Our team had a great couple of days at the second annual Healthcare IT Marketing and PR Conference last week in Las Vegas! Our agency’s president spoke at the inaugural event last year and decided to bring more team members along this year.
Here are 10 things we learned at HITMC 2015:
1. We heard it in several presentations: There is no B2B or B2C marketing. It’s all B2H – Business to Human. Even if you’re marketing B2B, the decision makers are people and consumers. Market to their emotions, fears, aspirations, and rationality.
2. Leveraging customers is a tremendous boost to credibility. We do this often by including key customers not only in testimonials and case studies, but also in white papers, on webinars, and at trade show booths. Don Seamons spoke about showcasing customers to secure speaking engagements at trade shows to educate and persuade your audience.
3. Content is evolving. One-off pieces aren’t effective. We saw several presentations on repurposing content, compiling content into larger initiatives, and creating a series of content to build trust with the consumer. More and more strategic planning is going into every piece of content, which is a great sign for our industry. As Joanna Wyganowska put it, “The magic doesn’t happen magically.”
4. Thought leadership MUST be part of everything you do. Your first task as a marketer is to educate the customer. Every blog post, every white paper, every speaking engagement must focus on advancing the knowledge of your consumer base. Don’t use your content to sell…yet. If your audience identifies you as a reliable resource, the opportunity to sell will present itself.
5. Take risks. From our president Chris Slocumb’s presentation on Bold Marketing (pictured above) to HealthSpot’s innovative healthcare launch at CES, there were many stories of successful risk-taking. Be bold. Be creative. Be different.
6. Build trust before asking for the sale. Start by addressing your audience’s pain points and taking care of their needs first. As Scott Ferguson said, earned trust takes significant time and effort, but is scalable over time.
7. Storytelling should be at the center of all marketing efforts. Several presenters focused on in-depth persona development and the importance of using personas in all marketing collateral. Whether you’re writing a simple blog post or investing tens of thousands of dollars on a video project, persona development is critical to engagement. Storytelling helps consumers see themselves in your content.
8. When pitching your news, make it as easy as possible for the writer to share your story. In addition to sending your news release, Shahid Shah recommends providing images, infographics, an example Tweet to send, additional commentary from key stakeholders, customers, physicians, etc. You’ll stand out from all the bland pitches that flood their inboxes, which will also go a long way in establishing a relationship with the press.
9. Don’t make assumptions in healthcare marketing. Start by identifying what you KNOW versus what you THINK. Even one assumption can ruin the effectiveness of your entire campaign. Moshe Engelberg suggests identifying any assumptions during the preliminary phases of the project. This will shape the research needed before you get started.
10. There are SO MANY talented minds in healthcare IT marketing. It’s truly inspiring to be surrounded by some of the brightest in our industry. Open collaboration and education like at HITMC will continue to improve our industry and make us better marketing professionals.
Stay tuned to the HITMC website for information on next year’s conference and be sure to join the #HITMC Twitter Chats, to be held monthly throughout the year.
Special thanks from the Clarity Quest team to John Lynn for putting on another great conference!
