It’s a pop culture mash-up between a "double-dog dare" and a selfie with a cause.
Throughout the US, healthcare marketing professionals (and their supervisors) are marveling at this summer’s continuing success of the ALS Association’s Ice Bucket Challenge (IBC). Hospital foundations, medical research associations and the like are amazed and envious of the social media phenomenon and viral marketing success.
If you missed the IBC social explosion—your summer holiday was on the far side of Jupiter or whatever—this FaithReel.com video is a dip in the IBC viral stream and some of the backstory. Friends, neighbors, celebs, performers, politicians, athletes and a few hundred thousand “regular people” have jumped on social media platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Vine, Twitter and others to answer and spread the challenge.
“What luck!” the supervisor is thinking, “We’d like the same good fortune that flows to when something ‘goes viral.’” Well…good fortune, yes. So far, the runaway viral traction of the IBC has indeed educated the public, raised brand awareness, and has (so far) raised tens of millions in donations to the ALS Association (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) from existing donors and over 630,000 new donors. The Ice Bucket thing is simple, easy to participate, fun, visual, social, and significantly, it has a built-in element for sharing and challenging others to do likewise.
On the other hand, luck is only part of the viral success formula. A healthy dose of good fortune is both a welcome and necessary ingredient. But beyond providence, here are more tips, techniques and marketing lessons if you want your content “going viral” via the Internet and social media.
These and perhaps a dozen other considerations are the ingredients of successful—and highly share-able—social media efforts in healthcare marketing. Watch for an upcoming article about why people share authoritative content online to attract and retain patients.
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is, at least for this summertime moment, a pop culture and social media phenomenon that benefited a worthy cause. (More noteworthy than the legacy of last year’s Gangham Style craze.)
The thing about “going viral” is that you know it when you see it, but it’s nearly impossible to predict in advance. You can, however, include these and other ingredients that will gain traction in social media for exposure, awareness and most importantly, sharing.
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