Top 5 Creative Social Media Healthcare Strategies

June 12, 2016

The healthcare industry is typically considered to be a slow adopter of new marketing initiatives such as social media, however every once in awhile, a healthcare brand will deliver a fantastic campaign that targets the right audience perfectly. This blog showcases those very brands that are leading the way with social media marketing in healthcare.

Mayo Clinic

The Mayo Clinic has over 1.2 million followers on Twitter, and over 764,000 likes on Facebook. How have they done this? By leveraging and enhancing its reputation as a trusted source of information through its expansive online content & social media strategy. The Mayo Clinic actually has brick and mortar healthcare facilities, however most people know of it due to the online resources available for those seeking medical information online. One of their most recent campaigns, Sharing Mayo Clinic Blog, showcases stories from patients, family members and the Mayo Staff. These amazing stories come from patients all around the world and effortlessly play into the Mayo Clinic's positioning as a trusted online source of healthcare information.  With the Mayo Clinic's consistent delivery of awesome content online, it is no surprise they made our top 5 list.

United Healthcare

United Healthcare has won several awards for their 'We Dare You' campaign, an initiative that encourages followers to make small changes to their lives each month. Entrants can win prizes in exchange for sharing stories, pictures and videos of the ways they are changing their lifestyle for the better that month.  Along with building a huge following of loyal brand fans online, this campaign also encourages better habits for all participants. Bravo.

Carilion Clinic

The Carilion Clinic wanted to raise awareness about breast cancer and, four years ago, they began the 'Yes, Mamm' campaign. The hashtag can be used to ask questions about breast cancer, to share experience surrounding breast cancer and check ups and to encourage women to get regular check ups. This campaign emphasizes how powerful hashtags can be in driving a group of people towards a certain goal, in this case to be responsible for regular check ups to prevent cancer.

Diabetes.co.uk

In 2014, diabetes.co.uk released the #bloodsugarselfies campaign to promote World Diabetes day with the goal to raise money. The campaign requested that diabetes patients take selfies showing their glucose metre and reading. The campaign was a huge success with more than 800 participants, including Chaka Khan. The campaign drove over 4.2 million impressions, 45,000 likes, 4,500 comments, 10,000 shares and over $8,000 in donations. Winner!

Melanoma Likes Me

The last in our genius line-up of healthcare marketers is Melanoma Likes Me, a social media campaign launched in Australia focused on raising the awareness of skin cancer and melanoma. The concept of the campaign involved creating an online persona for melanoma to interact with young Australians sharing posts about being outside in the sun. The magicians behind the campaign developed an algorithm that responded to popular hashtags and geo-located images with tailored messages right at the point that it could make the most impact. The catch? The online melanoma is faultlessly sarcastic and menacing. The idea is that users will be driven to check out who this person is and therefore read the simple message: 'Don't let melanoma creep up on you.' Great job.

What examples have you seen of great healthcare marketing? Share them with us over on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Written by
Alexander Rauser
Alexander Rauser

CEO

Alexander Rauser is the author of Boardroom Guide to Digital Accountability and Digital Strategy: A Guide to Digital Business Transformation, and creator of the DSX Program, a digital strategy and transformation program for Enterprises.

Related Articles

Subscribe to our blog

Subscribe to our blog to receive relevant news and tips about digital transformation, app development, website development, UX, and UI design. Promise we won't spam you.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.