Hashtags have finally found a home on Facebook.

The new feature, which is widely used on Twitter was met with mixed reactions on Facebook. A lot of people are complaining that they find hashtags annoying, and swearing they will never use them while others are thrilled that Facebook has finally ‘got it’.

But for healthcare marketers Facebook hashtags will be extremely useful for search and the discoverability of your brand.

Facebook hashtags will be extremely useful to healthcare brands

Image credit: Mashable

While they’re still not available to everyone on Facebook, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t start thinking about how to leverage hashtags to give your business a headstart.

Here are 6 hashtag tips for healthcare marketers on Facebook:

#1. Experiment with Facebook hashtags

Whether or not the new feature has been enabled on your page or profile, start using and experimenting with strategic hashtags (such as the ones you already use on Twitter) on your public Facebook posts. People who already have the feature will be able to search, see and click on your hashtag making it easier to discover your brand.

So don’t take the ‘wait and see’ approach – be a pioneer and jump in while others are still scratching their heads. Remember you’ve got to experiment to figure out what works!

#2. Use the Healthcare Hashtag Project

If you’re not sure what hashtags to use for your brand, check out the Healthcare Hashtag Project curated by the wonderful folks at Symplur.com. This resource is already wildly popular with healthcare marketers on Twitter.

So instead of re-inventing the wheel and trying to come up with new hashtags for Facebook, just use this handy database to find relevant hashtags that match your brand’s message.

#3.Use hashtags in Facebook ads

If you already use Facebook ads and promoted posts, or if you’re thinking about using them in the future, the new hashtag feature will help to amplify your campaign. Facebook officials are encouraging marketers to use hashtags in ads and promoted posts and also saying that “…Any hashtags you use on other platforms that are connected to your Facebook page will be automatically clickable and searchable on Facebook.” 

This is all new stuff so you’ll have to test different strategies that drive conversations and interaction using hashtags. Again, the key is to get started and figure out for yourself what works and what doesn’t.

#4. Understand Facebook hashtag URL’s

The thing to remember is that each Facebook hashtag has its own unique URL e.g. https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/hcsm. People who search for #hcsm or any other hashtag will be able to see all the pages and profiles that have contributed to that discussion.

Right now very few healthcare marketers are using Facebook hashtags. Being an early adapter will show you off as a pioneer in the specific discussion you want to be known for. And I think in the end this will also translate into a lot of social cred especially if you keep up those conversations over time.

#5. Use hashtags in mobile posts

Even if Facebook hashtags are not yet enabled on mobile, start using them anyway to get you used to crafting strategic posts that will catch the attention of a growing mobile audience. Recent research from Edison shows that 53% of the American population now own a smart phone. Of that number, four in ten are habitual social network users, with Facebook dominating their time.

Using hashtags early in the game will give you a headstart and by the time they’re enabled on mobile you’ll already be ahead of other healthcare marketers.

#6. Find influencers and competitors using hashtags

Use Graph Search to search for a particular hashtag, and discover people, brands and even competitors that are already involved in those conversations. You can then monitor or even respond to these conversations in a way that demonstrates your expertise.

So for example if you’re an allergy doctor, search for #allergies on Facebook and you’ll see a stream of conversations on that topic. From there you can decide whether to interact with those posts or just keep an eye on those profiles/pages.

Your Turn

Have you started experimenting with Facebook hashtags? What opportunities do you see for healthcare marketers?

For conservative industries such as healthcare, social media can be challenging.

The fear of losing control causes many hospitals to shy away from social media, opting instead for traditional marketing. But not Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Stacy Poliseo is the social media voice for Hopkins Medicine, which has both a local audience and an international one. Her goal is to reach out to these audiences with social media and give a human touch to the brand. She wants patients to think of Hopkins as an interactive and conversational trusted resource.

When asked what are the most valuable lessons she has learned about social media marketing at Hopkins, she explains:

Think beyond YouTube

“You have to think beyond YouTube, Twitter and Facebook and look to other communities where patients are, in order to listen to them and get a feel for what they want. Go to photo-sharing sites and sites like Daily Strength and just listen and monitor. This is a big part of my job.”

Know Your Audience

“Don’t make assumptions about your audience or demographics. The Facebook audience may be different from the Twitter audience or the YouTube audience. It’s not only younger people that watch YouTube. Be familiar with your audience and your community. You have to really research this.”

Stacy has more advice for healthcare social media managers. You may read it here on ‘The Big Brand Theory,’ at Social Media Today.

Your Turn

Are you a healthcare social media manager? Based on your experience what other valuable tips can you share?

