3 Ways Social Media Creates a Social Local Community

Nursing Homes and Social Media?

Nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and rehab communities are not known for being active in social media—yet.

But changes in Medicare mean communication with patients and families and the employees who care for them is more important than ever.

Wapakoneta Manor is one of 24 HCF Management facilities on Facebook.

“The way that we’re going to be paid and the way we’re going to be gauged is changing; it’s evolving as we speak,” said Scott Unverferth, director of operations at HCF Management in Lima, Ohio.

New pay-for-performance models are on the horizon for managed care companies such as HCF.

HCF has 27 facilities throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania that provide skilled nursing care, rehab care and assisted living. They have approximately 3,200 employees and have been in business since 1968.

In April 2012 they made the leap into social media and haven’t looked back.

Here’s how they’re making it work in the new healthcare environment.

Organization: HCF Management

Social Media Handles and Stats

• Website – HCF Management
• Facebook – combined 2,732 fans
• YouTube – combined 41,937 views
• Twitter – combined 903 followers

Highlights:

• 24 facilities across two states now on social media
• A series of “Harlem Shake” videos filmed at 13 facilities received over 35,000 views
• Quarterly average of 27% increased engagement across facilities since launching social media
• 2,252 combined subscriptions to email newsletter

When HCF decided the time was right to get into social media, they knew they needed a trusted partner. “We really had zero experience,” said Unverferth.

For guidance, HCF turned to Jessika Phillips, president of NOW Marketing Group of Lima, Ohio, based on word of mouth in the community. HCF and NOW agreed to a pilot program for seven facilities, eventually adding 17 more.

After a two-month discovery process, NOW launched the first Facebook Pages last spring. “We wanted to understand their business and their audience as much as possible,” said Phillips. NOW also uses a HubSpot goal-setting template to help set SMART goals for each quarter, as well as longer-term goals.

NOW and HFC developed a plan to increase community awareness of the brand, reach decision-makers and engage employees.

#1: Be Hyperlocal

There is no HCF Management Facebook Page. Instead, there are 24 individual Facebook Pages for the different HCF facilities. The same is true for Twitter accounts, YouTube channels and Pinterest pages (added spring 2013).

During the discovery process, NOW realized that HCF needed to focus more on engagement than follower numbers. Creating Facebook Pages for each facility means they can post more engaging content for each site.

“We want to create brands where the feel on the Page is that they are cheerleaders for the community,” said Phillips.

HFC champions others in their communities on their Facebook Pages.

“We create that kind of feel that we’re definitely engrained in the community and very supportive of it, and that tends to get really high engagement,” she added.

HCF facilities routinely post about community events.

NOW uses Scoreboard Social, a competitive social media analytics tool, to track their engagement, which aggregates all the Pages into one report for easier monitoring.

NOW Marketing uses Scoreboard Social to track engagement.

#2: Reach Out to Decision-Makers

“In our business, the people who make the decisions are not necessarily the people who are having the service provided,” said Unverferth. A common scenario is that a person’s mother or father will go into the hospital and learn that they can’t go home. In two days, their family will have to find a nursing home. “We want people to know who we are before they have to make that decision,” Unverferth said.

On Facebook, posts are designed to educate, entertain, engage or show their expertise. Phillips also explained that they make sure to mix in general-interest posts so prospective decision-makers don’t feel like outsiders.

One of HCF’s most successful social media efforts has been a series of virtual tour and staff introduction videos on YouTube. Phillips said they have been a great tool for the HCF social workers and patient-relations representatives at the hospital.

HCF virtual tour videos and staff videos are popular on YouTube.

She recounts one account manager’s story of a family that was looking to choose a nursing home for their mother. At first, some of the out-of-state siblings were recommending a different nursing home. But the sibling who lived nearby took a video tour of an HCF facility and then sent the link of the virtual tour to her family. After viewing the tour video and staff videos, the other siblings felt comfortable having their mother placed in the HCF nursing home.

Another unconventional way HCF used YouTube was with a series of “Harlem Shake” videos.

“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could do something unexpected?’” said Phillips.

The first video, shot at Van Wert Manor, received over 10,000 views in its first week, also spawning coverage on two local TV stations and two newspapers.

Van Wert Manor’s “Harlem Shake” video got over 10,000 views its first week

“For us, that’s amazing,” added Unverferth. “We could never have 10,000 customers look at our building in a week’s time… We are starting to reach some of the people who are going to be decision-makers. Maybe they’re not today, but I think they will be in the future.”

#3: Reach Out to Employees

Communicating with employees using the same social channels that you communicate with customers may seem counterintuitive. But in managed care, it makes sense.Relationships grow between staff and residents over what can be years of care, and social connections are important.

“It’s just so important that [staff] are involved and they know what’s going on,” said Unverferth.

