Need a magic pill to energize your wellness program communications? Consider a daily dose of Facebook. The social network may help improve and maintain the life of your wellness program by spreading the word about your programs and events in a place where people will pay attention.
Worldwide, more than 1.11 billion people use Facebook. In the United States, there are more than 167 million Facebook users. On average, a Facebook user spends 20 minutes on the site each time he or she visits it.
Use people’s obsession with Facebook to your wellness program’s advantage. Set up a Group on Facebook for your wellness program so that you can communicate back and forth with your wellness program participants.
A Facebook Group differs slightly from a Facebook Page:
- Pages are better for brands, businesses, bands, movies, or celebrities. People become “fans” of a page. Any of their friends can see when they become fans and find out which pages they are fans of via the “Info” tab in their profile. Pages don’t list administrators. An administrator posts to the Page Wall as that brand, business, band, movie, or celebrity. Pages also are indexed by external search engines.
- Think of Groups as private clubs. Groups are great for organizing on a personal level and for smaller scale interaction around a cause or program. People become “members” of Groups. Depending on the privacy settings (see below) for a Group, others may or may not be able to find out to which Groups people belong. When people post to Group Walls, the individuals, including Group Administrators, do so as themselves. Groups are not indexed by search engines.
You can make a Group:
- Open – Anyone can see the Group, who’s in it, and what members post
- Closed – Anyone can see the group and who’s in it, but only members see posts
- Secret – Only members see the group, who’s in it, and what members post.
A Wellness Program Group allows you to:
- Post comments on the Group Wall. You may consider regular tips, inspirational quotes, photos of participants, and information about wellness program activities.
- Create events that show up under the members’ Request (and later in the upcoming events page on the sidebar of their dashboard if they’ve RSVPed).
- Index documents under the Files tab. Think tip sheets, posters, event registrations, etc., that you want your wellness program participants to be able to access any time.
- Send out emails. Group administrators can send messages to group members that will appear in their in boxes.
To create a Facebook Group, click here.
If you would like help setting up a Facebook Group for your wellness program or ongoing support and content, contact one of Hope Health’s social media experts.
