Health IT Marketing Minutes

What makes marketing in the health IT space unique? Who are the movers and shakers? What’s working, what’s trending? Where can you learn more? This monthly roundup post will focus in on all things health IT when it comes to marketing.

To Listen

From HealthcareNOW Radio, tune in to What’s My Tagline? where we put the microphone in front of the healthcare marketing, sales, social media, and PR community. On the show, host Carol Flagg (@carolflagg) questions industry experts relative to their occupations on the impact of social media, the evolving role of content marketing, the critical factor of engagement to build brand loyalty, and more. On this episode, Carol talks with Jennifer Jennings and Tom Testa, both vice presidents at Anderson Interactive, a Health IT PR and Marketing agency. Jen and Tom are the dynamic duo behind the show, Overrated and Underused. Check out their show below.

Tune in to one of our latest shows, Overrated & Underused. Killer public relations, marketing and social media in healthcare requires making the right moves at the right time. Hosts, experienced marketers Jen Jennings (@Jen_Jennings) and Tom Testa (@Tom_Testa) have emerged from the trenches to provide the answers. In each episode, they will debate the most OVERRATED and UNDERUSED promotional tactics – evaluating each not only for their effectiveness, but their cost-effectiveness, while sharing best practice examples and challenging the status quo. Take a listen.

To Read

KNB Communications
How Healthcare Marketers Should Practice Social Listening During COVID-19 – Lily Tofel at KNB Communications (@KNBComm) writes, During times of uncertainty, social listening is more important than ever. Tracking, analyzing, and responding to conversations online helps healthcare marketers stay connected with customers remotely, while also building a reputation as an industry thought leader. Healthcare marketers can use tools such as HubSpot or Sprout Social for social listening, or they can manually listen on each social platform.

Amendola Communications
In 2020, a “Thought Leader” is just a Regular Person – Chad Michael Van Alstin, Content & Media Relations Manager at Amendola Communications (@AmendolaComm) says, The phrase “thought leader” is one that is thrown around a lot in public relations. And it’s understandable: For any public facing organization or business, it’s important to have experts on hand who can speak to the public.However, as someone involved in day-to-day media relations operations at an award-winning PR and marketing agency, I have a major gripe with thought leaders, and I wrote this blog specifically for them and their coaches.

HITMC
Brand Refresh During a Pandemic? ibi Says “Sure!” – By Colin Hung (@Colin_Hung) -While most marketing teams in health IT were shutting or slowing their programs because of the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the team at ibi (aka Information Builders) decided to hit the accelerator. They forged ahead with refreshing their brand, completely rebuilding their website and shifted their annual user conference completely online.

5 Ways to Humanize Your Marketing Automation – Brittany Quemby (@BrittLQ) at HITMC (@HITMarketingPR) says, Marketing Automation tools are amazing things. It has made my life much simpler in so many ways during my various roles over the years and if I’m being honest, I’m a big sucker for simplifying/automating time-consuming processes. If I can shave some time by automating a task rather than doing it manually, count me in!

Agency Ten22
Five Ways to Get the Most Out of One Piece of Content – Erin Wabol, MBA, Chief Marketing Officer and Partner at Agency Ten22 (@AgencyTen22) writes, As marketers, we put so much time and effort into great content. So why let the fun stop there? Even high-quality content should be designed and promoted properly to avoid the risk of being unseen. With a little ingenuity, you can get a better return by repurposing and maximizing distribution of your new content.

Aria Marketing
Socially Distant, Online Together: Tips for Corporate Social Media in 2020 – Julia Dakhlia, Account Executive at Aria Marketing (@AriaMarketing) says, The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased struggle with mental health nationwide, as support systems have changed or dissipated. As folks are cooped up at home and facing national and personal tragedy, many look to social media for comfort and escape. That said, now is the time for brand accounts to focus on compelling storytelling to complement those broad, impersonal corporate announcements. Some announcements are, of course, necessary as companies collaborate, evolve, hire, and change policies, but it’s important to allow room for creativity and human stories on social media.

