It was fun to “woman” the booth, sponsor the headshot station, spend time with friends I made last year, and make new ones. Winning HITMC 2019 Agency of the Year was an epic way to close out the week! HITMC is truly an incredible, welcoming environment of movers and shakers in the health IT marketing and PR industry, and I had the honor and opportunity of learning from them.
1. The alignment of sales and marketing is smarketing, and crucial. I loved learning this blended word. Somehow, some way, align your sales and marketing departments. It might seem like a headache, but the outcome is worth the effort. Whether your method is account-based marketing (ABM), marketing automation (MA), marker and whiteboard, a small team from each department, or some other avenue, create that alignment. If you want to see ROI, tie into the sales team. Imprivata discussed integrated marketing campaigns using a drool-worthy tech stack. When it comes down to it though, whether you have one tool or twenty, sales and marketing need to be aligned, and leadership needs to support it. I liked the idea of lead scoring points based on buying personas.
2. Value = perceived benefits / price. I’ve heard that perception is reality, but I’ve never heard of this equation of value. This is the technical thought process you have when weighing the pros and cons of buying something, when you’re figuring out if it is worth it, whatever it is. In marketing, if you show the benefits and value, the price is understandable.
3. Add value along the way, even when you’re not asked to. Go that extra mile. Provide that unexpected support. Share that additional information. Offer more value than you receive in payment, literally and figuratively.
4. Repurpose content. When you create one piece of content, it doesn’t just die there. You can turn it into other types of content. Maximize each piece of content you create. For example, webinars go way beyond the people who show up. You can share that webinar. You can convert the content from the webinar into a blog, social posts, a white paper, a video, etc.
5. Don’t be mostly forgettable and occasionally remarkable. This doesn’t mean that you need to be over-the-top with everything you do. This means being more thoughtful about your outreach and what content you are generating. Is what you’re about to share going to stick with someone? Or will it get buried with all the other characterless content your audience sees? Avoid mediocrity by aiming for memorable.
6. For Facebook ads, use video for better engagement. Over 1/3 of viewers watch for at least 5 seconds. Be sure to add a text overlay at the bottom of the video. Keep them short at 15-20 seconds. You get the brand exposure in the first 5 seconds.
7. Complexity doesn’t equal quality. The connotation of big words or dozens of slides is intelligence and lots of knowledge. Well, intelligence and lots of knowledge mean nothing if your point doesn’t get across and your audience is left scratching their heads. Throw out the spelling bee words in your materials and vocabulary. The combination of clarity, concision, and quality will go much farther than complicated and wordy.
9. Building relationships never go out of style. I’ve seen relationships started at this conference grow into beautiful friendships, trustful business partnerships, and honest referrals. Building genuine, authentic relationships with people will always be trendy.
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