Employees
Senior Living And Socialnomics: Why Online Community Makes Fiscal Sense [Video]
“Why the heck would any senior living company want to invest in an online community? What’s the big whoop about all this social media babble anyway? I need to see some hard figures. What’s the ROI?”
Sound familiar? It kind of reminds me of back in the ’90′s when companies were still trying to decide if they should have a Website. “I mean, why do we need a Website? People can just look us up in the phone book.” That statement is laughable now, but the same phenomenon is occurring today when it comes to social media. While some progressive senior living companies have seen the light, most are still either burying their heads in the sand or just don’t get it (yet). The fact is, the vast majority of senior living company websites today are static, information-only billboards that don’t allow for user interaction, participation, or engagement. Smart senior living companies are capitalizing on the new social Web by building online communities for their audience, joining the conversations, and combining information with participation.
Wait, lets back up. What exactly is social media anyway? Well, according to Wikipedia, social media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing tools (like blogs, wikis, discussion forums, shared videos, etc.). It supports the human need for social interaction with technology, transforming broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogs (many to many). Social media supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers.
“Got it. So, what’s an online community?” An online community is simply a group of people who have something in common and who gather together using social media tools to connect, communicate, collaborate, and share. Everyday, millions of people with common interests or facing similar challenges create, join, and contribute to online communities; and business in every industry have taken notice.
“Okay, so how do I apply this to my business?” Senior living companies are in the business of community. An online community is simply a natural extension of what you already do everyday. Senior living communities are vibrant, dynamic places made up of residents, family members, staff, outside professionals, referral sources, and many others. The interactions, conversations, and activities that happen everyday in your offline community, can (and should) also be happening online. An online community can have marketing and operational benefits for you, and, more importantly, can provide a host of benefits to your residents, family members, and staff.
“Yeah, that’s all great, but (and here is the dreaded ROI question) what’s the ROI? I need to see some hard data.” Okay, I’ll show you some data in a minute, but let me first ask you a few questions.
- What’s the ROI for that Veteran’s Day event you held last week? You spent $1,700 on food, decorations, the bag pipers, and flyers. How do you measure ROI there?
- What’s the ROI of your phone system?
- What’s the ROI of your email system?
- How much would it be worth to have the ability for prospects to easily find you online and have an open dialog with your sales and marketing team, your clinical team, or your executive team anytime, from anywhere?
- What’s the value of providing a platform where staff can post articles with photos about the amazing things going on in your community every day; you can easily communicate company news to the world; and family members can stay in touch with their loved ones or reach out to staff for support?
Okay, now back to your ROI question. This video should cover it…
Brian Geyser, APRN-BC, MSN is a clinician, consultant, educator,
blogger, online community manager and the founder of Carenetworks, LLC. He blogs
regularly here at Carenetworks.com and would love to connect with you
on Twitter, Linkedin, and/or Facebook.
How Senior Living & Eldercare Companies Can Build A Winning Social Media Team
Senior living and eldercare service providers who dabble in social media quickly realize that, in order to do it right, they need a small internal crew of Web savvy staffers who can manage and be responsible for the organization’s social media efforts. Just check out any of my recent interviews with industry organizations using social media to prove my point. Even if you decide to hire a pro to do some of the work for you, people inside the organization still need to be involved. Here are a few ways to build your internal social media team without breaking the bank:
- Identify your crew. Look for people from different departments (admin., marketing, recreation, nursing, social services, food services, dementia care) who are already using social media in their daily lives (Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc.) and who would be jazzed about helping your organization get into it, or get better at it.
- Recruit your best staff. Try to get your stars from each department involved, even if they’re not all social media savvy. Include your company’s social connectors, like your receptionist and your popular direct care staff, in the mix.
- Promote a social culture. Let everyone from staff to customers to partners know about your social media strategy, empower them to get involved, and give them tools to do it.
- Participate yourself. Top managers and senior leaders of the organization must participate on a regular basis, even if just once a week. It’s hard to get your staff involved, engaged and excited if you’re not stepping up too. Plus, you want to have the perspective of senior leaders added to the mix.
- Communicate expectations. Decide what you expect from each member of the team and put it in writing. Make sure each member is able to dedicate a little time each day or each week to meeting the expectations.
- Identify a social media manager. One person within the organization should ultimately be responsible for all social media activity, including posting content, monitoring social media outposts, and responding to company-related activity. The marketing person may be a good choice. Sometimes it makes sense to have two co-managers. You can also hire an external pro to do some of this for you, but you will still need a point person within your company to work with the pro. To get a sense of what a social media manager does, check out this list.
- Cover yourself first. Have policies and guidelines in place so everyone knows what they can and cannot do online. Make sure you address HIPAA in your policies.
- Measure progress. Set goals with time lines and develop ways to ensure that you are achieving them. Here are a few resources for measuring social media success:
- Social Media Success Doesn’t Start With ROI
- KDPaine’s PR Measurement Blog
- STATS: 84% Of Social Media Programs Don’t Measure ROI (make sure to check out all the comments on this post for some goodies!)
Getting Professional Help
For some organizations, it may make sense to hire a pro to do the heavy lifting. The benefits to having an outside seasoned professional on your team can far outweigh the costs. Their experience, objectivity, technical skill, and guidance can be invaluable in a social media world that just keeps changing. Just make sure the person has a verifiable social media and online community building track record. Ideally, the person would also have direct experience in the industry and segment your company belongs to. For more about professional social media services to our industry, visit carenetworks.com.
Oh, and you may want to aviod this guy:
Related Posts
- Online Communities: Let Your Best employees Do The Marketing For You
- What Is A Social Media Expert? [Video] Too Funny!
Brian Geyser, APRN-BC, MSN is a clinician,
consultant, educator, blogger, online community manager and the founder
of Carenetworks, LLC. He blogs regularly here at Carenetworks.com and
would love to connect with you on Twitter, Linkedin, and/or Facebook.
Online Communities: Let Your Best Employees Do The Marketing For You!
The best marketing is free.
Most professional caregivers are passionate about what they do, but are most passionate about the companies they work for? Some certainly are. Senior living and eldercare services providers (at least the good ones) usually have many employees who love the company that employs them. These are your “brand cheerleaders,” “brand evangelists,” or “brand enthusiasts,” and they should be identified and empowered to spread their love for you. What’s a great way to help them do it? Social media. Social media tools like blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and online communities allow brand enthusiasts to easily channel their passion to hundreds, thousands, even millions of people in a very short period of time for little or no money. Ultimately this can translate into leads and sales.
So How Do You Do It?
- Identify your brand enthusiasts. These are your best employees. People you wouldn’t mind speaking out on behalf of your company.
- Encourage them to share. Let them share their passion and remove any obstacles in their way.
- Build them a platform. Like a company blog, a branded Twitter account, a Facebook Page, or branded Web Community to help them channel their love for you.
- Highlight company talent. Showcase your best employees and let them speak on your behalf. Put their photos and comments on your Web site.
Happy employees who love their employer can be a powerful marketing tool for any organization. The same principles can be applied to happy customers who love you. Harness this positive energy, provide a simple platform to channel it, and reap the rewards. How do you let your best employees and customers share the love?
www.flickr.com/photos/elvire-r/ / CC BY 2.0“>Image credit