Social Media and Social Networking Opportunities for Public Health Alma Lydia Thompson, BJ DSHS Immunization Branch, Public Information, Education, and Training Group November 4, 2010

DSHS social marketing history Strategic responses to data, trends, surveys Where were we? Where are we headed?

DSHS Immunizations: Where we were – Primarily TV and radio ads in the large metro (NIS) markets – Target market: women, Began multiple touchpoint marketing. Used larger marketing mix, media mix. Increased frequencies. Mass media (TV, radio, print, billboards), earned media, and web pop-up ads on TV/radio station websites.

2006 marketing

DSHS Immunizations: Where we were – Census data of women, Reminder tools (post cards, novelty T-shirts, magnets, growth charts.) Collaborations (clinics, hospitals, retailers, recreation centers, DQs.) First videos for clinic TV monitors. Web banner advertising first used.

2007 marketing

DSHS Immmunizations: Where we were – Added campaign microsite. First drive to site. Offered online, interactive immunization schedules, online reminder tools. Targeted online network banner ads. Added web videos to site –Microsite content sharing. Introduced e-cards. Shorter web videos. Easy access to social network sites. Catch-up scheduler.

2008 marketing

2009 marketing

DSHS Immunizations Preparations, future planning

2010 – 2011 marketing

Most reliable media sources reported by target audience, 2010

Planning – audience research Types of content needed. Preferred platforms. Audiences use of Internet search engines and sites. Audiences use of social media networking sites (types, frequency of use, share value.) Audiences use of mobile devices.

Social media/social networking data trends Facebook YouTube Twitter Secondary sites

Social media - Facebook As of July 21, 2010, Facebook exceeded 500 million active users. Approximately 50% logging on any given day. Average user has 130 friends. Approximately 30% of the users are from within the U.S. Source: Facebook.com

Social media - YouTube In May 2010, YouTube exceeded 2 billion views per day. YouTube is actively used in 122 countries with 24 different languages. 30% of all traffic is from within U.S. Data Source: YouTube.com, Data Compilation: Website-monitoring.com.

Social media– YouTube (cont.) Daily users average 15 minutes. More than 3 million people connected and auto-sharing. Currently, 1 auto-share tweet results in 7 new YouTube.com sessions. Data source: YouTube.com Data compilation: Website-monitoring.com

Social media - Twitter As of January 2010, Twitter reported 105,779, 710 active users. Average 300,000 new users/day. 180 million uniques every month. 75% of the traffic is from outside Twitter.com (via third-party applications.)

Social media – Twitter (cont.) 1100% growth in one year from January 2009-January Twitter users, in total, tweet 55 billion tweets per day. Twitter search engine alone gets 600 million inquiries a day. Sources: ComSource; ;

Second-tier sites MySpace – 57 million U.S. unique visitors. (following sites average 3-6 million unique visitors per month) Tagged Hi5 MyYearbook Bebo Source: Webstrategist.com

What is social media? Online networking tools. Cost effective way to reach your target audience to build relationships. Different platforms/purposes.

Why use social media in public health? Be part of the conversation regarding your program, products/services. Talk with your customers. Engage customers. Inform/educate customers Correct misinformation. Spur customers to action (calls to action)

Barriers to management support Social media seen as time-waster. Social media will take up human resources better spent elsewhere. Social media seen as a fad or hip trend for the young. Social media cannot be monitored for ROI. Social media will generate negative comments.

Responses for management Time spent online with customers is no different than talking with them or responding to them at your front desk, the phone, , or fax machine. What better time could be spent than engaging and hearing from your customers? Definitely not a fad. Show data.

Responses for mgmt (cont.) Social media engagements can be tracked. Free Google Alerts, metrics online. Tie to other tracking/monitoring systems. Negative comments? Gives your audience a platform to discuss issues regarding your product/service. Could lead to improvements. What a goldmine!

Responses to mgmt (cont.) Policies and procedures. Look to existing Code of Ethics, Code of Conduct, HIPPA requirements, HR manual, IT policies, etc. Free templates for social media policies and procedures available online.

Steps in social media planning Where is your audience? What are they using? Why? How often do they use it? How often do they share? Set your goals and objectives. Set up your metrics. Set up your written social media, social networking practices.

Content Development for your own site Other sites Other blogs Links Responses

Frequency of updates/response Update often. Correct misinformation. Dont argue. Provide disclaimers. Build relationships. Be authentic in your conversations. Maintain relationships.

For more information Alma Lydia Thompson, BJ ext Marketing/Media Specialist Immunization Branch, Public Information, and Training Group, Texas Department of State Health Services