Blog Author: Tara Lyon [3]
A huge part of the discussion surrounding the creation of the new bcmj.org was how to best get the word out about our content, and draw readers to our new site. Moving forward with our site redesign, we adopted the motto “if we build it, they will come!” The next logical step was getting the word out through social media.
While the BCMJ has had the readership and support of BC physicians over the years, traditionally we’ve relied on print and television media coverage of our stories to garner more widespread awareness of our content. With an array of social media channels at our fingertips, we decided to reach out to new audiences across Canada and around the world by building a following on Twitter and Facebook. The idea is that our followers would visit our site and hopefully enjoy our articles enough to forward them on and recommend them to their own friends and followers.
In the first stages of the project, Soya Marketing guided us through our initial site design, recommending that we become a true online publication with constantly refreshed content to bring readers to the site. They also taught us how to increase our SEO (search engine optimization) through keyword utilization, and by developing a presence on YouTube, Wikipedia, and social media channels.
We built our Facebook and Twitter pages a couple of months in advance of our site launch, hoping to start getting the word out about our content. But, like a kid on the first day of school, we found ourselves asking: “How the heck do we make friends?”
As an avid Facebooker but a non-tweeter, I had to agree that we needed to consult a professional.
Enter Nik Badminton of VoxDialog. Nik, a marketing strategist and social media guru, worked his magic to ensure that the social media debut of bcmj.org was a success. He built us a presence on SlideShare [4] and Flickr [5], and has helped us build a Twitter [6]following of nearly 1200, who receive BCMJ story headlines and other health news updates from us daily. Our Facebook [7] friends enjoy the same updates, as well as receiving brief excerpts from our articles along with our headlines.
So if you’re a fan of Facebook or a tweeter on Twitter, come and follow/friend the BCMJ--it’s a great way to get advance access to BCMJ content and keep up-to-date with local medical and health care news.
www.twitter.com/bcmedicaljrnl [8]
www.facebook.com/bcmedicaljournal [9]
--Tara Lyon, BCMJ Editorial Assistant
Links:
[1] http://www.bcmj.org/
[2] http://www.bcmj.org/blog/listings
[3] http://www.bcmj.org/author/tara-lyon
[4] http://www.slideshare.net/bcmedicaljournal
[5] http://www.flickr.com/people/bcmedicaljournal
[6] http://twitter.com/bcmedicaljrnl
[7] http://www.facebook.com/BCMedicalJournal
[8] http://www.twitter.com/bcmedicaljrnl
[9] http://www.facebook.com/bcmedicaljournal