Whether you “Facebook” or not, you can’t deny the impact of this online social networking tool. 550 million people worldwide have accounts and it can be accessed in 75 languages. While it began as a fun distraction for college students, Facebook now serves as an accepted form of communication as well as an integral part of many business marketing strategies. Though many companies concern themselves with how Facebook can improve profit margins, Cancer Services focuses on how Facebook can improve life for those living with cancer. The agency currently hosts four Facebook pages: Cancer Services of Greater Baton Rouge, Children’s Programs, Adult Programs and Volunteers. These pages create awareness, provide information and are an important tool for our clients.
WBRZ recently featured Cancer Services on its Face Behind Facebook segment where our Marketing Associate, Connie Boudreaux, explained, “It’s not just a social networking tool, we’re using Facebook to help people.” Connecting with others in a similar situation can be comforting, hope-giving and informative. For example, clients in our Children’s Program use the Facebook page to meet each other, share advice and help spread the word about Cancer Services to new families who could use our services. Victoria Levie, Children’s Program Coordinator, works hard to adapt Facebook’s constantly changing features to best suit the needs of our Children’s Program participants. “Our clients use Facebook to share success stories about their children and post pictures. My hope is to continue building our Facebook page to find blood and bone marrow donors or fulfill other needs related to a child’s treatment.”
In other words, our Facebook pages could go from connecting lives to saving lives. The next time you’re on Facebook, help us further our mission by “liking” one or all of our pages. Even if you don’t need our services, you could open our pages (and doors) to others who may be living with a cancer diagnosis.
