Hive Marketing - ISHMPR Presentation

Hive Marketing: Using Social Media to Activate Brand Advocates

ISHMPR Annual Conference

Mark Shelley & Dan DunlopTuesday, November 9, 2010

Why does your hospital use social media to communicate with constituents?

To engage and inform them. But to what end? What’s the strategy behind the engagement?

Hive Marketing & Social Media• Based on an article by

Mark Shelley and Dan Dunlop for Healthcare Marketing Advisor, January 2010.

• A subsequent article by Marianne Aiello is available on the HealthLeaders website

Hive Marketing Defined

• What first looks like an unorganized collection of individuals buzzing around, upon closer inspection becomes the foundation of a movement with focus and direction

Hive Marketing Defined• Bringing together individuals with a shared

interest• Allowing them to share their passion• In the case of brand advocates, giving them a

forum to express their support• Feeding them information that confirms their

decision to support the brand• Activating them when needed

Social Networks & Psychology• Social Networks: The supreme hive marketing tools• A gift (and a potential curse) to healthcare marketers• The psychology of social networking:

– The importance of connecting; sense of community– Allows one to create a more vivid, accessible personal brand– Sense of empowerment– A negative outcome can be digital narcissism; the negative

side of giving someone a voice!– The 7 A’s of social media: Acknowledgement, Attention,

Approval, Appreciation, Acclaim, Assurance/Affirmation, and to be “A Part of something” bigger than they are.

The Power of Community• Oxytocin hormone – The generosity-trust chemical

(also called the “cuddle drug”)• Dr. Paul Zak, Neuroeconomist at Claremont Graduate

University• Studies have shown that the brain reacts to social

networking interaction as if they were in-person interactions

• Social media users get that same emotional benefit• Heightened feeling of trust, empathy and generosity

The Hive: Social Media Vehicles

• Examples:– Facebook pages– Hospital blogs– Patient communities– LinkedIn Groups– Twitter Groups (Yes, Twitter Groups!)– YouTube

Facebook

• A natural medium for hive marketing• Friendly, supportive tone• People “like” things• Designed for people to show their support• Pages vs. Groups• How you know you’re being successful:

engagement

LinkedIn Groups• Groups can be open or private;

members opt-in to communication• Daily/weekly eblast for

distributing news and discussions• Ideal for communicating with

employees and alumni, medical students and friends of the hospital

• Easy to create and maintain• Post event notices and press

releases to the group

Twitter & Twitter Groups• www.twittgroups.com• Allows individuals to

follow a conversation stream

• Establishes a common #hashtag for the group

• Sense of community• Constant flow of

information

Twitter/Facebook/Blog Trifecta

• Power of using these in tandem• Twitter’s ability to reach out• Facebook’s storytelling ability and group

building capacity• Blog: long-form storytelling; ability to establish

a brand voice/personality

Hospital Blogs

Hospital Blogs

Hospital Blogs

Patient Online Communities• PatientsLikeMe.com• Medhelp.org• DailyStrength.org• Organizedwisdom.com• Everydayhealth.com• Revolutionhealth.com• ACOR.org• HealthAngle.com

Patient Communities

Cultivating Your Supporters

• Truly a community building activity• The care and feeding of the community:– Post regularly– Encourage engagement– Reward engagement– Keep things interesting– Vary your outputs– Don’t make it all about you

Building Up Equity for a Rainy Day

• “Green Stamps” analogy• Social networks for crisis

communications and issue management

• Circumvent traditional media when necessary

• Take messaging directly to audience, unfiltered

Ways To Use The Hive• Countering negative news• Correcting misinformation• Sharing news directly with constituents • Announcing events• Managed care negotiation• Issue management• Weigh public opinion• Health education

Lexington Medical Center

LMC Background• West Columbia, South Carolina• 414-bed metropolitan medical complex• Comprehensive, county-wide healthcare

network• More than 5,000 employees• Affiliated physician practices, community

medical centers, extended care facility• NRC Consumer Choice Award winner• Press Ganey Summit Award winner

LMC Heart Timeline• The 10 year timeline:• August 2000 – LMC’s Board approves the submission of a CON

application for a diagnostic cath lab.• January 2001 – LMC receives CON approval from DHEC.• February 2002 – LMC opens diagnostic cath lab. Calendar Year 2003

– Cath lab performs 1,210 diagnostic catheterizations.• April 2004 – LMC files CON to provide comprehensive cardiac

services including open heart surgery and elective therapeutic cardiac caths.

• October 2004 – CON denied.• February 2006 – LMC appeals DHEC’s denial of their open heart CON

in administrative court.

LMC Heart Timeline• April 2006 – The SC House and Senate each pass a bill that

would have allowed LMC to perform open heart surgery.• May 2006 – Governor Mark Sanford vetoes the bill.• September 2006 - Administrative Law Court determines

that a Lexington heart program would cause volumes to drop at Palmetto Health Richland and Providence Hospitals and should be denied for that reason.

• January 2008 – SC Supreme Court agrees to review and hear LMC’s appeal.

• November 2008 – LMC withdraws its appeal and submits a new CON for renovations, which includes the relocation of the Diagnostic Cath Lab Department, addition of a second cath lab and provision of emergency PCI services.

LMC Heart Timeline• February 2009 – LMC reaches an agreement with Providence

Hospital to de-license one of their cardiac suites, allowing LMC to add a new suite.

