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Getting Twitter right - Detroit Medical Center

Today I posted a simple tweet stating the fact that I just learned of a co-worker coming down with the H1N1 Flu virus.

Immediately, a follower of mine on Twitter (and whom I follow), Detroit Medical Center, responded with a message that was helpful, informative, quick and simply spot-on. They responded with letting me know that I may want to check out their H1N1 Flu resource page on their website.

Before today, I followed them on Twitter because they're a hospital that's on Twitter and I try and follow a lot of hospitals on Twitter to see what they're all doing. I would say I follow somewhere around 40 or 50 hospitals. No other hospital sent any message like this (and yes, most of them follow me back).

But it's not just the fact that they're the only hospital that did this. In fact, I certainly wasn't looking for a hospital to do this, I was really just passing along that this virus seems to be everywhere. It's more of what that gesture symbolizes in their mentality of handling Twitter.

  • They aren't just pushing out marketing materials.
  • They ARE talking to people
  • They ARE seeking conversations out (my example)
This is probably part of the reason they're ranked 15th on Ed's Top 20 Hospitals on Twitter. With over 2,000 followers, they're doing it right, and this is a major reason.

Of course too, at the end of the day, due to their great response, I now consider them to be a knowledge expert, a valued resource for medical information. Because they exposed me to what they offer, I was made more aware of their brand, they engaged me and I'm now a fan of theirs on Facebook too.

   
Click here to download:
Getting_Twitter_right_-_Detroi.zip (75 KB)

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Comments (2)

Aug 26, 2009
JennTex said...
This is a interesting case study, and a bold move (in a good way) by DMC. I wonder what their feedback has been from others who they have responded to in this way. We do a bit of this when we can, but I worry sometimes about who to respond to and who to leave alone. I feel like I am walking the fine line between privacy and responsiveness.
Aug 26, 2009
Aaron Hughling said...
Good issue to raise Jennifer, I'm not real sure what people's expectations are of privacy when they're posting things online. However, based on the unobtrusive style they took and their overall success on Twitter, I'm thinking they're doing it in the right way.

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