Natalie Kitcher is Social Media Manager at Simplyhealth and (full disclosure) is a former member of the Headstream. We spoke to her about how the insurance provider approaches content planning and how the team stays on top of content opportunities with offices spread out around the country.
SB100: Simplyhealth links from its homepage to no less than six social platforms (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, Linkedin, Google+. How do you approach content planning with a variety of platforms and different subjects to cover?
Natalie: At Simplyhealth we have a variety of products for different audiences, so content planning is important to ensure nothing is missed. We also use a variety of social media channels, depending on the content and the audience. Despite having a content plan, we never schedule in any content, which allows us to be flexible and reactive to any situation. In my opinion this allows us to be current and relevant with a human tone of voice, and not become stagnant. Social is fast moving and there are always new channels that launch throughout the year which we like to try out as well, such as Vine. So therefore our content plan is not channel specific, we decide what channels will fit and deliver our message in the best way. It’s also vital to ensure our content plan is integrated with our overall communication plan for the business so all our key messages are delivered consistently.
SB100: The previous question was about planning, this one’s about tactics. Simplyhealth fundraising culture in offices around the country is well documented through its Facebook page, be it Movember ‘taches or Red Nose Day head shaves. How big is the social media team, and how do you make sure all these activities are documented?
We have always followed mutual values so our charitable giving is an important part of Simplyhealth. The social media content team currently consists of the Brand and PR team in Andover, which looks after all of Simplyhealth’s external communications. We rely on staff across our office locations to update us with content, plus coordinate with our Culture and Engagement team to share with our customers the fun side of working at Simplyhealth.
We also encourage our staff to get involved on Twitter and help promote our charitable activities, so will retweet content they share from fundraising events around the country. Because of our charitable giving we have strong relationships with charities and work with them to mutually promote their cause, which includes social. Social media helps us communicate our brand strapline of ‘We can be bothered’ and bring our charity support to life.
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