How to use Twitter as Part of your Hospital Online Marketing Strategy

[Christopher Boyer]

A few months ago, I wrote a blog post arguing that hospitals shouldn't use Twitter. In the last few months, however, the explosion of Twitter use and the widespread adoption of the tool by hospitals, has caused me to rethink my position.

Here are my tips on how hospitals could use Twitter effectively, and a number of tools they could use to make Twitter's use easier:


Who is actually on Twitter?
Twitter is very cautious about revealing user information and Twitter usage statistics (like Google, advertising will soon become a key revenue stream for Twitter, as a company). You can track demographics on www.Twitter.com through third party monitoring sites (like Quantcast, Compete or Nielsen), but this only takes into account those people using Twitter.com itself. Many people access their Twitter accounts through other applications (like Twirl or Tweetdeck or directly through their cell phones), which don’t reflect in these numbers.

It’s also important to note that Twitter is in the middle of an extreme growth cycle, and the number of new users and businesses joining Twitter is growing exponentially every day.

The most recent statistics on Twitter users (taken from March, 2009) indicate the following demographics:
• 53% of Twitter users are female
• 47% of Twitter users are in the 18-34 age range. Another 31% are in the 35-49 age range
• 75% of Twitter users have no kids at home
• Twitter attracts a less affluent audience as 49% of users earn less than 60K per year, no doubt a result of the younger user base

According to Twitter, 60% of their traffic is coming from outside of the United States, so the above demographics may not be reflective of domestic use. One thing is clear – as Twitter becomes more mainstream, the demographics will constantly be shifting and changing.

Following people on Twitter
Once you sign up, Twitter encourages you to follow others and also to encourage others to follow you. The concept of following and being followed is very important to Twitter’s effectiveness. In part, because it helps to broaden the Twitter community. But more important, approximately 40-60% of people that you follow will follow you back. This helps build your own person following (which in turn, helps make this an effective tool). Therefore, it’s important to begin expanding your following on Twitter by following others first.

The trick on Twitter is to develop online networks in which your messages and other’s messages are of interest or are important to you. A simple online network could be your immediate friends and family. As more and more businesses develop corporate Twitter identities, it’s being used effectively as a way to communicate with their community, their employees, the press and their potential customers. In a hospital setting, this means also potential patients.

There are a number of techniques and tools available to help you follow other people on Twitter. Here are a few:

Option 1: Twitter offers a built-in “Find People” option, which is available once you sign up for an account. This service offers multiple ways to search for other Twitter accounts:

• Find on Twitter – this allows you to search on people’s specific names or keywords
• Find on Other Networks – a simple interface to check for people in your email contact list that might also have Twitter accounts
• Invite by email – allows you to specifically invite people to join Twitter via a manually entered email
• Suggested users – this is Twitter’s way of promoting certain Twitter accounts (note: this is not a filtered tool – it’s merely a list of people that Twitter is trying to promote)

Option 2: Outside of the Twitter tool itself, there are a number of third-party applications that help users find one another. To look for people that have categorized themselves in certain industries, www.wefollow.com is a great tool. WeFollow is a way for Twitter users to self-categorize their accounts by using keywords associated with what they are writing about. Search for “hospital” or “healthcare” to find a number of like-minded people on Twitter, and connect with them. Incidentally, it’s also best to create (for free) a categorization for your account so others can find you!

Option 3: Regional targeting of your Twitter account is also a good way to start building your hospital’s local reputation (and effectiveness) on Twitter. There are a number of options you can try to regionally target your account:
1. Using an online service like www.Twellow.com is a bit like the Yellow Pages of Twitter (you could also use this website to list your hospital – for free!).
2. A nice Twitter search tool, www.search.twitter.com, allows you to search all tweets. Use this application to search for any mention of your city, hospital, service area, etc. From the results, investigate the Twitter accounts that have these references to determine if they are good accounts to follow.
3. By far, the best tool to find tweople4 in your region that are on Twitter, try www.Twitterlocal.net – this simple application is easy to install, and is very effective. This application (separate from the Twitter website) allows you to enter in a zip code, and displays tweets from within a certain range. This is a great way to find people within your area using Twitter.

How do you manage all of your Tweets?
As you are probably starting to realize, the more you become involved with Twitter, the more difficult it is to manage the amount of tweets that you receive. Luckily, there are a number of Twitter third-party applications that allow for an easier management of a single (or even multiple) Twitter accounts.

One of the best is Tweetdeck, which allows users to group topics within the twitter stream, as well as have real-time searching for keywords within the entire twitter-verse (even with users you do not follow). Not only is this feature great for finding tweets regarding key topics you might be interested in, it is also a great way to manage your online reputation. Set up a search feature for your hospital name to receive real-time updates whenever anyone on Twitter mentions your name.

This seems like a lot of work – is it worth it?
By now, you are either very excited to jump on the Twitter bandwagon, or you are looking at this tool as big waste of time. The trick with using Twitter effectively is to determine the amount of time you are willing to dedicate to it.

It’s best to consider a concept that tech mavens Leo Laporte and Robert Scoble suggest: the “sip, dip or bathe” approach. That is, just jump into Twitter, and consume when you have the time. Some days you might just have enough time for a simple “sip.” Other times you might have time to spend “bathing” in the twitter stream. However much time you have, be sure to not forget about Twitter – try to touch base on a semi-regular basis.

Read other people’s posts, discuss topics through Twitter with your peers, or reach out to experts on Twitter for ideas and suggestions. The more you use the tool, the more familiar you will be with it…and the more effective part of your marketing strategy it will become.

And join in the conversation - follow me: www.twitter.com/chrisboyer and post your comments below.

And feel free to download the attached overview of suggestions for hospitals to integrate Twitter into their strategic marketing and communications plan.

[Christopher Boyer]

You have to define your strategic content first (because then that will drive your target followers). For example, if you had one hospital Twitter account as a branding tool (which will be used for press releases only), and another to promote your Breast Cancer Institute (which is used for women to be aware of your educational programs, and offer discounted breast screenings), you would target your Twitter-follower strategies differently.

[Toby]

Great post and thanks for the resources. So which comes first .. building your followers or building your strategic content?

[Tom Stitt]

You and Ed Bennett (@edbennett) should develop a common position on "following" for hospital branded Twitter accounts vs. "replies". Ed's practice with @UMMC is to only follow other hospitals but be very responsive to tweets. Your outlook seems to be that hospitals should follow prospective patients.