How Health Care Organizations Approach Social Media Measurement: Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND: Many health care organizations use social media to support a variety of activities. To ensure continuous improvement in social media performance, health care organizations must measure their social media. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to explore how health care organizations approach social media measurement and to elucidate the tools they employ. METHODS: In this exploratory qualitative research, Australian health care organizations that use social media, varying in size and locality, were invited to participate in the study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, and the transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: The study identified health care organizations’ approaches to social media measurement. While some measured their social media frequently, others used infrequent measurements, and a few did not measure theirs at all. Those that measured their social media used one or a combination of the following yardsticks: personal benchmarking, peer benchmarking, and metric benchmarking. The metrics tracked included one or more of the following: reach, engagement, and conversion rates. The tools employed to measure social media were either inbuilt or add-on analytics tools. Although many participants showed great interest in measuring their social media, they still had some unanswered questions. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of a consensus approach to measurement suggests that, unlike other industries, social media measurement in health care settings is at a nascent stage. There is a need to improve knowledge, sophistication, and integration of social media strategy through the application of theoretical and analytical knowledge to help resolve the current challenge of effective social media measurement. This study calls for social media training in health care organizations. Such training must focus on how to use relevant tools and how to measure their use effectively.