Social media in medicine is not about socializing with others.

According to Dr. Anas Younes, chief of the Lymphoma Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, it is as professional a forum as presenting at a national meeting. The difference is that with social media, the audience can consist of millions of people. Public and patient reliance on social media for important information is a fact that physicians can no longer ignore.

Dr. Younes finds engaging with patients online to be very rewarding. In fact the common excuse that many doctors cite i.e. “I don’t have time for social media” does not sit well with him.

“We read scientific papers, respond to a constant stream of emails (some from patients), review electronic medical records, participate in video conferences, and order medicine—all online. So participating in social media, such as tweeting a link to an interesting new medical finding published in a scientific journal, takes only a few seconds.”

It’s great to see the case for social media in medicine boosted by an influential doctor such as Dr. Younes. Please click on this link to read the full article and glean more insights on this topic.

Has your doctor ever asked you out on a date online?

Sounds like a joke, but apparently it’s happening. A recent report published by the Journal of American Medical Association finds that asking patients out online is the most common doctor violation.

“Doctors are contacting patients on Internet dating sites and engaging in other unprofessional behavior – and sometimes getting caught.”

Some would argue, “They’re people too. They’re entitled to having a private life.” But as with most relationships ‘it’s complicated’. For example in a 2012 Medscape Ethics Survey, physicians were asked whether it is ever acceptable “to become involved in a romantic or sexual relationship with a patient.” 68% said no, 1% said yes, 22% said maybe, and 9% said it depends.

Doctors need to be very cautious about “friending” their patients

Physician, behave thyself!

The American College of Physicians says that doctors who use social media should proceed with caution and has published these guidelines to minimize engagement risk and to help them behave in a professional manner online:

• Don’t “friend” your patients on social media
• Don’t text patients about medical issues unless the patient has said you can
• Create a professional profile that will show up first on search instead of results from a physician ranking site in order to control your image
• Read more recommendations here.

Social media is a great tool for enhancing doctor-patient interactions. However as it becomes more popular with the public and with the medical community, doctors will have to be super careful that their positive engagement with patients does not cross the line.

Your Turn

What do you think? How should doctors and patients relate online?

It’s that time again.

Social Media Examiner has recently published their 5th annual Social Media Industry Marketing Report, which shows how B2B and B2C marketers are using social media and their future plans in this space.

If you’re doing social media for your own business or on behalf of your clients this 43-page report is a must-read, which you can download here.

As we did last year, my team has created an infographic to give you a little glimpse of the actual report. Again, this is really just a quick summary and you’ll want to read the full-length report for yourself.

Quick snapshot of 2013 Social Media Industry Report

  Your Turn:

Are you surprised by any of these findings? Please share your thoughts in the comment box below.

My doctor just got a new out-of-state gig and I’m going to miss him.

Yet when I think about how much time we actually spent together over the last five years, it doesn’t add up to much. Maybe ten minutes every two or three times a year. But who’s counting when you have social media, right?

My doctor is fond of using email and LinkedIn. On those platforms he isn’t limited by time, and we can talk about a bunch of stuff…my life, hopes and dreams and so on. In fact it’s through our online encounters that I’ve come to know and like him. As a patient I’ve enjoyed the support, conversations and entire experience these encounters have provided. I can only hope the next one will be just as ‘social’.

So here’s what I’d say to my next doctor…

I know we won’t see each other much. I won’t even mind too much if you seem a bit rushed, grumpy or impersonal…I understand how your world works.

But please understand how my world works.

A positive experience with you is key though I know it won’t be achieved in a 10-minute appointment. All I need to know is that you care about my problems. Perhaps an email from you every now and then might do the trick. It’ll make me feel like we’re connected somehow.

I’d like it too if we could connect on Facebook or on your blog. These are the places where I hang out and your being there gets my attention and tells me that you’re interested in getting to know me. That experience is really important to me.

So if we can’t spend much face time together, which I completely understand, let’s make up for that time online where we can chat a little longer and you’re not watching the clock.

What do you say?

 Your Turn

Are you a physician interested in improving your patient’s experience? Do you think social media might help?

As content writers our top priority when writing anything is to keep the reader in mind.

Studies show that the typical American adult reads at about a 7th or 8th grade level. When it comes to reading content on the Internet things get more tricky because the web poses particular challenges and opportunities regarding how information is read and understood.

That’s why it’s important for healthcare websites to publish content that is simple, likeable and user-friendly for patients. When your content is readable, your audience is able to understand and implement the information you share with them.

