Facing Health with Facebook!

The breadwinner, the most talked about, the very tip top of the echelon of social media. Facebook boasts itself as the social media site with the most users. 

One billion. 1 billion. 1,000,000,000. Is that the correct number of zeros?? Facebook has increasingly grown since it's debut in 2004 when it only had 1 million users. Fast forward to 2015, roughly eleven years later and Facebook now boasts a whopping 1 billion+ users! If there are one billion registered people on the site, would it not be a great idea to utilize Facebook as one of the many resources for your health organization?! 

Facebook continuously evolves welcoming new members and new features daily. If you are a regular user like me, you may have a personal Facebook account that you use to connect with old friends from high school, colleagues, family members and maybe your 85 year old grandma that lives in Alaska. I'm kidding... my grandma does not have Facebook, nor does she live in Alaska. However, it is a simple, easy and effective way for health organizations to communicate with large sums of people including teenagers, adults and the elderly (who by the way are more common than you think.) 43% of elderly adults, ages 65+ are utilizing the social media platform. 

Facebook offers users and potential users like health organizations the option to create a business page or commonly known as a fan page that allows normal users like myself, to "like" the page so I may view informational posts and interact with others on it. Creating a Facebook page for your organization will give you and your health organization a voice online allowing you to connect with people and create new customers!  According to a survey done by National Research Corp, approximately 40% of respondents said they rely on social media to find out health information with 93% of those turning directly to Facebook! 

There are several guidelines or tips that should be followed for a more successful experience with the technology as well as success for your health organization..

Cody's Corner

1. Goals - I cannot stress this enough. Before you even begin to think about creating the Facebook page. What is the health goal or the purpose of making this Facebook page and who are you targeting? Contemplate the goals, brainstorm them, write them down, print them out, laminate them, put them in a safe. 

2. The T.R.E.C. Method © (Copyright, Cody Norris, June 2015)

• Transparent - Be clear with the consumers you are trying to reach. Do not beat around the bush with the health information you are providing. An example would be to inform the people where you are donating your breast cancer fundraiser monies to and how much is going to be kept for the organization. Transparency is key and your consumers will thank you for your honesty. 
• Relatable - You could put the word relative in here but just make sure the information you share on your Facebook page relates to your organization, and is also relative to your target audience -- oh yeah, your target audience needs to be defined in your goals.. *stresses immensely at the fact that you may not have defined your goals yet* 
• Engage - Engage. Comment. Talk to the people who are interested in your organization! Show them that you value what they have to say, what they feel, what they want to know more about etc. At the end of the day, you didn't just create this Facebook page for you or your organization but you created it for the betterment of the people you are serving. 
• Credibility - Credible. Factual. Peer reviewed. Scholarly journal articles. Nothing is more dissatisfying than seeing an awesome, eye-catching article title shared on Facebook then noticing it's from a satirical news site of site of little to no credibility. 
• News sites are going to have biases. That's okay! Just try to incorporate a variety of view points and writers. (Unless your target audience is liberals, then I suggest not using or even thinking about Fox News; or CNN if your audience is predominantly conservatives.) 
• This is an example of a credible source of information regarding Facebook and well-being in young adults. 
• This is NOT an example of a credible source of information. 
• Usually, .org, .gov, and .edu sites are great repositories of credible information. 

3. Evaluation - So you need to assess your successes and failures! What is working? What isn't working? Are you posting too much? Are you not posting enough? Is there prominent engagement on your posts? Try being a little more concise in your posts and maybe ask questions that spark a conversation between your consumers! 

Local Businesses at "Work" with Facebook!

A remarkable and local business dubbed Rivertown Fitness Center is a prime example of an organization that focuses on the health and wellness of individuals in the conway community through the gym facility but also through daily Facebook updates. The owner, Shannon Sharpe, is on Facebook when not physically engaged with clientele, sharing the latest information regarding fat burning workouts, healthy summer recipes and other related fitness tips! I am currently a member here and have been for three years. I also did an internship at the facility last Fall for HPRO 201. The way RFC does business compared to corporation gyms like Planet Fitness is a completely different ballgame. RFC has been successful for over 15 years and still continues to grow! Their utilization of Facebook is not the main reason for their success, but is a complementary tool to their achievements! 

I hope you enjoyed this post, and remember, always define your goals first no matter what you are trying to complete! 

Have a happy, and healthy day!
- Cody