The Path to Enlightenment The Wesley Hospital’s Social Media Journey

Where to start …

The Wesley was already being talked about What’s happening in this space What is being said about us? What does this mean? What do we do?

Recognised it as a growing phenomenon Identified Social Media as an opportunity Social Media Monitoring Develop a policy Our starting point

Organisations with social media policies

What does the Policy need to cover? The organisation’s position on Social Media Clearly outline the purpose What is the scope of the policy? Who it applies to What Social Media? What are the acceptable standards? Understanding the implications of use

The original plan… Staff communication strategy 2300 staff working in a 24/7 hospital Staff are using social media Perhaps we could use social media to reach staff with our messages?

Brisbane flood crisis communication feedback Staff invited to provide opinions Other hospitals research Research

Image courtesy of The Courier Mail Results Staff happy to access communication about their workplace – if they choose Staff don’t want to mix their personal “social networking” with their work communications A crisis provides an ideal opportunity for communication with staff via social media

Rethink the plan… At this time Social Media was growing exponentially It was becoming mainstream Reported in the media – sources quoted in editorial Interactive TV First to report news Advertising call to action UCH Social Media group established How do we make Social Media work for us as a marketing strategy?

Reported in the Media

Interactive TV

Plan B Partnership with APHA Reviewed the Health Marketing landscape Who is using what? How are they doing it? How is it working? What are the considerations? Resourcing Education Manage the process Monitoring Risk Stakeholders How does it fit with what we do?

Where did we start? What was our target audience? Females are the most active social network and blog users The highest age concentration 18 – 34 year olds, then 35 – 49 year olds She has attained a Bachelor’s degree Health specialties most present in social media: Plastics and Infertility Online baby forum, Bub Hub, currently has 4.4 million visitors per month

Opportunity Wesley Hospital relocates Maternity Unit The Strategy Integrate social media into our marketing mix announcing our new Maternity Unit and services

Claiming the space

Claiming a page Working around IT issues/spam Facebook is for those with a face The page had over 100 “likes” and over 2000 “were here” – a great start

Not only did we have issues securing The Wesley Hospital’s Facebook page, there were 2 more out there floating around gathering likes and check ins. So we went Wesley Hospital Facebook page wrangling to gather them all in to the one page. Facebook - but wait! There were more

Attached to individuals Transferring Administration Rights Learning how to Beware the pitfalls Administration rights and the issues when staff leave

Wesley Facebook weekly stats for 11 October

Deciding on a name Length of username Registering accounts Accounts are attached to individuals not organisations Reclaiming a registered address Wesley @TWHbreastcheck

Created channel – TheWesleyHospital Produced first clip in-house IT network blocked upload capability Must be claimed through a personal account

Maternity Youtube Clip

Creating a conversation calendar Frequency of messaging Managing social media content

Cross- communication of messaging Approach to messaging Content of value for followers Provide opportunities for engagement Education Managing social media content

In and out time consuming TweetDeck vs Hootsuite Frequency of messaging Checking content Logistics of managing content in-house

Managing risk

Areas of risk Privacy / confidentiality Employment relationships Reputation Disseminating health & medical information AHPRA advertising requirements Systems & technology Professional boundaries

Risk controls Create a social media polity Update policies, Code of Conduct, By Laws and procedures to recognise social media Central communication point Content approval process Ensure stakeholders are advised and educated Disclaimers

Risk is an issue if you participate in social media or not

What did work well New opportunities to engage with your community It continues to grow Creating a conversation calendar Have a better understanding of what to look out for Have executive support Engaging with our audience Staff on board in areas

What didn’t work well You don’t know what you don’t know The amount of time taken to get going The firewall and network issues Resourcing – amount of time The need for personal accounts

Top 10 1.Just when you think you understand it the game changes 2.Accounts are attached to individuals and not organisations 3.Make contact relevant and current 4.Its part of a larger marketing strategy 5.Social networking - build communities and follow people 6.Expect a slow uptake – person by person 7.Understand your demographic 8.Value relationships and feedback 9.It costs 10.Be flexible

Thank you and any questions? E: P: TheWesleyHospital