If your hospital has or is developing a Facebook page for its general facility, what should it do for related facilities and centers (e.g., cancer centers, women and children’s centers)? Is it better to have just one page or several?
Have as many hospital Facebook pages as you want, but be sure that you have the resources to support them.
The answer is simple: Have as many Facebook pages as you want, but be sure that you have the resources to support them.
Think of each of your hospital’s centers as their own independent brands—with their own independent audiences. That means having to create a community and provide content that supports and satisfies each of those audiences. After all, a pregnant mother is probably not any more interested in finding cancer support groups than a cancer patient has in Lamaze tips.
So, although multiple pages might be ideal, it’s not a one size fits all solution. Thus, it’s very important to carefully assess how much time you’ll have to dedicate to each Facebook page. If you can only fully support one general page, then perhaps having multiple barely supported (or worse, completely ignored) pages may not be your best course of action.
What About Twitter and Other Social Media?
Integrating various social media channels that ultimately funnel Web traffic towards a hub—your hospital’s Website—should always be your primary goal with any type of healthcare marketing.
As you are considering your ability to maintain multiple hospital Facebook pages, also think about your ability to develop and support related social media—such as Twitter, a blog, etc. Again, if you can only truly support one center, then choose that center wisely and do your best with it.
In time, not only will you fully realize the benefits of having developed such an integrated social media strategy for your hospital, but you’ll also likely create efficient processes that may help you eventually launch and support similar strategies for other centers.
What is your experience with using Facebook for marketing your hospital and connecting it to your community? Do you use multiple pages or do you keep everything under one general, umbrella site?