Poor Readability

But a recent study by JAMA Internal Medicine shows that a lot of patient educational content on the web suffers from a lack of readability because it is written at a very high reading level. Here’s what researchers suggest:

“Key healthcare groups such as the American Medical Association and the National Institutes of Health recommend that patient education materials should be written at a fourth to sixth grade reading level.”

Patient education content should be simple to read and understand

If you’re a healthcare content writer try using these simple techniques to enhance the readability of your web content:

• Keep sentences short and concise
• Use time-saving and attention grabbing tips such as writing ’1000′ instead of ‘one-thousand’
• Use this Readability Tool to test how readable your website content is
• Use bullet points, images, videos and other visual enhancements
• Make sure images used support the content

The study concludes by saying that ‘website revisions may be warranted‘ to enhance the readability of patient content and that images and video may be a more effective way of increasing patient understanding than text alone. That’s what content marketers have been saying all along. Read full article here to learn more on this subject.

Your Turn:

What do you think? Is website content for patient audiences too difficult to understand?

One of the common problems that many new physician and healthcare bloggers have is ‘shaky blog syndrome’. That means writing the kind of blog post that never gets read or does anything to benefit your organization.

If the purpose of your blog is to attract new patients and families here are some things you should include in all your blog posts.

Find out what appeals to patients and their families and blog about that.

#1. It starts with questions

In order to have a successful blog you have to help solve your readers’ problems by answering their most pressing questions. These would be the typical questions they ask during a routine check up such as, ‘How do I know if my cough is serious’ or ‘How do I know what my blood pressure readings mean.’

At first you might hesitate to write about a topic that sounds so basic and familiar to you. But remember that not everyone understands the basics of your trade. I should know because even at my age I still have to ask what my blood pressure readings mean each time I see my doctor. So find out what your patients’ basic questions are and blog about that. The results may surprise you.

#2. Attention grabbing headline

Your headline gets more attention than anything else you write on your website. That’s why it serves one, and only one goal: To grab your reader’s attention and persuade him or her to read the next part of the article.

Some of the best headlines I’ve seen on medical websites are so simple and refreshing they just beg to be read! I’m thinking of Kevin Pho’s blog with headlines such as: ‘Should families witness CPR?’ or ‘How to deliver bad news to patients’ or ‘How to know if your toddler has autism.’ The trick is to keep it simple and interesting.

#3. Great opening

If you can get people to read the first three or four lines of your article, there’s a good chance they will read the rest of it. Take a look at this compelling opening from a Boston Children’s Hospital blog post:

“It’s a common belief among female runners that the lighter you are, the faster you are.”

The purpose of your opening sentence is to get people curious about the rest of your content. Take the above sentence for example. My reaction when I first read it was, “Why, isn’t it true?” At that point I needed to know whether my beliefs about female runners were true or false. And for that reason I was compelled to read the rest of the article in order to find out.

#4. Stunning image

Words are great but images help to dress up your article, providing eye candy to your readers and encouraging them to stick around. Take a look at this enticing article from Cleveland Clinic’s Health Hub (blog), which uses six images in total: one to dress up the main headline and five to dress up the subsequent sub titles.

Here are some facts about blog posts that use images (hat tip to Jeff Bullas):

• Articles with images get 94% more total page views
• 60% of consumers are more likely to consider or contact a business when an image shows up in local search results

#5. Promising Sub title

The subtitle has one goal – to entice people to read your first paragraph. The way to do that is to make a promise to your readers (in the subtitle) and then keep the promise by telling them what they want to know (first paragraph).

Let’s say you write a list post titled, ‘12 Tips to Stay Safe in Hospitals‘ (again, hat tip to Kevin Pho – he writes the best headlines ever!). Each of your 12 subtitles represents a promise to tell readers how to stay safe in a hospital. If your first subtitle is ‘Never go alone’ then make sure the following paragraph stays on topic and tells readers why they shouldn’t go alone to the hospital. All this may sound simple and obvious, but it really works!

#6. Content that pulls an emotional trigger

With this first piece of content your goal is to pull an emotional trigger in your reader. Remember that when people get emotional about a topic, they pay attention. They’re also more likely to take action since they are already in an emotional state that compels them to act.

The best way to pull emotional triggers in a medical or healthcare blog is by telling a story that resonates with your readers. It might be about a patient overcoming an illness, or even about a patient who succumbed to an illness. One unique thing about the healthcare industry is there is no shortage of stories that trigger emotion.

 #7. Promising Sub title

Repeat #5 as many times as needed.

#8. Emotional Content

Repeat #6 as many times as needed.

