In January 203, the marketing team at their hospital used their stories and images to make a touching social media campaign, which raised money for other children’s treatments. The hospital helped the two patients throw a Super Bowl Party to raise awareness of childhood cancer and tie the issue to a national event. The marketing team posted pictures of the patients at their party to the hospital’s social media profiles and included a link encouraging people to donate on the hospital’s main website.
After the party, the hospital had raised over $20,000 in outside donations through the use of social media. To achieve such dramatic results, they posted their “Super Bowl Party” story on the hospital’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages. Their exposure generated 14,060 Facebook likes, 71 retweets, and over 75,000 video views in addition the funds raised.
This hospital and its “Super Bowl Party” campaign prove that digital media, which include web development and mobile apps in addition to social media services, are a powerful set of tools. However, many hospitals are still conservative in their use of these digital options.
It’s time for those hospitals to re-evaluate their policies, and they should begin by adding a digital component to their marketing agenda. Digital media is an important component to all business, and with the trend in patient driven health care, it will only continue to grow. Here are a few reasons why:
Patients have a choice of hospitals–and they’re picking the socially savvy.
According to a report from consulting firm PwC, 41% of consumers say tools like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and online forums influence their choice of specific hospital, medical facility or doctor. This survey followed another report by hospital market research firm YouGov Healthcare which found that 57% of consumers said a hospital’s social media connections would strongly affect their decision to receive treatment at that facility. While these studies are not definitive, they do indicate a shift in consumer thinking that will only continue into the future.
Digital analytics allow for direct tracking of campaigns.
Gone are the days when simply gaining exposure and name recognition was an acceptable exchange for a slice of the marketing budget. For ROI and accountability-minded marketing, digital media include tools that track campaigns. Analytics is more than counting up the number of likes and retweets on a post. In conjunction with other parts of the media mix, savvy hospital marketers can track the effects of an integrated marketing campaign all the way to a patient referral.
Patients are using these platforms whether hospitals are or not.
Somebody may say something bad about the hospital or a doctor to a family member, friend or co-worker. It happens. But in the digital world, that person has the ability to reach more people with his message than ever before in a shorter amount of time. Imagine a disgruntled patient tweeting out a grievance, which then goes viral and is picked up by more traditional media outlets. The hospital finds out about the PR problem on the evening news–too late because staff members weren’t talking in the same circles as the patient.
Digital media is an invaluable resource for having a conversation with consumers rather than just a one-way communication through traditional advertising. Through searches, it’s also easier to keep an ear out for potential problems.
So what’s the plan? If your hospital isn’t currently using digital media, are you thinking about it?