Social Media for Immunization Promotion & Education – Tools for Getting Started On Social Media

Background: Immunization professionals may have heard of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, but often don’t know how to put it to work for their organization. The Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition (CCIC) has created a social media strategy to reach healthcare professionals, parents and parents-to-be to increase childhood vaccination coverage. CCIC would prefer to present this session with immunization champions Every Child by Two and the Immunization Action Coalition.

Setting: Public health agency or organization providing outreach and education to the public about vaccinations

Population: Healthcare professionals engaged in social media. Objectives:

• Reasons why an immunization organization should engage in social media
• The basics about the most popular social media platforms
• Strategies to engage your coworkers and community

Project Description: CCIC staff will share their knowledge and experience on getting started with the most popular social media tools and how to use social media to build awareness for programs, gain vaccine advocates and correct misinformation. CCIC has utilized social media to reach coalition members, new moms and increase the overall positive awareness of vaccines since January 2009. They have focused their outreach on the following platforms: ·        Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/ImmunizeCOKids ·        YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/ImmunizeCOKids ·        RSS - http://childrensimmunization.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&pagetemplate=rss

·        Twitter - www.twitter.com/ImmunizeCOKids

·        Mom Blog – http://Coloradomom2mom.wordpress.com

Results/Lessons Learned: CCIC has created an online community of vaccine advocates and has positioned itself as the social media “go to” resource. With their tips and insights, any vaccine organization or advocate can engage in social media. The participants in this session will 1) Understand the basics about the most popular social media platforms; 2) How to effectively engage in social media; 3) Discover strategies to encourage your coworkers and community to participate; 4) Build a connection with an immunization coalition who is engaged in social media – we’ll friend you too!