Last week CarePages, an online community of millions of people affected by life-changing health events, released a paper focusing on how individuals are utilizing the Internet not only to gather information about an illness, but to also give and receive emotional support.

CarePages commissioned Nielsen Online to examine how individuals discuss healthcare online. As a result, we found that 14% of discussion is related to emotional support and 10% of emotional support discussion is dedicated to messages of appreciation, gratitude and the positive impact of receiving emotional support.

Dr. Sharon Langshur, co-founder of CarePages states, “The way we use the Internet for healthcare is evolving to meet our most elemental needs for personal connections and community.” The paper delves into the benefits of emotional support and how social media is bringing patients and caregivers together in valuable and meaningful ways.

Check the paper out here: Online Healthcare gets Personal: Health 2.0 and the Healing Power of Supportive Communities.

Previously I posted about growing brand buzz organically. In addition to focusing on aspects such as product performance and customer service, it is important to leverage your brand website. Company websites are among the most trusted sources of information about a brand. According to a survey by Nielsen Online, 53% of consumers seek information about a product by researching information posted to a company website.

Consumer Generated Media (CGM) also emerges as an important component. 26% of consumers review Internet comments and ratings when researching products online, while 17% of individuals post specific questions to a forum to acquire information.

To get consumers buzzing about your brand website and encourage pass-along value, the site needs to be useful, relevant, current, dynamic and engaging. Here are a few items that any company should consider including:

• Updated regularly: Consumers are not going to share old news; make sure the content is timely and current. Answer consumer questions, offer advice, respond to threats and promote the benefits of your brand. Pay attention to what consumers search for or which pages on your site get the most traffic to inform the content you create.
• Solicit feedback: Encourage consumers to provide feedback directly to you. Prominently place “contact us” buttons throughout the site. The easier it is to find the feedback portion of the site, the more likely consumers will use it. Trends may emerge through feedback and can inform the content you post.
• Consumer testimonials: Embrace CGM by enabling consumers to post product reviews directly to your website. Consumers trust the opinion of their peers and this action lends credibility at the point of purchase.
• FAQ: You need to highlight your Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) tool; ensure consumers are one click away from the answer they are seeking.
• Site is searchable: Make every effort to ensure that consumers can easily find the answers to their questions. Add a search function so they can locate information quickly and easily.
• Pass-along enable everything: Make it easy for consumers to share information from your website. Any cool apps, videos, podcasts, games, etc. should be easily sharable.

There are two types of word-of-mouth occurring online: conversation resulting from natural interactions between consumers regarding a brand experience, and conversation resulting from a specific campaign or event that encourages it. WOMMA classifies these two types of conversations as Organic versus Amplified word-of-mouth.

As a long-term strategy for building brand buzz it is important to focus efforts on organic word-of-mouth. According to a Nielsen Online survey, the majority of consumers state that they post information online because they use the product and either like it or don’t. In general, organic WOM stimulates 78% of consumer messages online while 22% stem from marketing activities (amplified WOM). Accordingly, to grow buzz it is essential to focus on the consumer’s brand experience. This can be done by enhancing product performance, employee training and customer service.