Understanding social media in aged care

Using social media in aged care is a fast and effective way to communicate to your customers, clients and potential staff. It’s your chance to put your digital footprint on an online world and communicate with like-minded people.

Studies show social media can also help with feelings of isolation, particularly in older people, with multiple generations sharing news, images and activities quickly and easily. It’s also a great way to educate the elderly about technology.

If you’re thinking about using social media in aged care facilities, here are some tips to get you started.

Why is it important?

During the past five years, social media use has increased exponentially – Facebook by 200%, Twitter by 660% – and today people spend more time on social media than any other internet activity.

Know your audience

Before you post, think about:

• Who are you writing to?
• What topics interest them?
• Where do they live?
• Why do they follow you?
• When do they read your posts?

Key messages

Your key messages are your main communication objectives. Think about how you want your facility to be seen and include these key messages. Are you supportive, inclusive, caring, compliant, experienced, knowledgeable, in demand?

Sourcing content

Once you’ve worked out what you want to say, find stories, words and images that represent this – a famous quote, an interesting fact or a colourful story. Promote events and activities in your aged care facility. Ask questions that encourage interaction and engagement.

Set up Google Alerts for your industry and your local area for daily or weekly news updates in your inbox. You can also watch the news, listen to the radio, read industry magazines, talk to people and regularly search social media to find stories.

Images

Pictures are often more widely shared than words on social media. High quality and clear images are essential. You may choose beautiful photographs, funny cartoons or advertising brochures – whatever matches your key messages.

Schedule

To make social media in aged care work for you, you need to post regularly so it’s important it fits into your life. Find a time of the day that works for you – first thing in the morning after your emails when you’re fresh or in the evening on the couch with your smart phone – and get into the habit of regular posting. Social media takes time to grow an audience but the more regularly you post and engage, the faster your audience will grow.

Collaborations

Find local partners, government bodies and industry associations and work to establish an online relationship. Retweet, share, comment and like stories, ideas and images that relate to your brand and its key messages. When relevant, tag other people or organisations in your own content. However, ensure the brands and people you are aligning yourself to are appropriate.

Moderate

Respond to anyone that takes the time to comment – thank people for positive comments and invite negative comments to be discussed offline. Unfortunately trolls, or repeatedly negative posters, do exist online. The best way to respond is to delete or ignore these comments, or as they say, “don’t feed the trolls”.

Keep it simple

Avoid industry speak or complicated terminology. It’s fine to use short or half sentences and eliminate unnecessary words or phrases. Keep it simple and relevant to your audience when using social media in aged care.

The final check

Read your words aloud to yourself – it’s a great trick to noticing errors. It’s also a good idea to get someone else to review your work before posting.

Constantly re-evaluate

Achieving goals means constantly re-evaluating your work to find out what works. Over time, you can review your social media strategy by looking at:

• What times of the day are best for engagement?
• Who are your most engaged followers and why?
• What type of content is generating the most interest?
• Are your key messages conveying your communication needs?
• What are other brands doing that works well?
• What do I want to achieve with social media in aged care?

 

¹http://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/

²http://www.statista.com/statistics/282087/number-of-monthly-active-twitter-users/

³http://www.businessinsider.com.au/social-media-engagement-statistics-2013-12