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

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

HITMC
Are Case Studies Good for Lead Generation? – By Colin Hung (@Colin_Hung) – Case studies are a must-have marketing asset. They help immensely in the marketing funnel to nurture leads and throughout the sales process. Unfortunately, they are not great for lead generation except in two specific ways. What makes a good case study? A standard case study, produced by a company, usually has the following key elements:

Merge
Funnel, Orbit, Flywheel: Which Is It? – Toby Smalley, SVP, Group Account Director at Merge (@weareMERGE) says, Any marketer whose career started before 1997 knows all too well about the traditional marketing funnel. We were trained on it, we followed it and oftentimes worshipped it. The funnel was great – it organized our marketing efforts in a nice linear fashion that would drive Awareness, Consideration, Trial, and Loyalty. Along came the internet and things got a little more complicated and not as well organized. Then the smartphone appeared in 2007 (well, the first iPhone), followed by the advent of social media. As one former colleague used to say, “It’s a dog’s breakfast.”

Agency Ten22
Why You Should Leverage Social Media for Thought Leadership – Erin Wabol, MBA, Chief Marketing Officer and Partner at Agency Ten22 (@AgencyTen22) writes, We always remind clients of an important social media tip: Social media is not about logos, it’s about people. People are potentially thought leaders for your company, and if they’re not your advocates, you’re missing a big opportunity to increase brand loyalty. It’s so important to engage your employees, partners and leadership team when it comes to growing your social media presence. We could overload you with a ton of statistics, but will spare you with just two reasons why you should leverage social media for thought leadership:

Brafton
What Is A Digital Presence? – Dominic Tortorice, Content Marketing Writer at Brafton (@Brafton) says, What is presence? Well, depends on who you ask. Some might say it’s a highly underrated Led Zeppelin album. But if you talk to any marketer, presence is how your business exists and represents itself. Specifically, most of the time this discussion is about digital presence and how brands can build up their online footprint. As online channels continue to grow in number and influence, it’s crucial that businesses have a strong digital presence so they can raise brand awareness, reach potential customers, engage target audiences and drive growth. Let’s dive into the subject a bit more and look at some ways you can amp up your web presence.

Amendola Communications
Marketing In a COVID World – Stacy State, Senior Account Director at Amendola Communications (@AmendolaComm) writes, In mid-May we talked about the emergence of a new normal in public relations and marketing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Media coverage of the virus has become all-consuming in the intervening four months. Over 100 million pieces of news focused on COVID-19 have appeared. In just one sampled day, 340,000 came from 30,000 media outlets. As the lingering epicenter of the crisis, the United States produces one third of all global daily coverage. Even as pandemic fatigue sets in among the American population, our collective obsession with the virus and its toll never wavers. Potential vaccines linger on the horizon bringing hope. However, even aggressive projections place their availability 5 to 6 months away. COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

ClarityQuest
Making it Feel In-Person: Events During COVID – Lindsay Groth, Senior Marketing Consultant at ClarityQuest (@CQmarketing) says, So we all had our (B2B) marketing plans significantly disrupted when tradeshows were canceled, rescheduled, or put on hold! Many of us have pivoted to virtual events without so much as missing a beat. I recently attended a webinar hosted by Marketing Profs: Strategies for the New Normal. One of the presentations centered on ‘Taking Your Virtual Events to the Next Level’ presented by Adobe – Marketo. I found their creativity and strategic approach to virtual events energizing, so I thought I would share what they discussed.

KNB Communications
3 Ways to Build a Thought Leadership Program for Your Healthcare Organization – Corrie Fisher, Account Executive at KNB Communications (@KNBComm) writes, Oftentimes when seeking to work with a healthcare marketing and PR agency, the ultimate goal and traditional approach is to focus on how the agency can put your brand front and center, promote your product or service, and cut through the noise in the industry. While these approaches help earn coverage, there is an additional angle which companies should employ– building a thought leadership program.

Finn Partners
Post-Pandemic: Will Virtual Trade Shows Be The Norm? – Alan Isacson, Managing Partner at Finn Partners (@FinnPartners) writes, Will B2B sales ever return to in-person selling? The answer: It will be a hybrid. Let’s face it, COVID-19 didn’t gradually stop B2B in-person meetings, it pulled the emergency brake. Business travel abruptly ended. Instead of shaking hands with customers, B2B sales professionals Zoom-call from their homes. Trade shows, those lucrative central marketplaces, where buyers meet sellers, were canceled. To fill the vacuum, virtual exhibits and conferences have become the solution. So now, many B2B companies are scrambling to create virtual booths, yet many virtual exhibits look like brochures or embellished listings in trade show directories. With so many virtual exhibits popping up, there’s almost a glut of choices, so many fail to gain traction. The traffic is disappointing.

A Look At Provider Websites

To Read:
What Patients Want from Your Marketing Content – By Scott Zeitzer, President, from P3 Practice Marketing (@p3practicemktg) writes, Here at P3 Inbound, we often talk about how content marketing can improve your search engine ranking and help you attract more of the right patients. It’s more than just writing content, however. To truly be successful with your marketing content, you have to know what patients are looking for. Your content may be very informative and well-written, but if it isn’t answering patients’ questions and guiding them through the process, it isn’t serving you well. Patients don’t want to feel like they’re being “marketed” to, but they do want to know that they can trust you to take care of them.

Agency News

Matter Goes For The Gut With PanTheryx
Matter Communications (@MatterComm) has been named the agency of record (AOR) for PanTheryx, a biotechnology company that harnesses the nutritional power of bovine colostrum – nature’s superfood – to improve human and animal health globally. Colostrum, often called the “liquid gold” produced by all new mothers, is essential for early life health development, with research showing colostrum from cows (bovine) can provide incredible benefits throughout childhood and adulthood.

Marketing Hires & Hiring

Finn Partners

ICYMI

Thought Leadership in Healthcare: 2021 Landscape for Audio Content
In today’s digital and social media driven world, thought leadership as part of a content and branding strategy has never been more critical. The COVID-19 pandemic brings additional challenges as health IT companies and organizations pivot messaging and approach, some struggling to find a foothold, and a voice, in these incredibly challenging times.

On this webinar, Carol Flagg of Answers Media Network/HealthcareNOW Radio discussed: Overview of Voice Marketing; Latest research on audio content; The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; Differences in streaming audio content and what that means for Alexa and Siri; How audio content provides an opportunity to create multiple content usages; The elephant in the room – Listener Analytics; ROI. Watch the recording.

Don’t Miss What’s My Tagline? – Now in our Podcast Network
Hashtag: #WhatsMyTagline
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 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.