How We Connect with Facebook
Whether it is family and friends, local organisations or potential customers, we love to use our online channels to connect with our various communities. Social media platforms are, as the title suggests, social; sharing thoughts, feelings and stories online is incredibly important, but the best posts online inspire an emotional reaction and promote a two-way conversation that connects people. Facebook is also a great way for us to connect our entire company and all the staff as well!
It is a great benefit to Avery that Facebook allows everyone, from our Directors to our Carers at individual homes, to be connected. Whether linking from top to bottom in the organisation, or across care homes or peer groups of employees, it enables all to have a voice and be heard. It can even connect employees who may have never met before as they seek to share best practice or find support on a specific topic.
The Support teams who are not based at the homes, such as Training, Well-being and our Regional Managers, find it valuable to use Facebook to see the daily activities at each home. “Facebook is a great business tool,” said Mike Wilson, Regional Manager. “I see so many images of engagement between our residents, relatives and staff, including moments that I may not necessarily observe during a visit. I can use these posts as conversational starting points to thank the staff who are involved in quality care. Facebook enables me to ensure all our residents are receiving excellent standards of support and attention with regular, varied activities and trips out – all easily accessible to see online.”
This issue’s top tip is to keep the conversation going and to show real engagement with the customer. If you see a comment or heartfelt review on your Facebook page, be sure to leave a personalised reply – a ‘thank you’ is polite but we should show we are personally involved with our customers by responding with something specific to their review.
Read about our other social media successes in our local community here.
Article by Helen Bates, Marketing Executive, for Welcome Home Issue 9.