chocked full of nuts from a team of ad pros

Social media influenced nearly 40% of recent hospital or urgent care center patients, with 25 to 34 year olds reporting the most influence (53.2%), according to the Spring 2009 Ad-ology Media Influence on Consumer Choice survey.

Nearly 30% of hospital visits by this age group were maternity-related. Of social media types, forums and discussion boards had a “significant” influence on 20% of 25 to 34 year olds who recently made a visit for maternity reasons, suggesting hospitals should target this group with an online space where these parents-to-be can interact.

At the other end of the spectrum, respondents 55 and older had the highest percentage of recent hospital or urgent care center visits and reported significant influence from direct mail and newspaper advertising. The most important factors for this age group were quality of care, availability of specialized services, and out-of-pocket costs.

“Progressive hospitals are already participating in social media through specific micro-sites, social networking, online communities, and targeted online marketing,” said C. Lee Smith, president and CEO of Ad-ology Research. “Urgent care and maternity provide excellent opportunities to connect with younger consumers, and social media is the way to engage this group,” Smith said.

Other key findings from the survey:

• Women accounted for approximately 60% of those who researched family doctors online
• Quality of care ranks the highest among patients as the most important factor when choosing a hospital or urgent care center
• Hospital/urgent care Web sites had the most influence on 18-to-24-year old patients (53.8%)
• Of traditional media, television had the most influence (22.3%), followed by newspapers (21.9%)

So, if you are involved with developing the strategy and tactics in healthcare marketing, where do you start? It’s easy to learn the lattest buzz words, but using them…and using them to garner ROI…can be a whole different ball game. Oftentimes, the newness means it’s not taken seriously among the organization’s traditionalists or worse, people steer clear of them all together because there’s no media rep to do the leg work for you. Instead, many of these outlets mean you’ll have to roll up your sleeves. But, once you get familiar with it, you’ll wonder what you ever did beforehand!

Got something to say? Did a world-renown physician join the hospital? Did you introduce a new MIS technique? Is there a new spa in support of helping cancer patients cope with their illness? Let people know in an instant with social media.

Let’s take a look at just one social networking vehicle: Facebook. Aside from the obvious creation of a profile, there are so many great ways to spread a message. It allows you to reach your exact audience and connect real customers to your organization.