#9. Call to Action

Here’s where you close out your article with a call to action. You can ask your readers to leave a comment saying what they thought about your article (this helps to increase engagement on your blog). Or you could ask them to subscribe to your email newsletter (this ensures that you capture names and emails of prospective patients).

And that’s about it!

Your Turn

What did I miss? What other tips can you share about writing interesting articles for patients and their families? Please leave your comments in the box below.

We often hear that healthcare CEO’s don’t like social media.

It’s true they have traditionally rolled their eyes at social media. It’s equally true that healthcare has lagged behind when it comes to reaching out to consumers. In fact the industry didn’t exactly roll out the red carpet when disruptive technologies such as smart phones and social media made their respective debuts several years ago.

But now PwC has come out with a new survey indicating that healthcare CEO’s are changing their minds.

Healthcare getting social

Healthcare businesses have indeed moved beyond their casual experimentation with social media. Brands such as Cleveland Clinic, Boston Children’s Hospital and many others are integrating social media into their broader marketing and patient engagement efforts.

Not only that.

Conferences dedicated exclusively to healthcare social media marketing such as Mayo Clinic’s ‘Social Media Summit’ are cropping up everywhere and even the ‘Healthcare Hashtag Project’ was invented to keep track of various healthcare conversations on Twitter.

What healthcare CEO’s now know is that they are no longer in control of the conversation. In order to remain relevant their businesses have to engage in the kind of human, sociable and even likeable conversations that patients want – like a friend talking to a friend.

Healthcare brands should use social media to engage users in human, friendly & likeable conversations.

That means blogging more and marketing less. It means posting Facebook updates that are not only about their products, but about the dreams and lifestyles of their patients as well.

Coming full circle

As the idea of patient experience becomes increasingly important in healthcare marketing, CEO’s are beginning to see how social media can help with patient acquisition and retention. According to the PwC survey 81% of them plan to make changes designed to increase engagement with social media users.

Healthcare CEO’s plan to change the way they engage with social media users

Social media platforms especially Facebook and Twitter present the opportunity not only to address common concerns and frustrations that patients face e.g. parking issues, long wait times or how to get test results, but also to converse with them in a way that could turn a negative experience into a positive one.

For healthcare CEO’s who have come full circle their ‘big opportunity’ is to support training programs that empower employees to use social media in a way that improves patient experience, protects patient privacy and avoids communication that could potentially harm the organization’s reputation. Otherwise, the fact that they’re beginning to ‘like’ social media is in itself a huge step.

Your Turn: What role do you think CEO’s play in the future of healthcare social media marketing?

Do you want to write a book but don’t know where to start?

Or perhaps you have a manuscript that hasn’t been published.

If so, this article is just for you.

These days it is next to impossible to get a major publisher interested in a book deal, particularly when you’re a novice writer without an established platform. As far as they’re concerned, you’re too risky and they’ll avoid you like the plague.

So what do you do?

Well, Guy Kawasaki, co-author of APE: How to Publish a Book, would tell you to self-publish.

“Self-publishing enables you to determine your own fate. There’s no need to endure the frustration of finding and working with a publisher.”

Not that self-publishing is easy! In fact, Guy calls it a “mystifying, frustrating and inefficient task” if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Then why bother?

Because the publishing industry is in turmoil.

Guy explains the constraints of traditional publishing—logistics and limitations of shelf space, of access to printing presses, editing, production expertise and shipping of physical books. As a result, someone has to act as a filter to decide what gets printed and what doesn’t—and it’s not pretty.

On the other hand, self-publishing is unrestricted, accessible and shelf space for ebooks is infinite. If you know what you’re doing (you can read the book to learn), self-publishing will open doors of opportunity that would otherwise remain firmly shut.

Here’s what you need to know about APE the book.

Authors’ Purpose

Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch are seasoned writers.

Between them they have written 16 books (including APE). So when Guy decided to self-publish his previous book, What the Plus!, he was stunned at how difficult the process was. In fact, had it not been for his friend Shawn who explained the complexities of self-publishing, he would have hit a wall.

Together Guy and Shawn decided to write a book to help novice writers who are considering self-publishing. They humanize the publishing process, and remove all knowledge barriers that would otherwise make the experience traumatic.

What to Expect

If you’ve never written a book before, you’ll learn why you should write one, and why you shouldn’t. If you’ve never been published, you’ll figure out how to go from manuscript to book. And if you want to turn your book into a cash cow, you’ll learn how to do that too! Some other interesting things you will learn are:

• How to write your book
• How to avoid that “self-published look”
• How to price your book
• How to sell your book through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and others
• How to share your book on social media
• And much more!

