and news articles.
While it’s easy to focus on what Ball Memorial did wrong, I think it’s equally important to give them credit for what they did right. When the situation first became public, the hospital CEO said the institution had “failed to live up to its brand promise.” By addressing the situation publicly and following through with meaningful action, the hospital reclaimed ownership of that promise and used the very forum the helped fuel outrage to quell it. Another great reminder that while maintaining transparency isn’t always easy – it usually pays off.
The Power of Hitting “Forward”
by Rosemary Plorin on August 19, 2010 | no comments
in Marketing, Social Media, Viral Marketing
I am not one to “forward.”
I approach the “forward” button in my email software in a manner similar to how I approached Kenny Niles (name changed to protect the innocent) in seventh grade: with a combination of shyness, modesty, uncertainty and nausea.
I’m not sure which of those human conditions affects me the most as my mouse hovers over the sacred “forward,” but it reminds me of grade school every time.
Will someone (anyone?) else think this message I’m about to forward is funny/interesting/poignant/useful?
Am I presumptuous to ask this close friend/family member/colleague to take a minute or two to watch this video/view this slideshow/read this fascinating story/link to this charity?
Do I really want to encourage other people to send me “forwards” by sending them “forwards?”
As a result of this self-doubt (and for a host of other less-paranoid reasons) I don’t often “forward.”
That said, I am a sucker for a good viral campaign – whether it’s planned (like Burger King’s subservient chicken – perhaps my all time favorite) or not (like the Heinz family wedding). I sent the Evian babies to half of my address book; I forwarded the Mayo clinic piano video to the other half. And because I don’t often “forward,” when I do pass one along, you know it’s good. My sister says she trusts my messages are “forward-worthy” even before she opens them.
Viral marketing – even social media, for that matter – is akin to multi-level sales programs.
One good, monumentously creative idea needs only a large handful of initial recipients to “seed” the viral propagation process; from there, every “forward” kicks a benefit back up the email chain to the originators. In fact, if you think about it (or even better, do the math), if each person in a “seed” group of 500 forwards an email to just two other people, your message reaches almost 32,000 recipients in just five rounds of “forwards” (or in the case of Old Spice, your sales message reaches about 4 million viewers in just under a month – without any paid advertising expense). Pepper in the power of Facebook or YouTube and your clever idea penetrates even further.
Granted, not every company on the internet is BlendTec, but if your company is on the internet – if you’re doing enewsletters and maybe Facebook or a company blog – don’t overlook or underestimate the power of leveraging your messages across those media. The potential can be exponential.
What’s the last thing you forwarded?
Your Social Media Policy Needs More Than Teeth … It Needs Bite
by Rosemary Plorin on June 16, 2010 | 1 comment
in Healthcare, Organizational Behavior, Social Media
From the moment we learn to walk and talk, human beings quickly learn that life is structured with rules. But as we master walking and talking and move on to, say, whispering and tiptoeing, we quickly realize that rules without consequences are rarely motivating.
As the Mother of a dear and devious four-year-old, I’m keenly in touch with this educational concept. For my little darling, a rule without a consequence is like a 20-inch, rainbow-striped candy cane: she can’t resist breaking it. Rules are just words; consequences impact actions.
For many of us, understanding the relationship between rules and consequences is a lifelong learning process. Enter five nurses in San Diego accused of violating their employer’s social media policy. Local news reports indicate the nurses “posted personal discussions concerning hospital patients” on Facebook. The CEO of the hospital has said “no patient names, photographs or similar identifying information appear to have been used,” but has indicated his intention to fire the five nurses and discipline a sixth. The California Department of Health has launched its own investigation. A union representative with the California Nurses Association has defended the nurses, who are entitled to a hearing under California law.
Presumably, the hospital has a clear social media policy it has communicated well to employees. Presumably, that policy articulates the expectations of employees while on the Internet – for either personal or professional use. And presumably, the potential consequences of violating that policy were well-defined and commonly understood by the hospital’s workforce. While I’m sure it was a difficult decision for the CEO to take this personnel action, it shouldn’t be unexpected consequence.
The case is anticipated to drag on for months, and the spotlight will likely not fade. The industry and its many ancillary players will be watching this with (self) interest. The impact and potential consequence to hospitals and healthcare providers for violating the federal laws of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and its sister legislation, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), are real … and the$e con$equence$ have bite.
