Simple starter guide for Healthcare Professionals to get started with Twitter
Permalink: http://technology4doctors.blogspot.in/2012/06/healthcare-get-started-with-twitter.html
2. Twitter! What’s that?
Twitter is a Social Network where users send
and read short messages of upto 140 characters
Twitter is a Cross between Text
messaging, Blogging and Instant
Messaging and is called the
‘SMS’ of the Internet
9th Most Visited Site in the World
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3. Twitter is Many Things
• The Club - An index of friends, likes, brands, companies, favorites
etc.
• The Gossip Room - A place to hear what others are talking about
• The Bulletin Board - A place to post updates, thoughts and share
links to news, pictures, videos, blogs, etc.
• The News Channel - A place where you get the latest breaking
news instantly as it happens.
• A network of things you like and need … And More
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4. What do these terms on Twitter mean?
Tweet
The Message Content Posted on Twitter Follow
(text/links/images/video) is called a Tweet To Follow means to subscribe officially to someone's Tweets.
Used also as a Verb: when you post a message on Twitter, you You can follow and be followed.
are said to Tweet.
@Mention @Reply
@mention addressing someone specifically in a group . Only
Referring to someone specifically in a message/Tweet. Both
the recipient and followers in common will see the @reply.
parties will see the @mention. @mentions are part of the 140
@replies always have @ as the first character in the tweet.
characters of the tweet
#Hashtag
DM (Direct Message) These are Tags or signboards. Any word with
A DM is a private message seen only by the person you have a # symbol before it becomes a hashtag. They help in locating
sent it to, like an SMS. your conversation whichs allow Twitter to search for them and
display them in searches. Anything can be tagged.
RT (ReTweet) URL Shortenter
Services like bit.ly and tinyURL that make long web addresses
Forwarding some one else’s tweet on to your timeline, without
shorter to save room in the tweet. Twitter has one built in
additional input. Large audiences are reached like this.
called t.co
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7. Navigation Menu Items
Tweet
To insert into timeline
• Main Interface Bar – Contains
All Navigation Items you need
Home
Your Main Dashboard • Tweet button allows you to
post a new Tweet, or upload a
@Connect photo
To see who’s asking
• All Five icons are the same for
all devices – iPad, iPhone,
#Discover Android and the Computer
To find items of Interest
Me
Personal Data, Statistics and
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more
8. The Main Dashboard
The dashboard is
basic data about
you, twitter’s
recommendation of
people to follow, and
trends for your
city, state, or country
with the Hashtag.
It also has a
Stream, of Interesting
Tweets where Newer
posts appear at the
top and push older Trends
ones down. Here you find what the majority of
people are talking about at this
instant.
Promoted Trends
Advertisers create trends/#hashtags
and buy placement. 8
9. The @Connect Page
Search bar to search
any topic
Latest Follows and List
Adds
Displays all mentions to and from you
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10. The #Discover Page
A selection of major
trending stories based
on your
interests, location, wh
at you follow, and
news is shown here
Shows Important Items,
Videos and Images.
Also Paid Tweets can be
shown here 10
11. The Profile Page
Info about You/Your
Brand including
location co-ordinates!
In Depth info about
your account broken up
by section
All of your latest
Tweets, @mentions,
and retweets (RTs)
listed as they happen
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13. Key Questions on everyone’s mind
• In what ways does Twitter sync with your current
Clinic/Hospital Branding and Patient Interactions?
• How will Twitter serve your Clinic or Hospital?
• How will your tweets help your audience?
• Are they going to be helpful, educational, service
friendly, humorous?
• Are they only going to convey a certain kind of
information, discounts and promotions , or news?