Finn Partners
Where Do You Begin? When Your Trade Show Goes Virtual? – Alan Isacson, Managing Partner at Finn Partners (@FinnPartners) writes, First, don’t fall in the trap of trying to replicate your trade show booth on-line. This doesn’t work well, because the experience at an actual trade show is very different than specifiers or buyers sitting at home, working on their laptops, tablets or phones. Actual events have a captive audience since attendees made the investment in time and money to physically visit a specific location and walk the show. On-line it’s very different, if the virtual event or experience isn’t instantly gratifying, POOF! – they’re gone with a click-of-a-mouse.

ClarityQuest
How COVID-19 Has Affected Healthcare and Biotech Marketing Spend – Cait Greeley, Social Media Manager at ClarityQuest (@CQmarketing) says, In just a short six month period, our world has changed in drastic ways in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Staying inside and working from home has become the new normal for those of us that have been lucky enough to have job security through this time. Parents have had to learn how to become a classroom teacher and everyone has had to navigate through the challenges brought on by the virus. There is no doubt that the coronavirus has affected nearly every industry in more ways than one, including the marketing world.

Brafton
How to Create A Brand Messaging Framework In 5 Steps – Dominick Sorrentino, Senior Writer at Brafton (@Brafton) writes, When an actor plays a part, they become someone else. Their message is no longer their own, but their character’s. Branding is a lot like that. You can include a little bit of yourself in your creative marketing efforts, but your foremost goal as a marketer is to represent your brand. So how do you ensure that your language, your tone of voice and your visuals remain true to your brand messaging in every piece of content you create? With a brand messaging framework.

P3 Practice Marketing
Using Video to Market Your Practice – Scott Zeitzer, President, P3 Practice Marketing (p3practicemktg) writes, While written content is still very important to have on your practice’s website, the trend is moving toward video content. Think about it–you come across video content on a variety of platforms throughout the day. When you’re scrolling through social media, videos are always more eye-catching than text-only posts. You can watch the video and quickly digest the information. We live in a society where people are always on the go. They don’t always have the time to read a full article. However, most people can spare a minute or two to watch a quick video if they think it will be helpful or entertaining.

Agency News

KNB Communications
Their recent poll on LinkedIn (see below) showed that 60% of the healthcare marketers they surveyed have no plans of returning to the office. As we have all gotten used to working from home, one clear benefit has been the morale boost from our furry coworkers. Did you know pets help us produce lower levels of cortisol, reducing stress and even lowering blood pressure? They are sharing a few of their staff favorites this month, and would love any pet pictures back from you.

Agency Ten22 Adds Vispa to Healthcare Roster
Agency Ten22 (@AgencyTen22) announces the addition of Vispa to their healthcare IT customer roster. Vispa is a web-based revenue cycle software company that helps hospitals and health systems boost revenue faster, simpler and more efficiently than traditional healthcare revenue cycle platforms.

Matter Named Agency of Record For HMS
Matter Communications (@MatterComm) has entered into a multi-year agreement to serve as the agency of record (AOR) for HMS, a healthcare technology company and leading provider of payment accuracy and population health management solutions. HMS’ technology, analytics and engagement solutions help healthcare organizations reduce costs and improve health outcomes, while also helping consumers lead healthier lives.

Matter Communications

Marketing Hires

Lindsay Groth Joins Clarity Quest Marketing’s Michigan Office
Clarity Quest Marketing (@CQmarketing), a strategic marketing agency growing healthcare and technology companies across the United States, hired a senior marketing consultant, Lindsay Groth, based in the firm’s Ann Arbor, Michigan office.

Amendola Taps Philip Anast for General Manager Position
Amendola Communications (@AmendolaComm) has promoted Philip Anast to the position of General Manager, the agency announced. Anast is a PR agency veteran with more than two decades of experience in account leadership and executive roles at B2B, healthcare/health IT and technology agencies. In alignment with Amendola’s policy to promote from within, Anast previously served as a Senior Account Director at Amendola, providing strategy and oversight for numerous client accounts over the past three years.

Events

HITMC
Save the Date: August Tweet Chat – Next #HITMC tweetchat is Tuesday August 11th at noon ET. Stay tuned for topic & questions!

ICYMI – 2020 Medigy HITMC Awards Presentation