Under these laws covered entities and their employees must act responsibly and play by the rules – and with the passage of HITECH, so must their business associates.
Rules are rules, and consequences are consequences.
Yes, Virginia, You Can Measure The ROI On Social Media
by Paula Lovell on May 25, 2010 | 4 comments
in Measurement, Social Media, public relations
It firmly resonates with me when marketers take a measured approach to social media. “Measured” being the operative word.
At last weekend’s annual conference of Public Relations Society of America’s Counselors Academy, I was gratified and relieved to hear so much discussion centered around the importance of ROI in social media. The point being: Tuning in and “listening” to customers’ or stakeholders’ blogs and tweets means nothing if an organization doesn’t actively react to the public discussion and participate in the ongoing dialogue. Even more importantly, listening and reaching out to customers STILL doesn’t matter unless there is a return on the investment. It’s not just about getting attention for your product, your idea or your company story. It’s about real ROI like: new customers, increased sales, or improved understanding and acceptance of an organization’s story during a crisis.
The exercise of measuring the success of social media efforts is no different from what PR practitioners and marketers have been doing for decades. It’s a matter of aligning a marketing activity (in this case the utilization of Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.) with the goals and objectives of the organization. It’s about making sure that what you are measuring really matters.
I am fascinated by the number of tools that measure a lot more than website hits and blog reads. With a few clicks, you can measure the sentiment of large groups of comments or how many people in your email list utilize Twitter, Facebook, My Space, LinkedIn , along with their age, gender and even what they read or shop and what organizations they belong to. But those are still just tools that inform you about who is willing to listen to your story and how best to reach out to them.
The most important part of any social media program is to integrate it into the larger strategic communications plan. Who is your audience? Where do you find them and, most importantly, what do you want them to do? It takes time, commitment and resources, but only by measuring the change in your audiences’ behavior as a result of a social media effort can you get the real return on your investment. Engagement and eyeballs on your site just don’t cut it anymore.
We’ve seen some great social media returns. Let me know if you’ve got a good social media story to share.
Facebook Update: No More Fans!
by Ashley Webb on April 22, 2010 | no comments
in Advertising, Facebook, Social Media
You may already be ‘in the know,’ but this came as news to me yesterday when I found out Facebook fans no longer existed. You no longer “Become a Fan” of a page, you now “Like This” page. According to Facebook the change “offers you a more light-weight and standard way to connect with people, things and topics in which you are interested.”
But the “Like” button isn’t stopping at Facebook, according to yesterday’s CNN story it’s taking the web by storm.
“We’re building toward a web where the default is social. Every application and product will be redesigned from the ground up to use a person’s real identity and friends,” said Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberger at this week’s keynote address in San Francisco, California.
The idea is for people to be able to share their likes and dislikes with friends all over the internet. Facebook will pull information about the websites, news stories, music or athletes a person likes and share that info with the person’s Facebook friends. But word is no new information than previously available on Facebook will be shown to anyone.
The new prototype is being called the “Open Graph” and it launched yesterday with more than 30 content sponsors like The New York Times, Pandora, ESPN and CNN.com. According to Zuckerberger “more than a billion” like buttons will be scattered all over the web by the time you’ve finished reading this blog.
It seems Facebook is searching for ways to beat out competitors like Google and Twitter by further profiling its members to allow marketers to reach a more targeted audience. But I’m curious to know how well social media ads work – do you pay attention to the ads on Facebook? Do they affect your buying habits?
The Realities of HIPAA in Social Media
by Rosemary Plorin on April 6, 2010 | 1 comment
in Healthcare, Organizational Behavior, Social Media
Part Two in the discussion of PR and Legal Counsel as Uneasy Bedfellows and Strategic Partners
The number of hospitals and healthcare providers jumping into social media increases daily. (Check out Ed Bennett’s impressive resource if you don’t believe me). Like most all consumer-driven businesses, hospitals are eager to reap the value that social media can deliver – often with remarkable cost efficiency.
Healthcare administrators’ apprehensions about the perceived liabilities of social media engagement seem to have abated as marketers have become increasingly adept at addressing management’s main concerns:
“What will we do if someone criticizes us?” Apply standard service recovery techniques and have a clearly articulated and well posted disclaimer about removing inappropriate posts.
“What can we do about employees spending time on Facebook during work hours?” Have a plain-language social media policy; propagate it thoroughly and often.
