22 Aug How a Kidney Transplant Can Make You a Better Social Media Marketer

Posted at 09:39h in Twitter Marketing by

If you were hoping to read about some controversial surgery that could enhance your tweeting abilities, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. However, what you will find is something much, much better.

Mercy Health, a regional medical system located in Western Michigan, live tweeted a kidney transplant surgery recently. During the five-hour operation, the @MercyHealthWM Twitter served as a fantastic example of how to use social media. So, what can you learn from this exercise? Read on to find out.

Social Media is a Superb Forum for Education

In the mountain of instagrammed espressos and cat videos, it can be easy to forget that social media is a fantastic avenue for educational purposes. When your brand’s product or service isn’t automatically intuitive, it can be challenging to inform your audience. And sometimes, like in the case of surgery, it can actually scare people. Proper education can prove to be the road to success, and social media is a great vehicle.

Mercy Health excels here. The live tweets provided followers with interesting facts, concise breakdowns of complicated procedures and amazing behind-the-scenes photographs.

After the surgery was over, the hospital used the opportunity for a great call to action and directed followers to facts and FAQs about organ donation.

But if G.I. Joe taught me anything, it’s that knowing is merely half the battle.

Don’t Forget to Respect Privacy

Even though it seems like people will share just about anything online, there is still an expectation for privacy. This is especially true in medical field where privacy isn’t just an expectation, it’s the law. I’m sure waivers were signed and both the donor and recipient were all aware that the hospital would be tweeting pictures of the procedure. It’s important to let followers know how seriously privacy is taken, especially in sensitive situations.

Recognize Your Advocates

Remembering that social media isn’t just an outlet to spread your message, Mercy Health made sure to engage followers during the surgery.

The hospital also made sure to share a very important message of someone who has benefitted from this very procedure.

Although your brand’s advocates might not have as big a platform as you do, their opinions will almost always carry more weight. Make sure the people that talk positively about your brand are heard.

Humor Can Be a Powerful Tool

Just like when a doctor cracks a joke during your visit to help you relax, humor can be a powerful tool when it comes to alleviating a stressful situation. In this instance, Mercy Health took an opportunity to respond to some captivated fans with a hilarious Seinfeld reference (I was so impressed, I almost broke out the slow clap when I was reading it, but then I remembered I was in a Starbucks… and people might stare at me).

Don’t forget to have a sense of humor. A lot of brands take themselves too seriously. People have trouble connecting with nameless, faceless corporations. If your followers feel like there’s a person behind the tweets instead of a process, they are much more likely to interact.

Conclusion

At this point, the more cynical-part of you might like to point out the fact that Mercy Health only has about 200 followers. Did this exercise light up the Twittersphere? No. But it does serve as a shining example of top notch social media and it shows that you don’t have to have a multi-million dollar budget to implement a well-executed social media strategy. It’s much more effective to be smart, creative, and know how to properly use the networks.

How have you seen social media used in unexpected ways?

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