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5 Things to Know about UAB Medicine Social Media

5 Things to Know about UAB Medicine Social Media

In case you hadn’t noticed, social media isn’t just a fad. The evolution of sites like Facebook and Instagram has changed rapidly in general markets but even more in healthcare. Social media platforms, which were initially created for personal use, have quickly adapted to a commercial model that essentially require companies and organizations to use them to communicate with customers…in our case – patients.

At UAB Medicine, we have a unique role to play in social media and we cannot be successful without the support of our employees and patients. Here are a few things we’d like you to know!

1. Where We Are:

2. We have a lot of Friends:

  • Most of our channels are 10+ years old and we have about 90,000 followers or subscribers. If you’re not one of them, you should be! It’s a great way to stay up-to-date and even share UAB Medicine posts with your friends.

3. Social gets the word out:

  • All of us at UAB Medicine are working towards amazing things for our patients and communities and we believe people ought to know about it!
  • Social media gives us the opportunity to improve quality of care, patient satisfaction, brand recognition, and employee engagement. Ultimately, it aids in connecting us to the community and provides a platform to motivate action and healthy change.

4. It’s complicated:

  • While social media is important for UAB Medicine communication and marketing efforts, it can get complicated because of industry regulations, compliance, and the volume of one-on-one customer interactions. For example, in the last year our social media team fielded over 4,500 direct messages on Facebook alone.
  • As a brand, it is important to stay consistent on social media. If your department wants to have their own social account, there are corporate guidelines that need to be followed. For more information check out our brand site: uabmedicine.org/branding.

5. We need you!

  • If you don’t already, be sure to follow UAB Medicine on any or all of our social channels. It’s a great way to keep up with the incredible things we do, upcoming events, news and accomplishments.
  • If you or your department has a great story to share about the wonderful, impactful work your group is doing, we’ve set up an email for you to do just that. Email us at getsocial@uabmc.edu.

For more information or questions about UAB Medicine social media, contact the marketing and communications staff: uabmedicine.org/branding/how-to-work-with-us.