Since employee satisfaction will figure into new formulas for payment, bringing employees into the social media mix makes good business sense as well.

To foster staff engagement on social media, HCF focuses on Facebook, an email newsletter and newly added Pinterest pages.

HCF regularly posts about employees on their Facebook Page.

NOW introduced an email version of the printed newsletter that is distributed to residents. They ran a contest between facilities for the most signups, giving a pizza party to the winners. Over 2,200 employees and family members now subscribe.

Each newsletter includes an Employee of the Month and Resident Success Story.

NOW also launched Pinterest pages to offer craft ideas for internal activities directors and wellness resources for families.

NOW recently launched Pinterest pages as a resource for activities directors and family members.

The Power of Social Media in Managed Care

When the Roselawn Manor Care Community (an HCF Management community) got on Facebook, an administrator noticed a certain person liking and interacting with their daily posts. Shortly afterwards, that person referred a resident.

“After talking with this resident,” the administrator said, “she had mentioned that our Facebook Page and our daily fun and caring posts are what led her to our care community!”

When it comes to social media in the managed care arena, Phillips said,

“It’s important to take a risk and try it out before you’re trying to play catch-up.”

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7 Easy Steps to Social Media Marketing Success

Everyone knows that promoting your business on social media can extend your reach, gain visibility for your brand and build meaningful relationships with your customers. If done correctly, it can be a highly cost effective way to market your company in the digital age.

But more often than not, I hear about businesses who just throw together a Facebook page because that's what everone else is doing, or they sign up for a Twitter account and tweet, "We're on Twitter now!" and never come back to interact and engage with their audience.

Social media can be a strategic marketing tool, if set up and approached properly, and if you combine it with other forms of marketing.

Is social media right for your business? And if so, which networks should you have a presence on? Should you manage your accounts yourself, or is it worth it to hire a social media consultant?

Below are some sure-fire ways to get set up on social media the right way.


Define Your Purpose

Before jumping right in, you must figure out your purpose for using social media. Just like any other form of marketing, you need to formulate a strategy to reach your business goals. What is your main objective? Is it to increase brand awareness? Is it to get people to sign up for your email newsletter or download a trial version of your software? Having a clear cut layout of what it is you want to accomplish from the get go will ensure you stay focused and will ultimately lead to your success.

Start Small

Some people may tell you to sign up for an account on all the social media networks, but for those just starting out, I believe this will only hurt you in the long run. Don't spread yourself thin. Besides, not all networks are important for every industry.  A company selling t-shirts may work well on Facebook (posting engaging photos) but won't have the right demographic on LinkedIn (where it's geared more to professionals and business-to-business opportunities). It would be advisable for a restaurant to get set up on Foursquare, Yelp and other review sites, but a lawyer does not need to use these sites.

Don't Focus on Selling

I'm sure you're well aware of the 80/20 rule, where 80% of your revenues come from 20% of your customers. Take advantage of this concept and work towards building real relationships with your customers. Don't focus on the sale, it will come eventually, I promise you. And when it does, it won't just be a one-time transaction. It'll be from a loyal customer, someone who feels as though they can connect with you, they trust you and look at you as more than just a business. Hopefully they will be compelled to tell others about your business offerings or recommend your services. At that point you've succeeded at marketing with social media because you've focused on the social aspects, the human aspects, and weren't worried about how you're going to make money from it.

Know Your Audience

What good is marketing if you're talking to the wrong propsects? You're right: it isn't. Come up with your customer profile - nail down the details of your ideal customer - how old are they, what are their interests, what do they spend their money on, what are they passionate about, where do they spend their time online, what websites do they frequent and trust for news, etc.? The sooner you know these details, the sooner you can craft your content strategy to reach them exactly where and when they are.

Be Prepared

As with anything in business, you must be prepared for the unknown. It's good to always keep an open mind and be flexible about things because in this day and age, especially in social media, things change so quickly that the only way for businesses to survive (and thrive) online is to be adaptable. Consider hiring a social media management team, people who are trained and experienced in this field, so that you don't have to worry about the small things and can focus on doing what you do best: running your business.

Have Patience

This is probably one of the most important points in this article, though it's often one of the more over-looked: patience. You've heard it before: good things come to those who wait. While this is not entirely true in all cases, it can be applied to social media marketing. Truth is, you're not going to see results overnight. You may not even see them after the first month. But if you have a sound strategy in place, and actionable steps and keep at it, I guarantee you will find success. After all, everyone and their mother is online, it's just a matter of reaching them.

Be Social

It's the name of the game: social media. Make sure you are having fun. If you approach social media marketing with an optimistic attitude, if you truly want to engage with your audience and participate in the active discussion, marketing your products or services online will be a lot easier. You must view things from your customer's perspective and always ask yourself, is this something my fans really care about? Those with the most success using social media are those who are the most entertaining, the most conversational, and, let's face it, the most social.

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