Through the March of Dimes Hispanic Outreach efforts, millions of women and their families from around the world can actively participate in their own health decisions by gathering information, receiving answers to often complicated and difficult questions and getting support from other community members who are in similar situations. Social media has expanded the way we communicate with our audience. Through an integrated Spanish language presence online, the March of Dimes maximizes outreach and engagement across audiences and media. It provides bilingual access to the Pregnancy & Newborn Health Education Center through which women have received answers to over 23,000 personal questions in 2011. The Spanish-only website, nacersano.org, had over 7 million unique visitors in 2011 and its blog had an average of 1,650 views per day. In this session you’ll learn how the March of Dimes uses the web and social media to deliver solid health information that meets the needs of Hispanic women, reinforces positive behavior and furthers its mission to improve the health of all babies. March of Dimes has developed a unique and culturally-tailored presence to engage, educate and inform their specific segment of the Hispanic community. From culturally-relevant imagery and content focused on the specific needs of its audience to using social media to engage Latinas and answer their questions, the March of Dimes is a useful case study for other nonprofits (and even for profits) on how to reach and serve this dynamic and diverse audience. In this session you will learn: How nonprofits can use social media to promote their mission and increase awareness within their Hispanic community? How to identify key issues and/or messages that are relevant to the Hispanic community and will help create conversation. Why high-quality content focused on the needs of your Hispanic audience is important? How does the March of Dimes plan to continue building on its successful experience?

1. Using social media to
deliver health messages
and engage with Latina
moms and families
Lilliam Acosta-Sanchez, MPH,
Director, Latino Outreach
Carla Briceño, Co-founder Bixal
April 10, 2012
Hispánicize

2. Overview
 Background & overview of:
 How March of Dimes reaches out for health
 Nacersano
 Target audience for nacersano
 Best practices
 Audience focus
 Design and content
 Use of social media
 Next steps
 Q&A

3. Questions we'll try to answer...
• How can nonprofits use social media to promote their mission
and increase awareness within their Hispanic community?
• How do you identify key issues and/or messages that are
relevant to the Hispanic community and will help create
conversation?
• Why is high-quality content focused on the needs of your
Hispanic audience important?
• How does the March of Dimes plan to continue building on its
successful experience?

4. March of Dimes
Mission:
To improve the health of
babies by preventing birth
defects, prematurity and
infant mortality.
Carried out through:
• Research
• Community programs
• Advocacy
• Education

5. About bixal
Meaningful Communications and Technology
• Founded in 2001
• 8(a) certified small business working with government,
nonprofit and commercial clients
• Focused on helping our clients in the U.S. and Latin America
use culturally-relevant communications and innovative
technologies to reach their audiences and achieve their goals

6. Pregnancy & Newborn
Health Education Center
Then Now
(English & some Spanish) (English & Spanish)
Print Print
Call center Web
Email Email
E-newsletters
Video
Social media

7. Reaching out for Hispanic health
Integrated presence using “nacersano”:
• Print – English, Spanish, bilingual
• Web - nacersano.org (including email)
• Blog - blog.nacersano.org
• Twitter - @nacersano; @nacersanobaby
• Twitter chats - #nacersano; #nacersanobaby
• Facebook - facebook.com/nacersano
• YouTube - youtube.com/marchofdimes.com

8. We use social media to…
• Deliver relevant health messages
• Engage with our target audiences around their health
information needs
• Build relationships by providing excellent customer service and
enhancing mission awareness

9. Target audiences
Spanish-preferring Latinas who are:
• Planning a pregnancy
• Pregnant
• New moms
Their families
Mission-affected families

10. Best practices
• Audience Focus
• Culturally-Relevant Design and Content
• Effective Use of Social Media

11. Diverse Hispanic community
• Countries of origin
• Cultural predispositions
• Levels of acculturation
• Language preferences
• Use of technology
• Needs and interests

12. Audience focus

13. Design and content
• High quality
• Culturally-relevant
• Focused on needs and interests of specific audience
• Publish regularly
• Use various channels

14. nacersano.org

15. Attention to quality
Source: AOL Latino Cyberstudy

18. Social media
Using an effective and integrated approach to...
• Publish
• Inform
• Interact
• Listen
• Refine content and messaging

19. Blog

20. Latinos and Facebook
• Between April 2010 and April 2011, Latinos use of FB grew
167% in contrast to 21% for non-Hispanics.
• Latinos are catching up with the general market: FB has 70%
penetration among Latinos online versus 72% for the general
population.
Source: Comscore

21. Facebook.com/nacersano

22. Facebook conversation

23. Twitter use

24. @nacersano

25. @nacersanobaby

26. Twitter conversation

27. YouTube
Black and Hispanic internet users consume the most video, with
76% of African-Americans and 81% of Hispanics reporting that they
used video-sharing sites.
Source: Pew Internet & American Life

28. Educational videos

29. Educational videos

30. Personalized e-newsletters

31. E-newsletters

32. E-mail

33. Key points to remember
• Social media can be a useful tool to promote your mission and
increase awareness of your nonprofit cause.
• Understand your audiences and their specific needs to
develop high-quality content.
• Use social media to listen and refine.
• High-quality content is key to attract your audience.

34. Next steps
• Expand Spanish-language video offerings.
• Redesign nacersano.org.
• iPad app – My 9 months/Mis 9 meses

35. Questions?

36. Stay in touch
@nacersano
@bixal