But just as anxiety in the hospital c-suite begins to wane, dyspepsia spreads around the legal department and the attorneys pull out their favorite trump card: HIPAA. The PR vs. legal clash is on.
Fortunately, a growing number of marketing sensitive attorneys are stepping into the discussion, reminding their peers about whom the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act applies: covered entities, meaning hospitals, providers and now authorized business associates. Patients and family members are not covered entities under HIPAA. So it’s not a HIPAA violation for a well-meaning daughter to post that her father received great care at General Hospital after his stroke from uncontrolled diabetes.
Media and internet attorneys will also explain there is no liability for General Hospital to sponsor or even own the site on which the daughter makes the post. Providers of interactive services (such as a Facebook fan page or hospital blog) are protected by provisions of the Communications Decency Act. So long as the social media team at General understands it should never edit posts (though it is free to remove them), the liability just isn’t real.
This is not to suggest that hospitals and other healthcare providers should enter into social media blindly. But if your market research and planning indicate it’s time to go social, legal concerns needn’t keep you in Web 1.0.
That’s how I [blog] roll!
by Allison Russo on March 19, 2010 | 3 comments
in Social Media, blogs
Have you ever wondered about that list of links you see on the side of some of your favorite blogs? You’ve clicked on them and been taken to another web site and probably wondered, ”Why is this blogger directing me elsewhere? Did I do something wrong? Don’t they want me anymore?”
Don’t worry. What you’ve just clicked on is technically known as a ”blogroll,” a list of other sites recommended by the host blogger; but for those of you looking to drive traffic to your own blog, it will soon be known as your best friend. I’m going to let you in on a simple traffic boosting tactic that’s guaranteed to make you the envy of your blogger buddies: the Blogroll Exchange. Simply put, the concept is an exchange of links between two bloggers.
The unspoken rule of “blogging etiquette” is that if you add someone’s blog to your blogroll, they should reciprocate the goodwill. In my experience, this is not always the case. And why should it be? If I write a blog about politics and a fashion blogger adds me to their blogroll, I’m not likely going to counter the gesture. Luckily I’ve provided below a few simple steps to a strategic and proactive Blogroll Exchange that is sure to provide bountiful exposure and publicity for your blog:
1) RESEARCH: Use blog search engines like Technorati or Google Blog Search to help find likeminded blogs to your own and pull their contact info (typically found in an ‘About Me’ or ‘Contact Us’ section). Once you have a healthy list, expand your search to include different verticals that could apply to your blog topic (i.e. if your blog covers healthcare, start searching for verticals within your subject area, like blogs about hospitals or health insurance.) Further your research by exploring the existing blogrolls of the new blogs you have found.
2) OUTREACH: Reach out to the bloggers you have found with a tailored email asking them to partake in a ‘mutually beneficial’ blogroll exchange. Let them know that you feel strongly about their content and that by linking to each other’s blogs you are not only helping each other’s blogs gain exposure, you are also helping to spread that very important likeminded message you share.
3) REPEAT: New blogs are popping up every day. Make sure to keep up with your research and continue to reach out to appropriate bloggers to link to back to your site.
Follow these simple steps and links to your site will be popping up all over the blogosphere. Not only will you be driving traffic to your blog, your traffic will be tailored to the specific audience you were looking for. So go get started and let people know who you ‘roll’ with.
Social Media: Have we missed the point?
by Ashley Webb on March 9, 2010 | 1 comment
in Facebook, Social Media, Twitter
As Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube continue to infiltrate companies’ strategic marketing plans, it’s important to understand the purpose of social media. The purpose of social media is to connect with your audience. Let me reiterate, connect.
Many companies are making the mistake of diving into social media head-first without really understanding the purpose – to build a relationship. This is where businesses have gone wrong in their efforts and fail to see any success. If you don’t allow your followers to interact, what’s the point?
Social media isn’t push, push, push, there has to be some pull. You have to engage with your audience. Over self-promoting is the biggest mistake. You wouldn’t introduce yourself to someone and talk only about yourself, would you? There has to be a conversation. The same goes for social media.
Social media gives you the opportunity to interact with your customers, employees or a niche group of professionals and understand what’s valuable to them. Your audience needs to feel a personal connection with your company.
If you want my advice, participate in social media but understand, you have to be prepared to open up the lines of communication.
How do you use social media to connect with your audience?