Highlights

APE is about empowering people who want to write their own book without giving up control to a publisher. To do this, you have to become an author, a publisher and an entrepreneur (APE). Here’s a glimpse of what that looks like:

#1: Author

Before you write a book, ask yourself, “What am I trying to achieve?” Most people write books for the wrong reasons—to make money, to become a thought leader or because “everyone says I have a good story.” How typical. Why not take four and half minutes to check out this video and see if you’re a “typical author” (featuring Siri!).

A good writer seeks to enrich people’s lives; for example, to entertain, provide knowledge, promote understanding, further a cause and so on. If it has to be about your personal goals, let it be because you want to master a new skill. This way if no one reads your book, at least you went out on a limb, took on an intellectual challenge and learned something new.

Being an author is a marathon. Guy’s advice is to postpone self-criticism because if you’re too harsh on yourself at the start of the writing process, chances are you might convince yourself that your book isn’t good enough to finish.

#2: Publisher

A high-quality book needs extensive testing and copy editing. You don’t need a traditional publisher to do these tasks, but you cannot eliminate them either. Here’s a cost estimate for publishing a 300-page book:

Remember, your goal is to produce a book that reads, looks and feels like any book from a major publisher. So don’t try to take shortcuts. However, you can get great feedback and save some money by following these tips:

• Editing. Get your family, friends, co-workers or niche online communities to copyedit your manuscript. You can also do a Facebook Graph search of ‘self publishing’ to find people or groups that can help you. Other sites to check out for editing help are Review Fuse, WritersCafe.org, Critters Workshop and Critique Circle.
• Appearance is everything! People will judge your book by its cover. An attractive cover shows your professionalism and increases the marketability of your book. To avoid that sloppy “self-published look,” refer to the Chicago Manual of Style for numerous tips on grammar, style and presentation.

Distribution is another key process in book publishing. There are four ways to distribute your book: Online book resellers, direct sales, author-services companies and print-on-demand. Here’s a decision matrix to help clarify your distribution channel options:

Bonus tip: If you’re not interested in mass distribution and just want to print a couple of book copies to give away to family and friends, you can use the Espresso Book Machine, a print on demand (POD) machine that prints, collates, covers and binds your book in about five minutes!

#3: Entrepreneur

Usually “entrepreneuring” is the hardest and most neglected of APE’s three roles because many authors don’t understand marketing. (Side note: For Social Media Examiner readers, this should be a walk in the park!)

Your job is to turn the book project into a marketable product that people will want to buy. First you have to understand how people discover new books:

• Friends and peers tell them about it
• They read about it on blogs or websites
• Amazon suggests it to them
• They Googled a term and your book showed up in the results
• They searched for an item on Amazon and your book showed up in the results

When they’ve found your book, people look at the star rating and the user reviews. Then they decide whether or not to buy it. So here are some tips to “guerilla-market” your book:

• Use all your online and offline contacts and connections and offer a PDF version of the book to anyone who is willing to review it. (Cost: $0)
• Use Google+ Hangouts on Air to broadcast your book and give it away. (Cost: $0)
• Catalyze user reviews on Amazon within 48 hours of when your book ships—ask your social media connections and the people who wrote a blurb on your book. Also don’t forget to contact Amazon’s Top Reviewers as well. (Cost: $0)
• Make it easy for others to review your book by putting all background material (e.g., author’s bio, picture, book cover image, book specs, blurbs, etc.) in one place such as a landing page on your website. (Cost: $0)

Remember your activities as an author don’t end when your book is published. You should market your book for as long as people want to buy it.

Personal Impressions

Having read some of his other books, I know how passionate Guy gets about a subject he loves. Likewise this book is seasoned with his enchanting, humorous personality (he writes most of the book, by the way).

But what struck me about APE is how honest and pragmatic it is. It’s remarkable to see how he exposes the very publishing model that made him a New York Timesbestseller! Though even as a self-publishing advocate, he cautions that ebooks make up only 10% of total book sales in the U.S.—one of the huge doses of reality in this book.

So here’s the good news. If you’re aspiring to become a published author, APE’s message is that you don’t need a publisher to get your story out. It’s a great time to be a writer and this time around, the system is rigged in your favor. Why notpick up the book and get started on your self-publishing adventure!

Social Media Examiner gives this excellent book a 5.0 star rating.

Your Turn

What are your thoughts on self-publishing? Please share in the comment box below.

**This article was first published on Social Media Examiner on April 4th, 2013.