Thirsty Thursday of Knowledge - What Should Hospitals Tweet Edition

Over the last few weeks I've had a slew of meetings with hospitals that either are already or planning to move into social media. In each and every case, the conversation was largely the same. There were a lot of questions about WHAT content to share and HOW to structure that content. Basically, hospitals seem to be struggline with the creation of a relevant content marketing strategy that falls within the HIPPA Guidelines.

Tweet

So I did what I always do. I turned to Twitter and asked a simple question -- see pic. From that I received a host of answers. And what did I learn? 

First, look at how many responses I received in just a few hours. 25 responses. Now some of the folks did send more than one tweet back, but even so, still more than 20 folks took a second to tell me what they'd like to hear from a hopital. I've no doubt that if I ran that question a few more days, I'd easily get to 100 responses.

Second, if you look at the responses below, you'll see they begin to fall into a few buckets. Some of those buckets like Medical Information are quite obvious. But others, like Consumer Convenience (see elizabethshelby, ILTA_AD_NEWS, and ldlow's tweets) are less obvious but after you consider them, totally make sense. Most of us don't go to the hospital every day, so little things like where to park, gift shop hours, dining (onsite and offsite) options are things we certainly would find unfamiliar. But when we're in the moment, those are the things that matter because they can add stress to what is often already a stressful event. So if you're a hospital, here is what your customers want to hear about -- in no particular order.

KBHouston: @tommartin Updates on health related news, prevention advice, cutting edge research breakthroughs

AuraFedora: @tommartin Seasonally appropriate "every day" tips. What to do in certain kinds of emergencies & community info (health classes, etc)

andrewk: @tommartin New technology. Particularly interesting success stories. Discount codes for bypass surgeries.

LevelTen_Colin: @tommartin preventative care tips.

jazambos @TomMartin saw Bootcamp open to the public advertised at my local hosp and anything else fitness related

jccjhiggins @TomMartin ER wait time once an hour, maybe, I would think seasonal tips in health... like this time of the year, flu and cold related.

ktroia @TomMartin wait time in the ER, vaccine avail, classes & new srvcs.

emilytxk Outbreak info (flu & such), Wellness tips, Med term translations

claudiabia @TomMartin I would think seasonal tips in health... like this time of the year, flu and cold related.

dartdog @TomMartin I think Doc hosp drug cos and Ins co's sb required to have published easily accessible price lists

philbyers @TomMartin Inspiring stories of survival thanks to patient spirit + talented doctors. Also - photos from operations.

milanocookie @TomMartin relevant/seasonal health tips & community/hospital events taking place.

elizabethshelby @TomMartin Info. of general interest: additions to services, flower delivery information, encouraging words, tips to make visiting easier.

RobWAnderson @TomMartin By the way, from my perspective, I'd like links to multimedia on new tech/procedures or live Q&A w/ experts.

AuraFedora @tommartin Seasonally appropriate "every day" tips. What to do in certain kinds of emergencies & community info (health classes, etc)

Marc_Meyer @TomMartin flu shot, h1n1 type of notifications

TeecycleTim @SueSpaight @TomMartin Kind of funny that I saw this tweet right after @Aurora_Health, which always tweets helpful health info.

andrewk @tommartin New technology. Particularly interesting success stories. Discount codes for bypass surgeries.

ILTA_AD_NEWS @TomMartin I'm thinking entrances that may be blocked or re-routed for construction. Pregnant woman don't want to go in the wrong way!

unhatched @LevelTen_Colin @tommartin but seriously, basic health and hygiene tips, awards and achievements, charity work, etc.

katiecook @TomMartin Austin's largest hospital networks is on twitter: http://bit.ly/fQpWom I follow their baby focused one...

Hilibofas @TomMartin cool emergencies and wait times

LevelTen_Colin @tommartin preventative care tips.

ldlow @TomMartin: health, parking, dining tips

chrisboudy @TomMartin health care tips & community events they put on

and my personal favoriate because it shows consumers do appreciate hospitals engaging with them...

TeecycleTim @SueSpaight @TomMartin It was also very cool when @Aurora_Health congratulated us after @teecycleclara was born at their hospital.

But don't think this post is just for hospitals. Sure the information above is hospital centric, but the idea behind this -- asking folks what they want to hear about -- is valid for any product, brand or company. If you're strugling with WHAT to do content wise, just ask. You might be surprised at what you'll get back.

Don't have a lot of followers on your Twitter handle or Facebook page or don't want to unduly influece the reponses, no worries. Go find any number of social media leaders with large followings. Many of them, especially the social media consultants, would likely welcome an overture from you asking if they'd ping their followers and ask on your behalf. To be fair, you might want to compensate them for the time, effort and willingness to let you benefit from the time and effort they've put into creating that large, loyal following. But honestly, it will be the cheapest consmer research you ever field.

So, as I'm hoping we might get the eye of a few hospitals on this post... what would you want a hospital to tweet about? And more importantly, what is the ONE THING content wise that would make a hospital twitter account a MUST READ for you?

Tweet

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