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Health B2B public relations covers a lot of ground: media relations, crisis communications, advocacy, internal communications, etc. And social media seems tailor-made for each of these areas.

I talk to a lot of health care B2B marketers, and most of them say that social media hasn’t matured enough to be a viable marketing tactic for their organizations. That may be true for their individual organization’s traditional marketing objectives. But social media still has a place in their marketing mix, and that place is public relations.

Health B2B public relations covers a lot of ground: media relations, crisis communications, advocacy, internal communications, etc. And social media seems tailor-made for each of them.

With its emphasis on sharing, social media can augment traditional media relations activities related to storytelling. It’s a fabulous channel for disseminating critical information in a crisis. It can augment activities where you’re trying to influence public opinion. And it can be used to communicate with employees and between employees.

Just like any other PR channel, health care B2B companies should have a strategy related to social media. Here are three simple strategies to get you started:

Connect with influencers: One strength of social media is that it is a magnet for influencers. If there are elected officials, celebrities, journalists or executives with whom you want to connect, there’s a good chance they’re on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook. Your strategy should be to connect with them, interact with them and share conversations with them.

Contribute to communities. Another strength of social media is that it is a seed-bed for communities. There are LinkedIn Groups, Facebook Groups and Fanpages and Twitter hashtags for just about every interest. Find the communities that match your objectives and/or your audience, and start participating. But word to the wise: don’t show up with guns blazing. Listening and understanding the community’s culture should be the first order of business.

What if you can’t find a group that matches your interest? Create your own.

Become an influencer. In the information age, any person or organization can be an influencer. I don’t know of any health B2B organization that doesn’t want to be seen as a thought leader in their industry. Social media can help organizations do that.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean that a company will be an immediate influencer just by setting up and providing content for a Twitter account, a Facebook fanpage or a blog. As in anything PR-related, it takes clear objectives, thorough strategy and flawless execution.

Photo credit: Charis Tsevis (cc) Detail One of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg for Wired magazine

Read More: http://healthb2bmarketing.com/2010/12/three-social-media-strategies-for-health-b2b-public-relations/