category / social & digital

Jan
25

Healthcare marketer insight: rise of the e-patient

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Good presentation for healthcare marketers from Pew Internet Project Director Lee Rainie on understanding social networking and online health information seeking. You can view the presentation here.

Key takeaways:

• new social operating system: networked individualism

• impacts include: “second opinions, allies and complements for care delivery, providers assessed and judged in public ways”

• empowered and engaged: 61% getting health info on line, 29% contributing, 19% consult rankings/reviews of providers and hospitals

• relevancy of mobile: 63% of adults, 50% have apps on phone, 29% have mobile health apps

• searching for health: 48% for others, 36% for self

• affecting decisions: 60% say information found online affected decision about how to treat, 56% say it changed overall approach to maintaining their health, 53% say it lead to ask doctor new questions, 49% say it changed the way they think about diet, exercise, stress management, 38% say it affected decision to see a doctor

• three levels of physicians as “nodes” in e-patient communities: act as sentries, act as trusted/wise companion, act as helpful producers/enablers

• at the end of the day: 41% say they’ve been helped via online medical advice or information, 3% say they’ve been harmed

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Oct
31

Insight for healthcare marketers: social commerce trend report

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Great information for healthcare marketers from outside category business leaders about what works and what’s next in social media.

Each year, thought leaders from major brands with expertise in social gather at the Social Commerce Summit, hosted by Bazaarvoice, to present the trends that shape best practices in social media. The 2011 Summit included speakers from Best Buy, Xerox, Newell Rubbermaid, L.L. Bean, Johnson & Johnson, Bazzavoice, Nationwide Insurance, Facebook, Dell, Estee Lauder, P&G and Adobe.

The four guiding themes that shaped the brand leader and social expert discussions, representing the key drivers of successful social strategies, include:

1. The immediacy of social gives brands consumer insights that drive business impact.
2. It’s a conversation, not a campaign.
3. Social media must scale across the organization.
4. Social gives consumers direct input to brands, creating wins for brands and consumers alike.

You can download the paper here.

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Oct
23

Resource for healthcare marketers: a basic guide to Twitter

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We all know the name, but truth be told, are not all up to speed about this microblogging site.

So here’s a great read. A compact, 32 page e-book, Twitter Business Guide: Communication and Marketing, written by Jean-Christophe Barre’ and Dr. Andreas Schroeter.

It covers everything from what and why and starting out, to understanding the nomenclature, the difference between using Twitter as a communications and marketing tool, to linking Twitter to your business and a conclusion of Twitter in 10 points.

In the spirit of this post, please re-tweet and help spread the wealth to others.

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Oct
05

Insight for healthcare marketers: the benefits of social media

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Socialcast created this infographic visualizing a social media study conducted by the Center for Marketing at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on the use of social media in Fortune 500 companies.

The majority of companies studied found social media, e.g. blogging, social networking and online video, to be successful. Even as far back 2007, a majority of the companies surveyed found social media to be at least somewhat important.

One of the interesting trends from the infographic shows that Podcasting has become the most successful social media tool for business (up from 77% in 2007 to 89% in 2009), followed by online video blogging (88%), online video and social networking (87%) and Twitter (82%).

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Sep
20

Hospital social media and realities – Ed Bennett presentation

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Hospital Social Media
View more presentations from Ed Bennett

Though I wasn’t able to attend the Social Health conference this year, I reached out to Ed Bennett to see if I could post his presentation titled Hospital Social Media & Current Realities. Ed manages web operations at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC), and his current focus is the growing use of Social Media and its impact on health care.

Some highlights of his presentation:

• he used to be a juggler and street performer (okay, probably not a highlight)

• after all the theory, objectives, strategies and tactics, social media comes down to “people doing what people do”

• social media is a tool, like any other. So it’s critical to ask and answer “why” before jumping in (my commentary, not Ed’s)

• 50% of social media users are 30+, and 56% are female

• 25% of internet users have watched health related video, tracked indicators, consulted online reviews of drugs/treatments

• while there are seven ways that hospitals use social media today (reinforced with real-world examples), they’re certainly not mutually exclusive.

While we’re on the subject, here’s one slide from one of our recent Trajectory healthcare talks (maybe you can use it) about the value of social media in healthcare.

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Jul
22

Building social media audiences – like building a brand

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I was reading this post – Building Social Media Audiences – on Anna Farmery’s The Engaging Brand Blog.

But her points also apply to being able to build large audiences around a brand – by delivering a story that continues to surprise and unfold over time, and that audiences see themselves in and want to be a part of.

