Medium.com for Healthcare: Photo-Driven Patient Story Creates Standout Social Media Campaign

// By Lisa D. Ellis //

Sometimes a powerful story is best left to speak for itself. And having the right platform to share it can help it be heard.

That’s what Northwell Health recently learned when it decided to take an understated approach to its digital marketing efforts for a new pediatric kidney transplant program at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in Queens, New York. (Cohen Children’s is part of the Northwell Health system.)

Typically, such a digital campaign would require a hard rollout and defined touchpoints. But for this effort, Northwell’s content marketing team felt it was important to take a softer, more organic style and see where the material led them rather than forcing it to fit into a preconceived mold.

Capturing a Patient’s Experiences

Christina Stolfo, manager of digital content strategy, marketing & communications at Northwell Health

The team decided to follow the personal story of a teenage boy named Matthew going through the transplant process, and let the details unfold organically throughout the long, difficult journey. (Matthew was the first person to go through the new kidney program.)

“Our goal in sharing Matthew’s story was to create awareness for the new transplant program and for the need for people to become organ donors. We wanted to do this in a more thoughtful way rather than simply making a traditional announcement,” explains Christina Stolfo, manager of digital content strategy, marketing & communications for Northwell Health.

“We documented Matthew’s journey for more than four months and gathered a more powerful story than we originally anticipated. We learned through our interviews that Matthew’s mother Jennifer suffers from the same kidney disease as her son and she is also waiting for a transplant,” Stolfo says. “This added another level of sentiment we had not expected.”

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