Lymphoma is a relatively rare form of cancer, with approximately 650,000 people living with or in remission. There are also no known preventative or early detection screenings available. In addition, many people do not know much about lymphoma until they are diagnosed.
Unlike, say, breast cancer or heart disease, lymphoma is not a disease that will touch everyone’s life at some point, so the population interested in lymphoma is somewhat limited.
To help members of the lymphoma community better understand their specific type so that they can make informed decisions regarding their treatment options, the Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF), based in New York, provides a variety of educational opportunities, resources and services to all those affected by the disease.
The LRF’s North American Educational Forum on Lymphoma is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive educational conference on lymphoma.
The two-and-a half-day program provides critical information on lymphoma treatment options, patient support issues, clinical trials and the latest in advances in lymphoma research.
In 2012, for the first time ever, LRF integrated social media into the program at the Forum, tapping the expertise of one of the Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board members and leading lymphoma experts to conduct a Twitter chat.
EMBRACING SOCIAL
Some 18 months before the scheduled November 2012 conference, in Manhattan Beach, Calif., the LRF had little social media presence. Then it hired Kinya Harte as public affairs coordinator to help build out its social media program and streamline its digital operation.
In 2012, LRF’s social media footprint began to grow from about 2,000 followers on Twitter to more than 10,000.
For the conference, the communications team decided a Twitter chat would be a great way to complement the program, says Peggy Ann Torney, associate director of public affairs at LRF.
Specific goals for the chat included:
• Promote thought leadership. Facilitate an hour-long live Twitter conversation with one of the world’s leading lymphoma experts and Lymphoma Research Foundation Scientific Advisory Board member.
• Increase awareness and understanding of lymphoma. Provide a forum for those affected by lymphoma to have their questions answered by a world-leading lymphoma expert—an opportunity many people might not have had otherwise.
• Communicate to a larger audience. Engage members of the lymphoma community, particularly those unable to attend the conference.
CHAT RESEARCH
Since this was the first Twitter chat conducted by the Foundation, research was done to ensure a smooth and efficient social event. To that end, Torney and Harte monitored various chats hosted by other organizations found on third-party Twitter-based community and chat calendars, including Twebevent and Symplur.
The biggest lesson learned from these chats? Have a well-known expert in the field lined up to answer questions. So LRF tapped Dr. Anas Younes, then of the MD Anderson Cancer Center (now at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center), to host the chat.
Additional research included a buzzword analysis to gain a better understanding of the Twitter discussions surrounding lymphoma, cancer and healthcare, which would allow the foundation to tailor the chat’s content and engage users with lymphoma topics meaningful to them.
LRF also researched key influencers in the medical and health industries with Twitter accounts and began to build strategic relationships with them. These connections would prove to be critical to cross-promote the Twitter chat with their networks of thousands of followers, Torney says.
STRATEGIC PARTNERS
While those relationships with outside influencers were important, the most effective partnership was with Dr. Younes. While one doesn’t think of doctors as being the most active on social media—due in part to a highly regulated health care sector—Younes is an exception.
He has nearly 7,500 Twitter followers, and uses the social tool to provide timely information on advances in medicine and oncology, as well as to provide links to clinical trials for patients with lymphoma.
“Twitter enables me to reach patients and their caregivers in ways that I never could before,” Younes says. “It is a great tool to not only engage with people in real time, but to share information and answer health questions in the moments that people need it most.”
In addition, LRF worked with MD Anderson and other institutions where other board members worked, as well as the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Society of Hemotology, to promote the chat.
PR PROMO TACTICS
For the LRF’s own PR efforts, Harte and Torney used a variety of platforms to get the word out about the chat. The event was mentioned in most LRF emails and via ads in the conference brochures, a postcard mailing and signage at the event. The chat was also promoted via the LRF’s website’s homepage and a dedicated landing page.
An important element of the outreach: A paid promoted tweet campaign, which helped expand LRF’s following by thousands leading up to the conference, Harte says.
THE CHAT
Prior to the chat, participants were advised to follow Dr. Younes’ Twitter handle, @DrAnasYounes. “We decided that leveraging his expertise—on both the subject of lymphoma and on Twitter—would be the most effective way to handle the chat,” Torney says.
Participants were asked to use the hashtag #EdForumChat and mention the Foundation’s Twitter handle, @lymphoma. When the questions came in, the LRF vetted and then posed questions via its own handle to Dr. Younes. All general lymphoma and resources questions were answered by the Foundation and all lymphoma-specific questions were left for the doctor to answer in-depth.
The team used sequential numbers to better track the questions coming in under the hashtag results. LRF’s Facebook fans who didn’t have Twitter accounts followed along and asked questions via Facebook. They were marked “FB 1, 2” etc., for Dr. Younes to specifically respond to the Facebook audience.
TWEET SUCCESS
Not only did the Twitter chat answer participants’ important questions regarding lymphoma, the online event was also effective in gaining more fans and followers to LRF’s social media sites. Specific Twitter chat results include:
• From the campaign’s launch in September through November 2012, the number of Twitter followers increased by 92%, averaging 300 new organic followers a month.
• The Twitter chat received more than 335,000 impressions and reached more than 23,000 Twitter users with just the use of 50 tweets.
• The Foundation’s Facebook page more than doubled its fan base to 8,000.
• Twitter ads increased the monthly LRF follower base by 758% in two months.
Qualitatively, the chat was well received via social media and among attendees at the conference. “Even those who didn’t pose questions were still retweeting Dr. Younes’ answers,” Harte says.
What’s next with social media at the LRF? Torney says another Twitter chat with Dr. Younes is being planned for September.
Even better, LRF leadership is definitely on board with social media. “We did a social media presentation with our board, and they were excited about doing more social,” Torney says. PRN
CONTACT:
Peggy Ann Torney, [email protected]; Kinya Harte, [email protected]; Dr. Anas Younes, @DrAnasYounes.
The Lymphoma Research Foundation’s Twitter Chat, led by Dr. Anas Younes (inset), ultimately drew 23,000 Twitter users.
Rules of Engagement: 4 Tips for A Successful Twitter Chat
The Lymphoma Research Foundation was treading unknown social waters in deciding to hold a Twitter chat in concert with its cornerstone event last November. Thanks to some due diligence on the part of the organization’s public affairs team, the chat was a unqualified success. Here are four tips for a nice chat, from Peggy Ann Torney, associate director of public affairs at LRF.
• Plan: Develop a strategy that clearly defines the Twitter chat’s objectives, timeline and tactics. Remember to choose a hashtag that is unique to and descriptive of your Twitter chat.
• Research: Monitor online conversations surrounding the topic of your Twitter chat to obtain a clear understanding of what is relevant and important to your target audience. This will help you to determine the ways in which you can lend your expertise to the conversations and have a meaningful impact.
• Engage: Connect with key influencers and cultivate strategic partnerships via Twitter. This will not only help to establish your organization as a reliable voice in the field, but will also expand your social reach among your target audience.
• Promote: Use multiple communication resources to promote the Twitter chat, including your organization’s print publications, emails, websites and social media platforms. In addition to these cross-promotional tactics, tools like Twitter chat calendars are also great resources to post information about your upcoming chat.
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50 Tweets Reach Thousands
Twitter chat metrics generated by TweetReach shows thousands of accounts reached and hundreds of thousands of impressions.