How social media is being used to improve health

How social media

is being used to

improve health

Four Experts Share Their Experience and Insights

#SM4PH

Promoting good health falls under

What is social marketing*:

Uses commercial marketing approach to

change behavior

Uses the four P’s of marketing:

Product

Price

Place

Promotion

social marketing

*Glanz, Rimer,

Viswanath, 2008

Role of research

Theoretical foundation

Audience segmentation

Types of approaches

Product-driven

Consumer-driven

Market-driven

Developing an

effective campaign

www.cancer.gov

Examples of

social marketing b.s.m. (before social media)

1958-1961

Sponsor: CDC

1983 - Present

Sponsors: U.S. Dept. of Transportation/NHTSA

1985 - Present

Sponsors: U.S. Dept. of Transportation/NHTSA

1988 - 1990

Sponsors: Amer. Fdn. for

AIDS Research/Nat. AIDS

Networks

2011

Sponsor: Behind German Walls

Sponsor:

BMW

2012

Sponsors: Glee/NHTSA/The Ad Council

2005

Sponsor: Montana Meth Project

Launched 2003

175 million users*

Launched 2004

1 billion users*

Along comes

social media

Launched 2006

500 million users*

Launched 2011

400 million users*

* As of 2012

How can social media be used to

promote health?

Insights of some

industry experts

Frances Heilig

Jeff Picarello

@jeffpicarello

Melissa Taylor

@groovymomma

Jana Leigh Thomas

Linkedin.com/in/janaleighthomas

Corinne

Shefner-Rogers

Q1: How has social media

changed social marketing?

More concise messages with links.

(Shefner-Rogers)

Two-way communication. (Heilig)

Get to the point quickly. (Thomas)

What is the “social ask”?

What the experts

had to say

With social media, the feedback loop is

much shorter.

Thoughts from

Jeff Picarello

Q2: What are the

benefits of using social media in social marketing campaigns?

Quick, multi-channel responses. (Picarello)

More immediate and interactive

communication with consumers.

(Thomas/Taylor)

Targeted messages with real-time

feedback. (Heilig)

What the experts

had to say

Once you put a message out

there, anyone can access it at

any time.

Thoughts from

Corinne Shefner-Rogers

Q3: What are the

drawbacks of using social media in social marketing campaigns?

Competition and clutter. (Shefner-Rogers)

Not all social networks are the same.

(Heilig)

Need to give good information – or else

you’re giving misinformation. (Picarello)

What the experts

had to say

…the perceived ease and low

cost to many of the channels

makes it tempting to do

everything vs. picking the ones

and investing strategically.

Thoughts from

Jana Leigh Thomas

Q4: Will you share some

best practices or lessons learned?

Content control through blogging.

(Thomas/Taylor and Picarello)

“Care and feeding.” (Picarello)

What the experts

had to say

Using Social Media Platforms to

Amplify Public Health Messages http://smexchange.ogilvypr.com/wp-

content/uploads/2010/11/OW_SM_WhitePaper.pdf

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood

Institute’s the Heart Truth campaign http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/educational/hearttruth/downloads/html/sm-study.htm

Recommendations from

Frances Heilig

Q5: What does the

future hold for social media and social marketing campaigns?

Focus on the story we have to tell and let

that guide us to a social media strategy.

(Thomas/Taylor)

Give people a voice. (Heilig)

Mobile technology and near field

communication. (Picarello)

What the experts

had to say

The challenge will be to

find ways to reach

people who have not yet

heard and are not

actively seeking the

public health information.

Thoughts from

Jana Leigh Thomas

Many of today’s social marketing campaigns

have a social media component

@AmericanCancer

@AlzAssociation @dontdrivendtext

@KomenfortheCure

http://www.facebook.com/#!/ActAgainstAIDS?fref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/SurfDogRicochet?sk=app_320180588040301#!/stopbullyingspeakup

From all of this, here are

the key themes Social media is not a magic bullet.

Age-old rule still applies – Right message to

the right people through the right channel.

Remember: it’s “social media.” People

expect interaction.

If you are going to engage in social media,

take the time to do it well.

Some parting

points to ponder

Social media is kind of like the

Wild West. It’s a very self-

governing world. With

technology changing so fast,

you kind of just have to try

things and see what works.

I believe that people will be so

overwhelmed by social media

messaging that they will tune

out once the novelty of the

medium wears off, the same

way they did with PSAs and

other ‘old’ media channels, or

they will find their ‘niche

channel’ and narrow their

sources for information even

more.

How social media

is being used to

improve health

Four Experts Share Their Experience and Insights

#SM4PH