Use Twitter as a Tool to Generate Stories

Engaging with people who tweet you is not only good practice but it helps to build trust. According to twitter research in 2016, replying to “questions from customers” means customers are 44% more likely to share their experiences and 30% more likely to recommend the business. Even if someone is tweeting critically about your service, it's an opportunity for both parties to benefit. The fact they have already reached out to engage with you online, demonstrates that they're probably keen to engage further, so make the most of this opportunity.

In Practice

Imagine that someone tweets your service saying that they are unhappy. For example, if they’ve been waiting ages for an appointment, or they went to visit a family member and weren’t happy about what they saw. You could reply to their tweet by simply apologising & saying that you’d really like to know more/ to be able look into it and ensure they receive the most helpful response (from the most appropriate member of staff) and ask if they could please, therefore, share their experience on the independent website, Care Opinion. You can then send them a link either for them to share their story, or a link to your service’s Care Opinion page. Both have benefits, so you can decide which is the most appropriate to send them depending on the situation. Sending them the direct link to share their story will make the process quick and easy for them and they'll hopefully appreciate (here's how to create your service specific link). On the other hand, sending them a link to your service page may help them gain a clearer idea of what Care Opinion looks like as well as seeing other stories people have shared. This will give them a good idea of what you are expecting from them when they share a story (what was good and what could be improved?) and the simple act of seeing other, fellow patients and relatives sharing stories about your service (that have received helpful responses) will help to encourage them to do so too.

Explain the benefit

 Another really key factor that we have found is that people are far more likely to share their story if they know they will get a response. So, if you do respond to all stories (if not, why not!?) then you’d be selling yourself short by not stating this. Moving that conversation away from a public platform that isn’t moderated is beneficial for both parties. So, next time someone tweets you about their experience, invite them to share their story on Care Opinion and explain that relevant staff will see their feedback and they will get a response. It's public, transparent, moderated, and offers a clear opportunity for resolution. These short and sweet invitations are super simple but effective.

You don't need to wait for someone to tweet you either...

You can tweet regularly asking people to share their story, it helps spread awareness and publicly demonstrates that you want to hear and learn from people's experiences. You can use hashtags or schedule posts to ensure you are reaching as large an audience as possible. Here are some examples

Examples

One final thing to mention is that it's always worth tagging us, if we see it, we'll retweet it, spreading your message just a little bit further! If you need any help or advice just get in touch. Keep your eyes out for next week's social media advice blog!