Social Media Savvy with Youtube, Skype and Ustream: Using Video to Create Your Own High-Impact Health Messages!

Background: Health agency communications programs are struggling to keep ahead of the rapid change in communications with the advent of social media. Integrating game-changing social media tools into an existing communications program can be challenging, but it is essential. The way the public seeks and gathers credible health information has completely changed, as has the way the news media gathers and reports it. One of the fastest-growing areas for communications is video. The tools for producing in-house video are inexpensive and can have a dramatic impact on the effectiveness of a health agency’s communications program.

Program background: This proposed session will specifically demonstrate how recorded and live video can be produced and distributed to the public and media via three platforms. YouTube -The best place to host and distribute pre-produced videos to a wide audience, which can be accomplished by tweeting links, posting videos on Facebook, tweeting links via Twitter, and embedding the YouTube player on a web site or blog. Skype - A majority of TV stations are set up to take incoming Skype video interviews, and many stations with extended live morning programs are hungry for content. With health topics always in the top three areas of interest for the public, and uStream, this is a natural. I’ll show the audience what they need and how to do it.   uStream - Live streaming of an event, conference, or meeting, or live interview panel can dramatically increase public participation in the health conversation. I’ll show the audience how to do it and reveal the situations in which uStream works best. I will also show the audience what equipment they need to get started, and tell them about the 5 types of videos they can begin shooting right away.

Evaluation Methods and Results: I have used all these techniques at Sacramento County Public Health during the H1N1 Flu Pandemic. Results of all of these tools can be measured in real-time by tallying user clicks, chat room participants, number of video playbacks, and number of live viewers. There is nothing more gratifying than watching a Twitter follower re-send a video link to a health message they found useful to hundreds or thousands of their own followers.

Conclusions: Producing in-house video is a capability that health communications programs need to master if they want their voice to be heard on key health topics through the social media clutter. I have shown many of my colleagues how to do this, and would be thrilled to participate in the CDC conference again this year to provide some more valuable training.

Implications for research and/or practice: Understanding and implementing these techniques will result in a health communications and marketing program that is more connected with its audience via a higher level of engagement, is better able to leverage and integrate with its other social media platforms, and is better connected with the news media.