Written on May 10th, 2011 by tasha
Those of you who know me know I’m a bit of a data wonk. I like data. I don’t think that our reality can be completely represented by numbers. But just as we prefer to make evidence-based health decisions, I think it is wise to make evidence-based marketing decisions.
So what should you keep track of in terms of measuring the “success” of a social media endeavor? I can share what the standard marketing approach is, but I also think that we have a slightly different critter in the context of our older audience and elder care/health care focus.
This will be a two-part blog, with the first talking about realistic goals or outcomes of a social media campaign and then next covering ways to measure those outcomes.
A study by Idealware suggests the most realistic Facebook expectations for a non-profit (and I would add, a service-oriented, NON-retail business) are:
- Increasing the number of subscribers to your e-newsletter. Social media is in some ways a more passive marketing tool than email. You post, but it’s anyone’s guess how often your Fans will check back in. Plus, the etiquette of social networking demands a very low level of marketing or “ask.” With email, you can be more proactive. You send out your e-newsletter less frequently than you post on social media, but your e-newsletter draws more focused attention. As long as you balance helpful content (e.g., resources, educational information, inspirational stories) with requests of your readers, you can include more direct “asks” in an email newsletter than would be tolerated on Facebook or a blog. In the “sales funnel” paradigm, subscribing to an e-newsletter means a greater commitment to your organization and so brings the viewer closer to converting to a client. Bottom line: Your Facebook page should make it easy for people to take that next step and sign up for your e-newsletter. There’s an app for that!
- Increasing the number of LIKES. Of course, everyone wants to have lots of Fans LIKING their page, subscribing to their blog, or following them on twitter. Be realistic, though. We aren’t Intel or Apple. The average number of LIKES on a Facebook business page is 65. And a LIKE is little more than a momentary bumper sticker with the ability to put your brand in front of your viewer via his/her newsfeed. The value in a LIKE is whether they engage with you by commenting or sharing your info with their friends. Don’t get me wrong, LIKES and follows are good. But they are just the beginning of the cycle, not the end goal in itself.
- Driving traffic to your business website. Social media is content marketing. It is not sales. In fact, businesses that lay on the heavy sales language (or in our case, a big dose of “ask” with every post) are likely to be ignored. You can talk about yourself, but it needs to be measured, and absolutely with the question in the forefront: How does this add to my Fan’s day? Your posts should be educational and inspirational so those who follow you view you as a wise and compassionate thought leader in your field. That said, at the end of the day, you want people to learn more about your services and ultimately engage with you commercially. The business side of things happen on your company website. (Hopefully your business page includes online HIPAA-compliant referral forms, requests for more information, online donation capability, etc.) In the language of sales, those forms are the Internet version of “converting” a prospect to a client. So think of social media as a lead generation tool with many opportunities to link to your company website (commercial presence) which will do the heavy lifting on the conversion side.
- Promoting events. Perhaps your marketing plan includes presentations to the community, attendance at health fairs, or free blood pressure checks. Social networking is a great way to get the word out. According to Idealware, social networking is also very useful for promoting attendance at fundraising events if you are a non-profit. The caveat here is that Idealware’s study was not focused on elder care providers, but rather non-profits that deal with all manner of issues. The largest proportion of Facebook users are under 40, but your elder care audience (and Fans) are likely in the Boomer age range or older. Absolutely you will want to promote events on Facebook. I’m just not convinced that it will have the same success that organizations appealing to younger audiences experience (unless your event is a Run to Remember, or something that would appeal to younger individuals).
Other goals for social media can include less tangible but no less important outcomes:
- Building brand loyalty. Transcend Hospice Marketing recently posted an article which included a description of their focus group research across the country. Fewer than 20% of family decision-makers (and often fewer than 10%) were able to name a single hospice that served their area. Of those who were able to identify more than one hospice, more than 90% were unable to describe the difference between the companies. I would not be the least surprised to hear similar data about home care, home health or geriatric care managers. Too few in the community understand the elder care network, let alone how to pick a quality provider. It is up to you to build awareness of your field and simultaneously build name recognition of your company and brand loyalty. The daily exposure of social media is an effective way to do this, cultivating a sincere relationship with family caregivers before the crisis.
- Increasing awareness in the younger generations. This is not small. Although Boomers and seniors have become the fastest growing age groups on Facebook, social networking is still largely dominated by persons under 40. While these non-seniors (shall we call them “juniors”?), are not prospective clients per se, they can be prospective employees, volunteers and donors. Remember that a big goal with social media is to be seen as a thought leader. If you are looking for age diversity in your staff, your donor base or volunteers, establishing a strong presence on Facebook is a great way to connect with younger individuals. Many juniors turn to Facebook before they turn to Google. And if you have an impressive social media presence (e.g., blog, Facebook page, YouTube or twitter) with posts that clearly show you understand the difference between content marketing and sales, they will be inclined to look upon you as a leading edge organization they would like to join. In fact, groups such as Alive Hospice in Nashville began their blog specifically as a way to attract “Millennials” as employees. (Millennials are persons who graduated from high school in and around the year 2000, aka Generation Y.)
Next blog post we’ll talk about how you measure achievement of your goals.
What do you define as success in a social media campaign?
Tags: Social Media and Hospice
Posted in E-newsletters, Facebook, GCM Marketing, Home Health Marketing, Hospice Marketing, Internet Marketing, Private Duty Marketing, Research Results, Social Networking
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