In an attempt to identify the most efficient and effective way to use social media, three US hospitals ( Alegent Health, Athens Regional Medical Center and Provena Health)  agreed to participate in a Medseek research project to evaluate the success or failure of social media efforts and to streamline the amount of time required to create a substantive social media program and determine which Facebook posts drove consumers to take action.

In order to track Facebook activity beyond just the number of followers, each organization made the strategic decision to create posts using specific topics and categories such as: community events, website features, employee recognition, news releases, marketing promotions, patient stories, and highlighted physicians.

« Once we identified categories of posts and began tracking clickthroughs, I was able to identify and make a list of posting topics that were not time-sensitive. So on a slow news day, I could post quickly without wasting time or losing momentum, » said Courtney Alford-Pomeroy, Website Manager at Athens Regional Health System.

See on medseek.com