Presentation from the OPEN MINDS 2011 Institute for Behavioral Health Informatics conference on October 20, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland.

1. Using Social Media
in Behavioral Healthcare
2011 Institute for Behavioral Health Informatics:
October 20, 2011
presented by Jennifer Barbour

2. About me
 Blogger, copywriter, new media consultant
 Chief Engagement Officer (CEO) for Another Jennifer
Writing Lab
 Former communications specialist for Crossroads for
Women in Portland, ME
 Author of Women & Substance Abuse blog
(crossroadsforwomen.org/blog) and monthly e-Newsletter
 7 years working in behavioral health doing public
communications

3. What we’ll cover
 Social Media Policies
 Social Networking Strategies & Best Practices
 Content Ideas
 Time Management Tips & Tricks

4. Millions use social media worldwide.
“The Big Three”
• More than 750 million users
• More than 100 million active users
• More than 120 million members
Sources: http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics; http://mashable.com/
2011/09/08/twitter-has-100-million-active-users/; http://press.linkedin.com/about/
(retrieved 9/9/11)

5. Plus…
• More than 10 million users in first three weeks
• 2nd most popular search engine
• More than half of social media referral traffic
• Powers 14.7% of top million websites in world
Sources: http://mashable.com/2011/07/16/google-plus-guide/; http://mashable.com/2010/12/28/social-media-marketing-
predictions/; http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/stumbleupon_delivers_half_of_us_social_media_traff.php;
http://wordpress.org/news/2011/08/state-of-the-word (retrieved 9/10/11)

6. And don’t forget…

7. Why use social media?
 Mostly free (except for time)
 Easy way to get out information fast, in real time, and
reach a big audience
 Levels the playing field
 Gives everyone a voice
 Allows people to connect all over the world at any time
 Establishes expertise
 Platform to educate, advocate, inform

8. Writing a Social Media Strategy
1. Who is your audience?
2. What actions do you want your audience to take?
3. What does your audience need to believe in order to
take those actions?
4. Which social media channel (or channels) will you
utilize? (e.g., blog, Facebook)
5. What will you talk about?
6. What is your social media policy?

9. What’s your social media policy?
When you post something on a
social media site, imagine that
post on a billboard for everyone
to see. With your name on it.

10. What your policy should consider
 Who is allowed to post for your organization? Where?
 What will the posts say?
 Do social media postings need to be approved?
 How will your posts comply with your confidentiality
policies?
 How will you handle negative comments?
 Are employees allowed to post or comment during work
hours? (Can they access the social networking sites?)

11. More policy considerations
 What is appropriate to share; not to share on a social
networking site?
 What is your procedure for sharing client stories, photos or
videos?
 How will you educate staff, volunteers, board, supporters,
etc. on utilizing your social media sites?
 What happens if staff, volunteers, board, etc. don’t
comply with the social media policy?
 Who is the go to person if/when questions arise?

12. Be clear and set boundaries

13. Why Facebook?
 Most widely used social network in the world
 Reach all ages
 Connect and share with people in recovery, alumni,
donors, community partners, supporters and more
 Publishing platform
 Spread the word about what you do

14. Getting Started: Facebook Pages
 Create a page, not a personal profile (facebook.com/
pages/create.php)
 Fill in all information: about, info, mission, etc.
 Upload a profile picture and 5 more for the top of the
page
 With 25 fans, create a unique url (facebook.com/
username)
 “Like” other pages
 Add a few status updates before telling everyone

16. Facebook Content Ideas
 Your (or your organization’s) thoughts, ideas and observations
 Links to your blog posts and e-newsletters
 Inspirational quotes
 Video and photos
 Info about upcoming groups, events, workshops, etc.
 Ask questions (How do you celebrate recovery?)
 Information from partners or other helpful resources
 Relevant news articles or blog posts

18. Facebook Best Practices
 Have a strategy (tweak as needed)
 Share regularly, but not too much – don’t hog the news feed!
(best times: noon or on Saturday)
 Aim for at least 3 posts per week to keep things active and
engaged
 Don’t limit people’s ability to share on your page
 Monitor, monitor, monitor!
 Reply to comments, keep the conversation going
 Be authentic!
*Source: socialtimes.com/infographic-reveals-the-best-times-to-post-to-twitter-facebook_b67570

20. Why Blog?
 Establish expertise
 Your platform to educate, inform, advocate, etc.
 Build brand awareness
 Drive traffic to your website (SEO)

21. Blog Content Ideas
 Your specific expertise
 Stories of treatment success, recovery
 Education for family and friends affected by addiction,
mental health issues
 News/Research from behavioral health field
 Public policy issues (be informative)
 Current events
 Guest post or cross-post

22. http://crossroadsforwomen.org/blog/?p=1660

23. Blogging Best Practices
 Have a strategy (tweak as needed)
 Find your voice
 Use tags, categories, social media sharing options
 Keep posts simple and short, add an image
 Aim for at least 1-2 posts per week (more in the
beginning)
 Monitor and reply to comments
 Share/Publish posts on other social networks
 Be authentic!

