Using social media to support your
organisation’s Dry January
campaign
What we’ll cover
• Consistency:
– Brand
– Message
• Frequenting your audience’s local
• Platforms
• Evaluation
The overall social media aim:
• Provide online encouragement that starts conversations.
Secondary aim
• Help NHS staff find and contribute to online communities of support.
Consistency: Message
Good
Consistency: Message
•
•
•
•
•
Booze is bad for you
You drink too much
Are you setting a bad example with your drinking?
Are you worried about your drinking?
As your employer we want you all to drink less
Bad
Consistency: Brand
Good
Consistency: Brand
Bad
Frequenting your audience’s local
Which social media platforms do your staff use?
Go to where they are already talking.
If you don’t know where this is, this is your chance to find out. Ask ward
leaders where staff swop shifts and find out when they are getting paid
each month, go there!
Platforms used by Alcohol Concern
Platforms
• Use the ones you and your Trust currently uses
• Don’t feel pressured into using all of them, but…
• You can link to the ones you and your Trust don’t use in case your staff
do use those channels (e.g. Pinterest).
Images are great across all platforms
• Text with images and videos alongside it gets more engagement than
just text
• Use images and videos whenever you can when sharing content about
Dry January
• The Dry January logo alongside text is better than text alone.
Facebook
Do
• Post about the challenge on your
Facebook page
• Congratulate people who tell you they are
giving it a go
• Support people who are struggling
• Regularly post updates before and
throughout Dry January to promote the
challenge and start conversations:
– “The weekend is on it’s way, how are you
going to stay dry?” “How did your first
week of Dry January go? Have you noticed
any differences?”
•
•
•
•
Link to the Dry January Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/DryJanuary
Promote the expert Facebook Q&As
Share Dry January’s page posts
Promote the savings and unit calculator
apps
Don’t
• Judge. Have an open conversation.
Twitter
Do
• Mention the @dryjanuary profile when
talking about it (it raises your and their
profile)
• Use the hashtag: #DryJanuary
• Promote the expert Twitter Q&As
• Signpost to all of the other excellent Dry
January communities and support (Twitter
is great at signposting)
• Use .@ replies if the information is likely to
be of use to many of your followers
• Praise staff who are doing the challenge
and use Twitter, on Twitter
•
RT @dryjanuary’s content
Don’t
• Use .@ replies for personal discussions,
e.g. offering support to someone who is
struggling with the challenge
• Hyperlocalise your hashtag – no
#wolverhamptontrustdryjanuarys!
Pinterest
Do
• Post pictures that link onto further
information about Dry January –
preferably to
http://www.dryjanuary.org.uk/
• Re-pin Dry January content
• Run a what’s your favourite mug board
Don’t
• Have nice Dry January content alongside
another board which has off-message and
off-brand information about alcohol on it.
Instagram
Do
• Share Dry January’s posts
• Get out to your staff events and get
content for your account, e.g. pictures of
staff with the Dry January challenge
Don’t
• Post pictures like this:
YouTube
• A channel to keep an eye on and share relevant videos from if you see
any
• Likely not to be a mainstay of the Dry January campaign or your local
campaign.
Other
• Blog about your personal experiences of it
• You can ask staff to blog/write on the intranet about their
experiences too.
Evaluation
• Dry January will help you keep track of the number of staff who sign up
• Dry January will evaluate use of their social media platforms
• You should try to keep track of the number of Dry January photos, tweets,
posts etc you send and receive in order to see which content gets the most
traction. Repeat popular content more often.
• Set SMART local objectives and use social media to help you achieve them,
e.g. “By Xth/rd/st January share pictures from our mocktails evening event on
our Facebook page”, “Get 30 staff members signed up by January 1st
2015”