• April 2009 – Both houses of the SC Legislature pass a Joint Resolution commending LMC and Providence Hospitals.

• November 2009 - LMC receives CON approval from DHEC for the relocation of the Diagnostic Cath Lab Department, the addition of a second cath lab and provision for emergency PCI services.

• December 2009 – LMC and Providence Hospitals file a joint CON (the first in the history of DHEC) for the development of an open heart surgery program at LMC.

LMC Heart Timeline• January 2010 - LMC relocates the Diagnostic Cardiac

Cath Department and opens the second cardiac cath lab and makes provisions for emergency PCI services.

• April 2010 – LMC and Palmetto Health reach an agreement where LMC’s open heart program can proceed. Palmetto agrees not to contest LMC’s application.

• June 2010 – DHEC approves Lexington Medical Center’s CON to provide comprehensive cardiovascular services, including open heart surgery and elective therapeutic cardiac catheterizations.

The Need for Hive Marketing• Contentious relationship with The State

Newspaper• Strong base of support in Lexington• Need to put those supporters to work on behalf

of the brand• Need to get LMC’s story out without “spin”• Need to communicate with and activate

supporters without going through conventional media

Countering a Sea of Negative Publicity

Countering a Sea of Negative Publicity

Countering a Sea of Negative Publicity

Countering a Sea of Negative Publicity

Putting Social Media to Work

We put our hive to work!

Putting Social Media to Work

Putting Social Media to Work

Lexington Wins Approval

Lexington Wins Approval

Coming Full Circle

Tufts Medical Center & BCBSMA

About Tufts Medical Center• Academic Medical Center• 415-beds• Boston’s Theater District• The oldest permanent medical facility in the

country• Led by dynamic CEO Ellen Zane• Also home to Floating Hospital for Children• Teaching hospital for Tufts University School of

Medicine

About Tufts Medical Center• Competitive Boston Metro• Partners Healthcare – Teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical

School– Brigham and Women’s Hospital– Massachusetts General Hospital– Another 6 or more community hospitals

• Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital• Dana Farber Cancer Institute• Children’s Hospital Boston (Harvard affiliate)• New England Baptist Hospital• Boston Medical Center

Tufts Medical Center & BCBS MA

Tufts Medical Center & BCBS MA

Managed Care Negotiation Breakdown

Bloggers Voice Support & Concern

Bloggers Voice Support & Concern

Authentic voices join the conversation

Bloggers Voice Support & Concern

Dedicated Microsite

Facebook for Organizing Support

Dedicated Blog

Countering Misperceptions

The Power of One Individual’s Network

The Power of One Individual’s Network

Supporter Comments On News Sites

Wall Street JournalHealth Blog

Supporter Comments On News Sites

Merrimack Valley Moms

Merrimack Valley Moms Blog

• How do we engage busy moms?• Lowell General Hospital decided to start a

mommy blog for the Merrimack Valley Region of Massachusetts and Southern NH.

• Recruiting bloggers via a Facebook contest• The contest’s impact on Twitter and Facebook• Building community: Mommy Blogger Brunch

Merrimack Valley Moms

Merrimack Valley Moms

Merrimack Valley Moms

Spreading the word via area Facebook groups

Merrimack Valley MomsContest submissions from prospective mommy bloggers

Merrimack Valley MomsExamples of engagement on Facebook

Merrimack Valley Moms

Merrimack Valley Moms

Merrimack Valley Moms

Merrimack Valley Moms

Scott and White Hospital• Fort Hood shootings (November 2009)• Prominent example of social media for crisis communication• Used Twitter to tweet updates to direct news media to official

statements (43 tweet in 3 days)• Used social media to dispel rumors and correct

misinformation• Tweets updated community of status of their ED (closed to all

but Ft. Hood patients)• Tweets asking for blood donations; led to more than 1,000

units being donated• Posted hospital press conference on YouTube• Videos of people donating blood

Scott and White Hospital

Tips for Getting Started• Build your communities proactively, in

anticipation of a need• Nurture the community and its members

(regular care and feeding)• Participate, engage. Don’t just push information• Don’t let the community languish• Have some personality• Reward engagement

Tips For Getting Started• Cross promote between platforms• Find community #hashtags (in Columbia, SC the

most popular tag is #famouslyhot)• Use hashtags to build followers• RT good information relevant to your followers• Follow local news media and community orgs• Share links to your blog posts on Twitter and

Facebook• Use tags and categories for blog posts and YouTube

videos

Tips For Getting Started

Social Networks & Crisis Communication• Build social media tools into the plan; part of an integrated

approach• Ramp up “membership” before the need arises• Consider the different constituents: news media, your employees,

general public, patients and families, influentials, business leaders• Assign monitoring and posting responsibilities• Proactive listening, identify problems or miscommunication,

define resolution, then engage with information (open and transparent communication)

• Often diffuse visible predicaments before they become full-blown crises

Social Networks for Healthcare Marketers

Healthcare Marketing LinkedIn Groups

http://www.linkedin.com/home?myGroups=&trk=hb_side_grps

Social Networks for Healthcare Marketers

http://twittgroups.com/group/hcmktg

Contact Information• Mark Shelley– Email: msshelley@lexhealth.org– Twitter: @LexMedCtr

• Dan Dunlop – Email: ddunlop@jenningsco.com– Blog – http://thehealthcaremarketer.wordpress.com– Community – http://heathcaremarketing.ning.com– Twitter - @dandunlop