25. Why Twitter?
 Microblogging service (140 characters or less)
 Real-time information network
 Publishing platform
 Social search engine
 Be where people are sharing what’s on their mind on
every topic imaginable

26. The Language of Twitter
 Handle: Your Twitter username is referred to as your handle, and
is identified with the @ symbol (ex. @anotherjenb)
 Tweet: What posts are called on Twitter
 Follow: The act of connecting with someone on Twitter
 RT/Retweet: When someone posts something like, you can RT it
and share it with your followers
 DM/Direct Message: A private note between two users on
Twitter
 Hashtag: Words preceded by a # sign; can be used to tie
various tweets together and relate them to a topic

27. The Language of Twitter (cont’d)
 Lists: A way to combine select people you follow on Twitter into
a smaller feed
 Search: Use Twitter's search feature to look for tweets
containing a keyword, phrase or hashtag
 Timeline: The chronological listing of all tweets in a given feed,
be it your own, in a list, or another user’s
 Tweetup: A term for in person events (i.e., meetups) that spring
from Twitter connections
More lingo descriptions: socialquickstarter.com/content/6-whats_twitter

29. Twitter Best Practices
 Have a strategy (tweak as needed)
 Display a complete bio and profile pic
 Share as much as you want (1-4 tweets/hr ideal, best
times: 5pm, midweek and on the weekends)*
 Interact – ask questions, answer questions, mention
people, comment on tweets
 Follow and be followed
 Reply to RTs, FFs, mentions, etc.
 Be authentic!
*Source: socialtimes.com/infographic-reveals-the-best-times-to-post-to-twitter-facebook_b67570

30. Why LinkedIn?
 #1 Social network for business
 Grow professional relationships
 Participate in professional discussions
 Recruit staff and volunteers
 Publishing platform

31. LinkedIn Best Practices
 Have a strategy (tweak as needed)
 Individual, organization or both?
 Have a complete profile and picture
 Add connections (under Contacts tab)
 Interact
 Join relevant groups; create a group
 Comment on group discussions or start a group discussion
 Ask and/or answer questions (linkedin.com/answers)
 Share blog posts or interesting articles
 Make recommendations

34. You are not alone campaign: The
Partnership at Drugfree.org

35. Time Management Tips
 Dedicate a specific amount of time each week to social
networking
 Develop an editorial calendar (or have regular meetings)
 Set up Google Alerts to keep track of topics (google.com/
alerts)
 Use automatic publishing tools like NetworkedBlogs
 Use a social media dashboard like TweetDeck or Hootsuite
 Sign up for NutshellMail (nutshellmail.com)
 Post and monitor using a smart phone
 Know when to ask for (or hire) help

36. Listening Tools Wiki
 http://socialmedia-listening.wikispaces.com/Tools

37. More Resources
 Social Media Quickstarter: socialquickstarter.com
 Facebook for Business: facebook.com/business
 Mashable – The Social Media Guide: mashable.com
 Social Media Examiner: socialmediaexaminer.com
 Join Together: drugfree.org/join-together
 Beth’s Blog: bethkanter.org
 Kivi’s Nonprofit Communications Blog: nonprofitmarketingguide.com/
blog
 Katya’s Non-profit Marketing Blog: nonprofitmarketingblog.com

38. Final Tips
 Know your audience (and where they
are)
 Have a strategy
 Engage
 Monitor
 Don’t be afraid to experiment!

39. Stay Connected
 Jennifer Barbour
email: jennifer@anotherjennifer.com
phone: 207.653.4542
website: anotherjennifer.com (links to blog + writing lab pages)
facebook: facebook.com/writinglab
twitter: @anotherjenb
stumbleupon: stumbleupon.com/stumbler/anotherjenb
google+: plus.google.com/u/0/113035568086313299781/about
slideshare: slideshare.net/jbarbour (download presentation)