Hospitals: Time to build your social media strategy

by Andrea J. Simon We are in the midst of our third annual survey of how hospitals use social media. To set the stage for what we are finding, we ask you: Does your hospital have an online strategy and use social media? Almost half of the 140 hospitals sampled in 2012 still have no real Facebook presence--less than 5000 "likes." Almost 11 percent, or 15 of the sample, had well over 10,000 Facebook fans--an increase from 8 hospitals a year earlier. Some are growing fan clubs into the thousands while others are wondering why they should bother. Children's hospitals are clearly leaders in the social media arena, as are major brands such as Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic. Why don't more hospitals embrace social media? Risk adverse, no staff, don't see the value? Perhaps I can share some easy ways to think about this that remove the mystery and help you see why it is such a valuable way to tell your story. The debate on social media's value is keen. Just take a look at the New York Times article on Jan. 6, 2013. Social media helps hospital brands tell their story. What's your story? Hospitals have different stories to tell. Do you think you and your brand have a unique story? Or are you a commodity like all the rest. Remember, if you don't own your story someone else will and then you are easily replaced by a competitor. We are working with a hospital today that presents a very different story on its website than do each of its competitors. If you were searchi...
Source: hospital impact - Category: Health Managers Authors: Source Type: blogs