WEBINAR: Social Media 101 for Community Health Centres

Updated March 2012(Originally presented March 2011)

Outline• 45 minute presentation

– Overview of social media and how/why CHCs can use social media

– An “on the ground” look at social media use, planning (London InterCommunity CHC)

– Some additional resources, supports and opportunities for sharing

• Up to 45 minutes for questions and social media “troubleshooting”

Where to begin?

Is this even relevant to what we do???

Key goals today are to

• De-mystify social media (SM)– Better understand what they are and see through

some of the ‘noise’– See how they fit with the vision & mission of CHCs

• Understand how SM can help you better achieve your CHC’s mission, vision, priorities

• Leave with some tools, examples and resources to advance SM planning, use at your CHC

OK…this isn’t so bad after all !!!

#1: We need to make the distinction between medium and content/use

From mental block to building blocks

#2: We need to better understand the virtues of “Web 2.0”

From mental block to building blocks

• Blogging: short commentaries expressing your ideas and thoughts about issues of importance to you. You control the content, the message and the forum. Invites comments and encourages dialogue.

• Micro-blogging: Tools like Twitter that allow you to share short messages (~ 140 characters) instantly informing people of news, updates and opinions. The short form enables quick and to-the-point information exchange. A great way to help steer others toward issues, news, events that matter to you. Power of the “multiplying effect”.

• Social networking: Using applications like Facebook and Twitter to establish and build relationships focused around common interests, causes or events.

A few Web 2.0 basics

From mental block to building blocks#3: Deep connection between social media

and CHC values and vision

From mental block to building blocks

• SM = CHC2

The value propositions and organizational methods of Web 2.0 and social media are similar to those that are deeply embedded in the CHC model and vision of health and healthcare

• “Should we?” vs. “How?” The question is not so much “should we” be using SM, but how do

we do so effectively and manageably?

Yes, there is some work and organizational change involved

• Where do you begin?

• Which social media tools do you use?

• How do you staff this new approach at your CHC?

SM are not about doing something new. They are about doing what you already do:– in new ways– in new places and spaces– through new tools– Not just for your communication leads

• Social media are tools that can and should be used by health providers, program staff and others at your CHC

Golden Key

A few examples of what you can do

• Engage local youth around health issues on Facebook• Ask community members for input on local priorities via

Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc.• Post advocacy videos on YouTube, made with low-cost,

hand-held cameras• Develop a following of local MPPs / MLAs, MPs, Regional

Health Authorities, Ministers, partner agencies and others on Facebook and Twitter: gain unprecedented access to decision-makers

• Join other CHCs and community partners around shared advocacy efforts

ADVOCACY: SM enable us to break traditional chains of power, access and control

Some recommendations

• Schedule social media conversation(s) at your CHC

– There needs to be a buy-in process, and ideally this should be at the management level. Achieving broad buy-in generally takes time, but it always starts with a conversation.

– Try to identify one or more “social media ambassadors” or lead persons on your staff; individuals who can help other CHC colleagues move from “mental block to building blocks”

Some recommendations

• Identify and work forward from your CHC’s current program and communications priorities

– It is important to anchor your social media planning and use around current priorities, and to approach SM as new tools to achieve your existing organizational goals

– Among your current priorities, it is often helpful to start where there is some early buy-in to get started with SM. This way you can start small, share successes and model SM use for others at your CHC

Some recommendations

• Embrace the collaborative spirit of social media and recognize this journey as a way to build bridges and unite staff, volunteers, others

– Reach out and identify who at your centre is already using SM; invite a broad range of staff members into the discussion – make this truly participatory!

– This may be an opportunity to build team morale and collaboration!

– You may not know it, but you could already have SM pros in your midst!

A few examples of social media use from CHCs

www.accessalliance.ca/RHC

www.putfoodinthebudget.ca

www.swchc.on.ca

A grassroots, birkenstock-wearing, health-promoting, bike-riding, community-lovin’

CHC uses Social Media!

Social Media 101 Webinar

Why?

Many people in the broader community (London, Ontario) don’t understand the full

depth and breadth of our Community Health Centre’s programs, services and

mandate.

Why?

• More people will encounter us online than in person. Our website and social media presence will play an increasingly strong role in influencing perceptions of our services and our “brand.”

• (We get about 1500+ unique visitors to our website each month)

Why?• Participation in online communities can promote

better communication with our colleagues, partners, funders, the general public, traditional and non-traditional media and other community stakeholders.

• If we are truly an adaptive organization that is externally focused, we must adopt solutions that help us communicate effectively and efficiently.

January 2010: Launched Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/LondonInterCommunityHealthCentre

Facebook• Used for posting upcoming events, sharing program news,

recognizing partner agency success, links to ED Michelle Hurtubise’s blog, posting pictures or “house keeping” details such as hours of operation.

