If you manage your company’s social media accounts, you likely have countless other responsibilities in your job description. If you don’t have some kind of a system, social media can consume your time and bring zero results.
That describes how Amy Kuhnlein, Manager of Business Development and Community Affairs at Swope Health Services, felt when social media management was added to her duties.
“Before I started at Swope, our social media accounts were dormant because nobody was managing them,” said Kuhnlein. “I had zero experience in marketing or advertising, and I still had to figure out to manage it while still taking care of all my other responsibilities.”
Without a plan, Kuhnlein spent several months spinning her wheels, guessing on things like what to post, how much to post, and how to get people noticing Swope. Sound familiar?
“I was totally winging it and posting things I thought looked good without much thought. I wasn’t consistent and knew it wasn’t as effective as it could be. I just didn’t know what else to do,” said Kuhnlein.
That changed when she started using ThinkViral’s Social Media Program. The first thing she realized was the importance of knowing specifically WHO her organization needed to be talking to online.
“The system forced me to look at the accounts we were following and analyze if they were relevant to us, or if they were creating more noise and spam,” said Kuhnlein. “I cleaned house, paired down, and focused on the pages and companies who really matter to us and it’s made a big difference.”
It may not seem like a nonprofit organization like Swope Health Services would be using social media for business development but Kuhnlein now knows, it’s all about donors and stakeholders.
“We may not have clients or sell products in the traditional sense, but we require fundraisers and sponsorships to keep our doors open and continue to help people who need us most. The system made me think of ways we could be talking to our stakeholders and raising awareness of their community efforts, not just ours.”
Once she implemented a social media program, Kuhnlein said it saved her time because she had specific daily, weekly and monthly tasks integrated into her routine.
“I realized social media has to be embedded into your job and daily schedule, rather than hoping you can keep up with it,” said Kuhnlein. “It’s helped me use my time efficiently and stay on track, rather than posting something quick and moving on to my other responsibilities.”
Swope Health Services provides primary health care and behavioral health services to a diverse group of people in Kansas City. According to Kuhnlein, it’s important their social media portrays an inviting and comforting environment for the community.
“Our goal is to humanize the people at Swope so we feel like a small-town family doctor,” said Kuhnlein. “We want people to get to know us online so they feel more comfortable visiting us in person.”
Kuhnlein said our social media program gave her specific ideas for how to post about their humans and now makes a point to take photos of staff members and patients who want to be involved. Plans to produce videos of doctors giving advice for healthy living are also in the works.
“There are so many things happening at Swope Health and this system made my job so much easier in just a few weeks. Now I know how much time to spend on social media efforts and what really matters in terms of results,” said Kuhnlein.
“It’s been an awesome learning experience, and having a system has made all the difference in the world. I take social media much more seriously than I used to now because I see what a huge impact it can have on an organization.”
Thank you to Amy Kuhnlein and Swope Health Services for sharing your social media story with us! We’re thrilled to hear things are going well and are so proud of you for implementing a system!
#SocialMediaSuperStars
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Does your Social Media strategy need a boost? ThinkViral’s Social Media Programs offer companies the same strategy ThinkViral uses in-house. Learn more