Social media when combined with traditional media can put your healthcare brand on the winners’ podium.

Social media is ubiquitous.  Look at the Olympics to see how much social media has become so pervasive.  The Olympics just completed in London has been dubbed the first “Social Media Games.”  The heavy use of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube by fans, athletes and the news media, the 2012 Olympics was unlike any other in the way we watch and interact with the games.

For the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney few people had high speed internet.  By 2004 with the games in Athens, smartphones were on the scene.  For the Beijing Games in 2008 there were 100 million Facebook users.  But for the games in London there were about 900 million Facebook users and about 500 million Twitter users sending about 400 million tweets per day.

The fans were part of the action like never before.  They created content, commented on comments and interacted with athletes.   Using at a minimum of two screens, fans not only watched the games, they simultaneously used laptops or mobile phones to share opinions, talk to others, gather additional information and observe what others were saying.

Social media is here.  It is a substantial part of everyday life.  And it should be a consideration for healthcare marketers.  As Lauren Sinrod, writing for Second Wind  outlined, social media campaigns, when combined with traditional methods, can:

1.    Help brands increase awareness

2.    Help brands build customer loyalty through engagement

3.    Help brands provide support to customers

4.    Ultimately increase market share

5.     Improve the overall effectiveness of events

Whether you goal is to increase awareness, engagement, support or market share, social media is an important element to include in your marketing strategy.  And ultimately bring home the gold.