• 126 people have “liked” the site as of March 2011• Built in analytics capability allows us to see site

impressions, feedback rate, etc.• Have used Facebook ads with limited success• Facebook is consistently one of the top 10 referrers to our

website (i.e., one of the top 10 sites that people access before visiting our primary website. “push-tool”)

November 3, 2010 London Free Press

• Canada has the heaviest Facebook profile penetration in the world • Facebook users are making connections with public entities three times

faster than they are with traditional friends.• Research group Nielsen found that Facebook users are 68% more

likely to remember seeing an advertisement if it’s shared by a friend. They were 100% more likely to remember the message in the advertisement and 300% more likely to purchase the product.

• “Facebook is effective word of mouth marketing. And for the very first time you can do it to scale,”

• Starbucks for instance has roughly 2.7 million hits on its corporate website per month whereas its corporate Facebook page gets 16.3 million hits per month.

May 2010: Launched new website www.lihc.on.ca

• Complete overhaul of our Community Health Centre’s website

• Built on a Wordpress platform• Features latest news items, photo galleries, a blog,

fillable forms, traditional static pages, a survey feature & more!

• 100% administered by our CommunityHealth Centre – flexible and adaptive

Blog: Powered by Values

Powered by Values• Michelle, our Executive Director, writes a weekly

post for her blog called “Powered by Values”

• Subject matter runs from national news items to very local issues to Health Centre programming

• Attempt to link to other organizations, sources of information/research and illustrate the photos if possible

Website Analytics• Built in Google Analytics allows us to track site

usage, where visitors come from, which pages they view and how long they stay on the site

• In the past month, we’ve had 1700+ unique visitors

• Since we launched the site, we’ve had 40 people join our mailing list, and 50 people complete the application form to become a volunteer at our centre

Built in Google Analytics

October 2010: Launched Twitter accounthttp://www.twitter.com/HealthCentre

Twitter• As of March 9, 2011 we “follow” 204 Twitter accounts – local

and national news, fellow CHCs, local non-profit organizations, LHINs, politicians, formal and informal community animators, journalists, “special interest/advocacy groups”– UPDATE: 367 followed as of March 2012

• As of March 9, 2011 we are “followed by” 198 Twitter accounts – including Ontario Minister of Health Deb Matthews; London Free Press journalists; local city councilors; individuals and local non-profits – UPDATE: 562 followers as of March 2012

Twitter• We use TweetDeck to create tweets and manage our

Twitter use and Megan (our Communications Manager) uses a Blackberry for “live” tweeting and photo sharing from events

• We use Twitter primarily to:– Recognize partner organizations– Drive people to new content on our website (events, jobs, blog

posts)– Comment on local news stories that cover topics relevant to the

communities we serve– Join provincial advocacy efforts– Report back, informally, to our funder

We Needed a Social Media Policy

• We needed a social media policy that is informative and provides pragmatic participation guidelines.

• Internal component: guidelines for employees participating in online communities hosted by our agencies or other agencies

• External component: guidelines for individuals posting to our platform

• Basic do’s and don’ts… our code of ethics online

Sample Content

• Clear guidelines about what employees may and may not say

• Branding information

• Rules of engagement

• Transparency

Other Social Media in Progress

• Youth Outreach Workers on Facebook and Twitter• Francophone Community Developer has a

Facebook page en francais• Grit Uplifted has a blog for publication of the

writings of our clients who are homeless – they also have a Facebook page to drive people to the blog

• New Facebook page just launched for our new Ethno-Racial Youth Mentoring Program

Some other social media supports, rallying points and

opportunities

Online Social Media for CHCs section:– Social media 101 description– Various social media tools and examples designed

specifically for CHCs– Links to external “social media for healthcare” sites and

resources– Link to the global discussion forum “CHC Chat” – these

include regular discussion of social media use by CHCs

www.cachc.ca

www.chcchat.com

Weekly discussion about various topics in community-oriented primary health care

#CHConnected directory of Community Health Centres, CHC Associations, staff and supporters

Videos, Find a CHC tool, and more!

Professional networking

around various topics in

community-oriented primary

health care

http://linkd.in/GHgf8t

Community Health WeekApril 24th – 30th, 2011

Twitter hashtag: #CHW2011

2011 Community Health Centre AwardsSubmission deadline: May 6th, 2011

Winning Video Submission:http://youtu.be/URZ5TwEf60E

Community Health Centres:Acting Today, Shaping Tomorrow

June 9th-10th, 2011 (TORONTO, CANADA)

UPDATE: Conference Proceedings Available at http://www.cachc.ca/?page_id=566

- Advocacy workshop for CHCs, including social media use

- CHC Chat “live from the conference” on Thursday, June 9th

- A global “tweet up” of all CHCs using Twitter

- Communications and social media stations during the conference

- A roaming social media team connecting to delegates (interviews, live tweeting, videos, social media troubleshooting)

- Announcement of CACHC’s 2011 CHC Award Winner

Example from U.S. www.chc1.com

Thank you!Scott A. WolfeFederal Coordinator – Canadian Association of Community Health Centresswolfe@cachc.ca http://www.twitter.com/CACHC_ACCSC

Megan CornwellCommunications Manager – London InterCommunity Health Centremcornwell@lihc.on.ca http://www.twitter.com/HealthCentre

Mary MacNuttPolicy and Communications Manager – Association of Ontario Health Centresmarym@aohc.org http://www.twitter.com/AOHC_ACSO