My concurrent session’s working title is “The Stickiness of a Social Media Marketing Campaign” and the session description is as follows:

Social Media and Web 2.0 strategies are often explained in individual pieces that rarely get put together, thus leaving marketers and senior Management unsure of what it is, how it works and how they can benefit.  However, when these tools are applied, the results are nothing short of amazing — the program is “sticky”.

In this presentation, not only will all aspects of Social Media and Web 2.0 be discussed and explained, but we’ll link all the tools into an easy to understand and implement program that will help Senior Management create a plan to make Social Media part of their Communications Program.  To prove it’s power, a full case study will be shared with the audience that covers one suburban Chicago hospital’s program and results in great depth.

The session outline continues:

The session begins with data and analysis of American consumers who are researching healthcare information and sources. Discussions of expert sites like WebMD will be contrasted with hospital’s web sites as well as the validity and relevance of social media efforts like blogs, social networks and other Web  2.0-
based tools.

An overview of critical components of an effective social marketing plan will be introduced and discussed, including specific tactics relevant to each component. While many view each component separately, their true effectiveness is realized when they work in concert, building off of the advantages each component presents. Together, they present a “sticky” web of touch points and opportunities, the power of which, when taken together is measurable, effective and takes advantage of social networking and other Web 2.0 tools and technologies.

As Education Chairperson for the Wisconsin Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing Society (WHPRMS), we’ve done some surveying of members and education on social media marketing is highest on the list of wants. Be sure to attend SHSMD’s Educational Conference this fall — this will be my third year there and it is by far the best healthcare marketing conference to attend. You can get early conference information at their web site, including how to register early and what hotels to contact for room reservations.

This seminar will discuss blogging strategies and tactics in general, and then specifically, hospital and healthcare network’s use of blogging as a public relations, marketing and communications tool.

The webinar will present facts and statistics on blog readers and their expectations and interactions, how to set up and maintain a hospital blog, ideas on topics, scheduling how-to’s, pitfalls and opportunities to look out for and how to optimize the blog for prime search engine rankings. Promotion of the blog via other social marketing tools will also be covered. The use of case studies will example all of these points.

To register, visit the MSHPM’s sign-up page. Once you’ve done that, head on over to twitter.com/mshpmwebinars and join in on the discussions about this topic. You’ll also find interesting articles I’ve linked to, some pre-webinar reading material and examples of blogs that excel at communicating to consumers.

I look forward to your questions and participation!

I can only imagine how much easier things would be if there were two of me. Or three. Or four….

That’s why I was thrilled to find an article over at ProBlogger that talked about having a blogging buddy. There are many reasons why you’d want to do this under certain circumstances:

Feedback. Having someone to bounce ideas, research and even comments off of is a great idea. What might sound perfectly logical to you in reality might be exactly what you don’t want to say. Your buddy can act as your sounding board and keep you moving in the right direction.

Venting. Blogging is often a personal passion. I’ve gotten plenty of negative and controversial comments. I’ve had many people I respect question my writing. I’ve even been asked to remove some postings at times. Having a buddy to commiserate with makes the process easier.

Link Love. This one is a bit self-serving, but every now and then we all need some help promoting a certain topic. While I don’t like asking my buddies to promote my blogs, I’m always grateful when they do it on their own.

Social Sharing. While not quite as obvious as deliberate linking, sharing a link with a comment on ranking and bookmarking sites is a quick and easy way to help out a fellow blogger. Even easier is a little tweet or Facebook post.

Motivation and encouragement. When your buddy’s blogging activity has lapsed, it’s nice to lend some support and remotivate your fellow blogger.

Guest post. I’ll admit, some time I totally get into the blogging “zone.” When that happens, I can spit out a good article every half hour or so. Feeling a bit overwhelmed? Your blogging buddy can often guest write when you’re unable to.

These were just a few of the reasons posted why blogging buddies are a good idea. I have my own buddy, though I admit we probably don’t work together as often or well as we could.

If you’re a new or even experienced blogger, try out the buddy system. You’ll probably find your blogging life getting a little easier, you’ll have more good articles and enjoy the process a bit more. Not sure who to ask? Well, I’d be happy to help out!

The SHSMD conference session on grilling the PR experts uncovered some great ideas -- and opportunities for improvement.

STRONG NOTE: If you’re a public relations manager or director…take a deep breath. My review of this SHSMD conference session might not be as rosey as you might like it to be. I’m going to be critical. I’m going to rant a bit. And while I’m not a PR professional in healthcare, I do know a thing or two about effective communication. After all, everyone is entitled to their opinion, right? Here we go.

I had just come from the two other “Best Shot” sessions, one for CEOs (read my review) and the other for Marketers (review coming soon). Of the three, this was my least favorite.

First, and don’t take this the wrong way you PR experts, but you seem like a very nervous, jittery bunch. I’m just reacting to what I heard here, but there seemed to be a lot of “you gotta cover your a**” and “we don’t get a seat at the table” and general sense of unappreciation and defensiveness.

