Social Marketing Activities by Health Systems in Texas

Background: With society’s on-the-go,“too busy” attitude, and our desire for instant gratification, social media platforms are growing in popularity as a venue through which information is acquired. Social media platforms provide a highly accessible venue through which users can obtain information and communicate with other users for very little cost. Social marketing has become a new idea within the healthcare field, leaving little to no data on the effectiveness of social marketing to improve various health outcomes. Through this identified gap, we sought to determine whether health care organizations are utilizing the opportunity to use social media platforms to communicate and support weight-management strategies. Methods: An extensive literature review on social media use in healthcare with a specific focus on social media interaction with weight-management patients was completed. There is inconclusive data on the effectiveness of social media usage amongst healthcare organizations that provide assistance with weight-management. To investigate the effectiveness of these organizations’ use of social media platforms to communicate weight-management strategies we interacted with three health systems in Central and South Texas over a three-month period to acquire baseline data on their social media interaction. We interacted with each organization through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube and measured responsiveness, accessibility, and content. Results: Each organization had a preference of social media interaction consistency and response. Overall, the urban health system utilized social media most effectively in communicating and supporting weight-management strategies with potential patients. Conclusion: Health systems can benefit greatly from implementing social marketing strategies to communicate a variety of health topic messages.