Social Media for Health Care 2.0

Social Media for Social Media for Health 2.0: Health 2.0:

Getting into the Getting into the conversationconversation

Vanessa DiMauroPresident

Leader Networkswww.leadernetworks.com

[email protected]

© LeaderNetworks 2008

Health Advocacy: Many are looking for information and opinions online

160 million people in the U.S. have gone online for health information (National Research Corporation, 2007)

◦ The top four online health activities conducted by U.S. residents all involve the activity of researching: prescriptions (38% of people), treatment options (37%), medical procedures (37%) and disease/wellness information (31%).

34% of Americans turn to social media for health research (icrossing, 2008)


The social media opportunity

Through social media, health advocates can share their message with health searchers

Effective use of social media creates opportunities for health advocates to spread the word about their point of view◦ Faster – ability to speed the process◦ Directly – talk directly to consumers◦ Accurately – not relying on PR and marketing to “get the story

straight”

Compelling content + leverage of web 2.0 tools = Social media best practice


Three Stages: getting into the conversation

Listening

Participating

Creating


Key questions

What is the best fit for you or your organization?How much time do you have?What are your resources?What is your technical knowledge and skill?What do you hope to gain by creating a social media strategy for health advocacy?


Stage 1: Listening to the conversation

Joining◦ Finding and listening to the conversation

Alerting◦ RSS and Email

Monitoring ◦ blogpulse, Compete

Searching ◦ Keotag, Tweetscan


How to be an effective social media listener

Read blogs and other online channels Join communities, forums, groups that are related or

adjacent Observe the culture of the group◦ Learn the “language” of the social media channel◦ Identify key people in the health topics you align with◦ Monitor what is happening on a trends level


Stage 2: Participating in the conversation

Have a point of view or value to contribute to the conversation

Develop an online identity and manage your online reputation actively

Participate slowly but regularly and amplify over time◦ Only fools rush in◦ Create a steady drumbeat of credibility and value◦ Reciprocity matters


Participation tools

WIKIs◦ Adding content to WIKIs

Community participation◦ Membership◦ Forum posts◦ UGC

Rating, Ranking and Reviewing

Blogging◦ (light) Blogging ◦ Commenting◦ Link love

Twitter◦ Tweeting◦ Linking to others

Audio and Video◦ YouTube and Podcasting


Stage 3: Creating conversation through community

Online community can take place on blogs, forums, content channels and social networking platforms.

They are anywhere where membership affiliation is present. ◦ They are defined by co-creation and collaboration with members

Make an active commitment to be a persistent and responsible source of information and collaboration

Own the channel (philosophically as well) Be responsible for the strategy, operations and tools Actively manage outcomes


Share and share alike

Reciprocity matters. The ultimate goal is to give not take◦ Its not about lead generation or marketing - its about

relationships and sharing Sharing content, ideas, relationships, etc. is a marker of success

Play well with others. Consumers have taken over health information sharing

Old school vs. New school thinking You will not “beat” the competition by holding your cards close to

your vest – you will simply be ignored (or judged harshly and publically)


The Age of Conversation

Whatever the tools, techniques, processes chosen, the critical success factor is engaging in conversation -- Conversation with people.

People are members, bloggers, journalists, tweeters and readers. They need to be treated with sincerity, respect and engagement for social media success to be found.


THANK YOU!

Vanessa DiMauroPresident, Leader Networks

617-484-0778

[email protected]

Health & Medicine

Social Media for Health Care 2.0