Wow, that was harsh and I’m really sorry about that.

On the other hand, there were a few bright spots and some great lessons for us all:

First, some of the session speakers said tht they often faced the situation when employees, the compliance officer or other staff people — suddenly either confronted by the press or as self-appointed “experts” — didn’t check with PR or have them by their side or even sing from the same sheet of music. Ouch. Yeah, that has to be a tough situation.

Some solutions mentioned were ongoing staff training, greater awareness of the Code of Conduct and even some “canned” responses or touch points given to key people or readily available. There was sadly a general comment made to the affect of “maybe we need to let the ‘experts’ get burned once, then they’ll see the value of having PR by their side.” Maybe not quite what should have come out, although, hey, this is reality and some people don’t learn no matter how much they’re taught.

Next, and this speaks to the experience and skill of talented and fast-thinking PR professionals, their was a short discussion about how PR should definitely have a seat at the table to chime in on potential roadblocks, future pitfalls and to take advantage of opportunities.

The example was given where the construction of a new facility or building was off-handedly given the name, The Tower (or something similar), in internal communications and meetings. Unfortunately, this moniker found its way into the press and created some headaches. The moral of the story was, had PR been in the planning and strategy meetings, they might have caught that this terminology could become problematic and suggested something different. This sounded wise to me.

And when it came to PR “getting a seat at the table,” once the speakers sort of got over a sense of inferiority (again, sorry, it was my perception), they actually had some rather good points: When PR is involved, the overall “product” or outcome is generally better.

When asked how to get the coveted attention of senior management, the speakers were equally insightful:

• Use an example of a success as an educational opportunity to illustrate an advantage.
• Don’t wait to be asked or play the victim — be proactive and insistent.
• Show that issues have a larger impact that only your expertise can combat.

Finally, while it was clear that public relations is position that requires real skill with very traditional forms of communication, such as face to face meetings, relationships with the media (at all levels), telephone skills (especially thinking on your feet), smart strategies for press conferences and good press release writing skills, there was a definite avoidance of using new media outlets.

This might be, sadly, this industry’s (and it certainly applies to most every other one, so don’t think I’m up on my high horse here) adversion, or at least uncertainty, with social media, Web 2.0 tactics and other online communications strategies (although one — e-mail — seems to be something at least wisely-, if not, well-used).

In closing, relax, my public relations brothers and sisters. Sure, marketing may be all about glamor and glitz, but everyone knows the value of good PR. Just be open to some of those fancy Web 2.0 things like blogs, Twitter, Facebook, social ranking and content control — there’s plenty of sparkly stuff for you too.

While nothing replaces face-to-face explanations, many physicians should consider starting a blog for their consumers, giving another point of reference from a trusted source.

One of our staff, working on the web-based marketing and PR program we have in place for hospitals and healthcare networks, was asking me today if I could contact the director of a client’s cardiovascular service line to get some participation from their physicians and medical staff on writing articles for the client’s Heart blog.

Knowing that doctors are sometimes (!) averse to additional responsibilities, but most think online communication holds some key to their individual marketing and patient relations success, she referenced a wonderful article on what blogs can do for a physician.

I have two personal insight here on the issues raised in the article. A few months ago, my wife went in for a procedure and the first step was a consult with the specialist on the upcoming surgery. While his demeanor was fine and experience adequate (an aside: when will doctors realize my time is valuable too and having me waiting in a room for an hour is completely unjustifiable), when asked about complications, expectations and other things we were looking for him to answer, he referred us to WebMD and other sites on the Internet.

Obviously, this left a bad impression. OK, a horrid one. A physician who doesn’t take the time to clearly explain the procedure and answer patient’s questions is just ignorant of people’s feelings and a sad excuse for a professional.

The procedure ended up coming out fine and all is well. But you can imagine that the next time we get referred to this specialist, we’ll be asking our PCP “who else?”

On the other hand, just today my wife went in for some oral surgery. A different story here. The specialist answered all of our questions directly and in a simple manner. He explained the procedure, risks, etc., and was very reassuring.

Once the minor operation was over, I was called into the recovery room (near the back, pick-up door) where both the nurse and surgeon were sitting with my wife. The surgeon reviewed the procedure (which took literally 10 minutes), spoke about a minor concern he had with another tooth (loose crown, which he fixed during the operation), reassured us about the overall outcome, made a point to say he’d personally call in a few hours and then walked my wife out to the car and helped her get in!

Now, the moral of the story here is, two different experiences, two different doctors. The referenced blog posting speaks about trust and while there was no reason for the second doctor to refer us to his (though that would certainly be reassuring), at the very least if the first one had, I’d be in a position to probably write something positive now about that experience.

In closing, if you’re a marketer in healthcare and work with physicians who might question the benefit of blogs to their patients, be sure to refer them to that article. IT gives many reasons why consumers find physicians sadly distrusted and an easy solution to that situation.

For reference, I’ve listed a few of the better physician-authored blogs here as a further reference:

Neonatal Doc

Dr. Gwenn Is In

Dr. Shu Says