It's important for healthcare communicators to understand how to write for social media. This presentation reviews how to be respectful of patients within our writing, regulatory considerations, how to approach content topics and mix, as well as specifics on writing an effective post and how visuals complement copy. This presentation is focused on writing for social media and does not cover community management, adverse events/reporting or paid social media.

1. WCG | Twist | Pure | Sentient | Marketeching
INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL
MEDIA FOR HEALTH CARE
Missy Voronyak
May 2017

2. 2
Writing for Health Care
Regulatory Considerations
Social Media Best Practices
Discussion
AGENDA

3. 3
WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE
• What is their education level?
• Which channels do they use?
• Why are they there?
Healthcare
Providers
Employees Patients

4. 4
HOW IS HEALTHCARE WRITING DIFFERENT?
• Use simple language for medical terms
• High blood pressure > hypertension
• Cancer > oncology
• Irregular heartbeat > atrial fibrillation
• Refer to the person first; diagnosis second
• Children with food allergies > food allergic patients
• Person with diabetes > diabetic patients
• The customer/patient is not “ours”
• We treat each patient like family > We treat our patients like family

5. 5
REGULATORY GUIDELINES APPLY TO SOCIAL
Privacy
• Do not collect or save
patient data
• Do not solicit patient
health information on
social media
• Acknowledge inquiries
but do not repeat
disease or health
concern in your
response, move
offline/direct to HCP
• Never post pictures of
patients without a
signed release (For
example a crowd at an
event)
Device, drugs and
clinical trials
• Claims = Any statement
the product alters the
physiology or function of
any part of the human
body
• Cannot use paid social
prior to approval
(promotional rules)
• Avoid claims or must
include important safety
information (ISI)
Endorsements
• Any paid or sponsored
endorsement must be
clearly disclosed
• Includes big & small
celebrities,
spokespersons,
physicians, bloggers,
employees, families and
patients
• Applies to all social
posts and online
reviews
Trademark/Copyright
• Use of third party
Trademarks, such as
brand names requires
permission
• Use of third party
copyrighted content,
including copy, images
and video requires
permission
• Photo release needed
for all individuals in a
photograph
USPTOFTC

6. 6
BUILDING YOUR CONTENT
• Align with your broader content strategy & consider social execution when creating
content, such as a press release
• Build an editorial calendar with a variety of content types – examples:
• Leverage any existing assets – web pages, articles, videos
• Answer questions your audience wants to know (brainstorm 25-50 questions)
Culture &
Recruitment
Industry News
Thought
Leadership
Health
Education
Company
News

7. 7
KEY INGREDIENTS OF A SOCIAL MEDIA POST
• Interesting topic audience cares about
• Simple, engaging language
• Compelling visual
• Call to action

8. 8
ANATOMY OF A TWEET
• Hashtags are used to start a
new conversation or join one
already taking place.
• Always search hashtags before
using to make sure it’s
relevant.
• Limit hashtags to 2 per post.
#Hashtag
Tagging handles
makes them
clickable and the
person knows you
mentioned them
Full name
& handle
# of people
who retweeted
# of people
who favorited

9. 9
VISUALS COMPLEMENT WRITING
• Visuals are important for engagement
• Photos
• Infographics/infograms
• Videos
• Quotes
• Post copy must supplement the image
and the page you are linking to, not
repeat it
• i.e., don’t include an article title in a
post if the link will populate showing
the same title
• Keep mobile in mind when designing

10. 10
CHANNEL SPECIFIC WRITING TIPS
• Create detailed
video
summaries
using keywords
for search
• Use a full URL
with http:// for a
clickable link as
call to action
• Focus content
on thought
leadership,
news or
professional
education
• Long form
articles by
execs stand out
• Limit hashtags
to two per tweet
• Approach
hashtags
thoughtfully
(search first,
can it stand
alone?)
• Tag other
accounts
• Use simple
language,
especially any
disease/illness
language
• Create copy
and visuals that
are fun, friendly
and lighthearted

11. 11
HOW TO LINK TO
CONTENT WITHIN
YOUR POSTS
• Tell the reader what the will
see when they click
• Landing page should be
specific and meaningful
(not just a homepage)
• Test your link to see how it
populates (photo, title)
• Consider an image in your
post in addition to the link
Populated link
featured
Image
featured
with link
in copy

12. 12
SOCIAL MEDIA IS
CONSTANTLY
CHANGING
• Lean on your social media
team or agency support for
help leveraging latest tools
(Instagram stories,
Facebook live, LinkedIn
long-form posts, etc.)
• Organic content doesn’t
reach many people (<10%
of followers)
• Advertising targeting
capabilities have matured
to a high level of precision

13. DISCUSSION

14. THANK YOU