Written by: John DeRousie, Custom Marketing Solutions
FULTON, NY – When Christine Prevost of Oswego County Opportunities, Inc. wanted to reach out to her fellow employees and enlighten them regarding the many wellness related programs that are available to them she knew just where to turn.
“More and more of our employees are embracing social media both professionally and personally and becoming Facebook users. Often, employees are unable to get away from the work site to attend wellness related programming. As an experiment, I created a Facebook page dedicated to wellness information and programming. I was pleasantly surprised to see that our employees had searched for, found and liked the page, even though we had not formally promoted it through the agency,” said Prevost.
Part of the appeal of OCO’s Wellness Works Facebook page is that it is informative and interactive. Through the page’s events application staff members are invited to participate in upcoming wellness related activities that OCO’s sponsors such as the Women’s Health Fair, the White Ribbon Campaign, OCO On the Go trips, and much more. Participants can submit their own photos and content regarding any events they take part in, without having to know how to write computer code. The page also features links that will direct them to other Facebook pages and websites where they can access additional information related to OCO’s seven dimensions of wellness.
One aspect of the page that Prevost finds beneficial is that it allows her to interact with employees in a real-time environment. “With a traditional web page, content is submitted to a web administrator. Those updates might not appear on the page for days or weeks. Visitors to our Facebook page can interact with us immediately. Since employees can access the page on their own time, wherever they have reliable access to the internet, it’s not uncommon to see employee feedback with seconds or minutes of posting new content. By monitoring what topics employees are responding to I am able to use their feedback to help determine the type of content that will encourage them to visit the page on a regular basis,” she said.
According to Prevost, her vision is to see OCO’s Wellness Works Facebook page increase its following and become a place where employees and their family members go to share information about their wellness related goals and activities, and that they become a support to one another.
In addition to easily connecting with employees, Prevost said that the page also benefits OCO with its ability to reach new consumers. “When an employee “likes” our page, posts a comment, or is tagged in a posted photo, their Facebook friends are made aware of this activity and may very well be attracted to our page as well. With the amount of employees that OCO has, that can add up to a significant number of new visitors. When we reach out to our employees, we are potentially reaching out to their Facebook friends, their friends’ friends and so on. That’s the real power of social networking!” said Prevost.
For those familiar with Facebook, OCO’s Wellness page can be found by typing OCO Wellness Works in the Friend Finder. When results are displayed, select the Pages option to filter the results.
One of Oswego County’s largest employers, OCO’s workforce of more than 650 employees and 1000 volunteers provide more than 50 human services programs that touch the lives of more than 28,000 each year. As OCO celebrates its 45th anniversary it is on a roll to continue its mission of helping people, supporting communities, changing lives, and improving the quality of life for Oswego County residents. For more information on OCO, a member agency of the United Way of Greater Oswego County, visit their website at www.oco.org
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