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14. So How does Twitter Help
• Twitter is probably the fastest way to Raise awareness
today
• Twitter allows you to Provide news and information
easily
• Twitter allows protected views to ensue secure sharing
of data
• Providing Quick Non Medical Advice to patients and
others saving visits and thus Time
• Building a loyal set of followers allows viral spread of
your information
• More Beneficial than even referrals
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15. Its all about Engagement
Sync
Serve ENGAGE
Help Educate
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16. How to ensure a good Twitter presence
•Make Twitter Friends – Friends are good fun
anywhere you go… even in cyberspace
•Speak up – Share your views regularly
•Listen – Listen to what others are saying
•Be Willing to Engage in conversations
•Be Committed – Be Regular
•Don’t Overdo it – Don’t make extra accounts to
manage roles. Soon you’ll find it overbearing
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17. Think you need a Twitter Strategy
•Appoint someone in your clinic /hospital who
will be responsible for Tweeting
•Create Goals – (More on this below)
•Create a Content Strategy based on your goals
•Define limits and permissions- Will someone
check Tweets before they are sent out?
•Define limits on Tweets per Week / Day / Hour
•Develop a content timeline to ensure Tweeting
and Approvals happen in a timely manner
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18. Goals : Set Metrics, Not Ego Boosters
Twitter is The Platform not The Goal,
hence set ROI indicators accordingly
•Useful Indicators
On Twitter: Followers, Shares,
RTs, @mentions, Conversations,
Trends and Tags, Positive Patient Mentions,
Recommendations via Twitter
Off Twitter: Website visits, Learning, Website traffic,
Patient Satisfaction, Staff Cohesiveness
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19. Tweeting Pointers
1. Create Good Tweets
2. Follow the right people
3. Get followed
4. Ask Questions
5. Respond Well
6. Encourage RTs
7. Track keywords
8. Use #hashtags
9. Useful Hashtags
10.Recommendations
11.Tools of Use
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20. Create Good Tweets
Useful Worth Relevant
Content Forwarding #Hashtag
Optimum
Size
Shortened
link
Friendly
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21. Follow the Right People
• Search people and healthcare bodies/doctors you love or respect
• Search topics, trends, or #hashtags and follow people talking about them
• Social media/email contacts
• Healthcare experts and newsmakers
• Tweeters your friends follow
• Tweeters with a reputation
• Those who follow you (a courtesy)
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22. How to Get More Followers
• Tweet when you have something interesting news
• Solid Tweets earn more RTs
• Promote/link to other social
media channels
• Ask people to follow you – Don’t be shy
• RT posts from Tweeters you
admire— they’ll see it and promote you sometime
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23. Ask Questions. Good Ones
• Give others a reason to
answer
• Should be fun to answer –
start a conversation
• RT others’ questions
• RT/@reply answers which
makes others take notice
• Ask your Patients / Staff Feedback
about some thing positive
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24. Respond Well
• Be respectful
• Be human, be yourself
• Block all major offenders
• Avoid use of improper language
/ hard tones
• Answer inquiries quickly and
in the mode they were sent you
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25. Encourage Re-Tweets
Retweets help by making your Tweet viral
What can you do to get
retweeted more often?
• Your Tweets should have substance
• Keep it short and simple
• Check your links before sending – Broken Links are Evil
• Great Ideas, Innovation,
Humor, Breaking News, Points of view get retweeted most
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26. Track Keywords
• Search for topics, terms
relevant to you
• Check out trends related to
your keywords or interests
• Track hashtags prepending #
to your relevant topics
• Track mentions of your
clinic/hospitals
• @Reply and RT Retweet to
get conversations started
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27. Use Hashtags
What’s a Hashtag? Any word with
a # symbol before it. They help in locating
your conversation within a stream of
chatter
How to use it? Use a hashtag to mark
out topics related to your tweet which
others can also adopt during a chat
Example: #healthyindia, #healthIT, #hcsm, #diabetescontrol, #essentialdrugs,
#healthyhearts
Tip: Frequently check out the #Discover tab
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30. Useful Tools to help with Twitter use
•TweetDeck : http://www.tweetdeck.com/
•Buffer : http://bufferapp.com/
•Echofon: http://www.echofon.com/
•Hootsuite: http://hootsuite.com
•Twitalyzer: http://twitalyzer.com
•Klout: http://klout.com
•Dlvr.it: http://dlvr.it
•SocialOomph: http://www.socialoomph.com/
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