Anna’s points about social media begin as follows (giving you just enough for you to appreciate the brand-building parallels):

• They have a direction…
• They are not one off articles but reflect the growth…
• They are true to their brand character…
• They express views but leave those slight gaps for the audience to fill in…
• The social media activity is a story within a story…

A lot like brand-building, don’t you think? Involving your consumer in an evolving story over time and letting them (inviting them to) add their own reflections.

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Jul
12

Can you crowdsource health information via Twitter?

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According to two researchers from John Hopkins University, the answer is yes – with some effort.

They analyzed more than two billion tweets for health-related terms and say their research shows Twitter can be a valuable source of public-health information about a wide range of ailments.

The study, A Model for Mining Public Health Topics from Twitter, (download the pdf here), started with tweets posted to Twitter between 5/09 – 10/10. The two men – Mark Dredze, a researcher at the university’s Human Language Technology Center and Michael J. Paul, a doctoral student – then used a software algorithm to filter out approximately 1.5 million messages that referred to health-related issues, by focusing on a variety of terms related to medical issues and illnesses.

Said Dredze “we determined that indeed Twitter posts could be a useful source of public health information. In some cases, we probably learned some things that even the tweeters’ doctors were not aware of, like which OTC medicines the posters were using to treat their symptoms at home.” One example being “Had to pop a Benadryl … allergies are the worst.”

You can read the full article here.

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Jul
08

Why healthcare IS social: TED talk from e-Patient Dave

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Dave deBronkart (e-Patient Dave) was not “statistically-speaking” supposed to win his battle with cancer. But he beat his disease by turning to fellow patients online, and found the medical treatment that saved his life. Since that time, he’s advocated tirelessly for all patients to talk with one another, know their own health data, and make health care better one e-Patient at a time.

This is one of Dave’s talks from TED. It’s inspiring, empowering and important. Please watch it, share a comment and pass it along.

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Jun
28

Evidence of how social media is altering healthcare marketing (and access)

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As reported on India’s pharma portal Pharmabiz.com, Apollo Hospitals has signed on with deal-of-the-day website Groupon India to spread awareness of its medical services, beginning with its health check programmes.

The programmes will be offered over a specified period, at discounted prices, and can be redeemed at all Apollo-owned clinics and hospitals. According to its VP Marketing & Operations, “the social media outlet will assist both in spreading awareness as well as delivering healthcare solutions to our customer’s doorstep, thereby providing them an impetus to take their health more seriously. With Groupon India, we would add on more services including cosmetic surgery.”

Other modes of campaign like mobile & email marketing to subscribers are bundled along with Apollo’s brand presence on the website. Currently available only in Apollo Hospital Bangalore, the company will cascade this programme to its other branches nationwide, based on the initial customer response.

Is this a win-win for both consumers and providers? Do you see any downside?

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Jun
14

Health brand inspiration: purpose, profits & pursuit of health (TOMS)

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From a simple project by Blake Mycoskie in 2006 to help get a small group of kids in Argentina new pairs of shoes, TOMS has since redefined what it means to bring about social change (and health) through business.

With their One For One™ business model, a pair of shoes is donated for every pair purchased. The success of their bandage-style shoes (more than 1 million pairs distributed in over 20 countries) proved it’s possible to truly be led by purpose and be profitable. TOMS has also proven that social media is the catalyst for digital activism be it on Facebook (942,116 likes), Twitter (732,763 followers), guerilla marketing or blogging.

Now, TOMS is expanding beyond shoes (leaving this “descriptor” behind in its brand name) and transforming into a truly one-for-one brand. Similar to its “one for one” BOGO (buy one, give one) model, TOMS is expanding its brand into a second product line (eyewear) to give the gift of sight to those in need.

TOMS new collection of sunglasses, priced from $135-$145 a pair, come in three styles and will be sold in the same way as TOMS shoes – for every pair of shades sold, TOMS will help give sight to a person in need through medical treatment, or sight-saving surgery (such as cataract operations) through a partnership with the Seva Foundation, and prescription glasses. The TOMS website also offers the option to upload a photo for a virtual fitting.

Why glasses? Helping save vision is a solvable problem, and Mycoskie feels it’s an issue where TOMS can make an immediate impact. And it certainly flows from their mission and model of solving great human needs worldwide. TOMS Eyewear will begin with initiatives in Nepal, Tibet, and Cambodia. Seva has been in the business of sight restoration for over 30 years – and has given help to nearly three million people globally.

I’m a huge fan of TOMS (could you really not be?). It’s a company…
• built around a massively important (and attracting) central energizing idea
• propelled by a cult-like culture
• driven by a purpose to solve a real problem
• providing a uniquely branded experience
• empowering customers through their actions
• ultimately creating (and fulfilling) a global one-for-one community of like-minded participants.

Please share your point-of-view.

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