Social engagement

Tracking the bigger picture in social media

At the beginning of the social media game, people placed a lot of importance on page likes or followers. However, over time we have learned that those numbers are somewhat meaningless for big picture goals. What really matters is the amount of engagement on your social media pages. A ‘like’ or ‘follow’ may bump up your initial numbers, but if that person never visits your page again, it’s not social engagement. You want your customers to continuously visit your page, read your posts, ‘like,’ comment, retweet, embed and share them with friends. Engagement measures the quality of conversation surrounding your healthcare brand, not just the numbers.

We understand that it’s currently difficult to measure social media’s direct influence on hospital business goals (marketshare and patient volumes, for instance). However, there are still means of looking at results that will help prove the value of your efforts. Here are four ways we help hospitals prove ROI of social media efforts:

Social Media Policy

Many hospitals and physician practices have a strict no social media policy in the workplace, but enforcing that overlooks their largest, most invested audience: internal staff, nurses and physicians. This audience is a great base for your social media efforts because they care about the success of the organization and their engagement on your social pages will reach all of their social connections, including family, friends and neighbors.

Social Media Calendar

Like any other marketing tactic, it’s important to have a set plan for social media postings. Create an editorial calendar with content topics in line with your healthcare marketing campaign schedule and seasonal and national trends related to healthcare.

Measurable Goals & Analytics

Assigning measurable goals and metrics can demonstrate the impact of social activity. To truly measure social media engagement, it’s important to listen to the conversations and feedback about the hospital brand, monitor the tone of conversations, and follow the buzz that surrounds its content.

Online Reputation Management

Social media can be used to placate unhappy patients, respond to negative comments in a public setting and as an outlet to receive honest feedback to help improve the patient experience for all. Don’t shy away from social media because of disgruntled patients – this can be used to your advantage.

If you’re having trouble measuring the real impact of your social activity, contact Smith & Jones. We can help dial in analytics to measure engagement and prove a return on your social investment.