People are talking about your brand. They could be telling each other glowing stories about their experiences, or complaining about the substandard service that they received. Your audience is building a brand narrative, with or without you—so if you want to help shape the story arc, you must participate in the dialogue. Read more »

A common meme in healthcare today is disruption. And there's a lot to be said for disrupting healthcare. A lot of healthcare is broken. Same goes for healthcare marketing, which lags behind other categories in engaging audiences. But looking for solutions often means starting with inspiration. I found inspiration for fixing healthcare marketing while eating at Chipotle. Read more »

Adapted from Franklin Street's Healthcare Marketing Trends Report. A new form of self-help in healthcare and health and wellness is emerging. Brands like Nike are embedding "feedback loops" into their products, allowing people to get real-time reactions on their activities – while reaping brand loyalty and profits in the process. Call it Do It Yourself (DIY) Healthcare or "Help Me Help Myself." Read more »

In the 2012 Presidential Election, the Democrats taught the Republicans the value of a good Ground Game, or, in marketing terms, grassroots marketing. The Democrats got their base out to vote by spending millions and committed even more in man hours to ensure people made it to the polls on Election Day. Wisely, the Democrats saw grassroots marketing as an important element in their overall approach to winning the election.But, if you're told Read more »

The New Year means the chance to embrace change, and to grow. Here are our resolutions for the healthcare marketing community, which we are grateful to be part of. We wish you a bright and prosperous New Year.Resolution No. 1: We will do less and accomplish more.We will say no to those activities that do not solve our organization's business challenges. As Lisa McCluskey, VP of Marketing Communications at Memorial Health Care System says, Read more »

Just two years ago, women outnumbered men in the workforce for the first time in US history—and the disparity has only grown since then. With three women earning college degrees for every two men, and more and more women entering managerial positions, we can no longer rely on the same age-old advertising maxims. As women assert more power, marketing to them must change as well—especially in healthcare, where they make most of the household choices.Building Read more »

Hi CHPRMS attendees! This is the provocative blog Stephen mentioned. Enjoy!While some people believe certain things are better left unsaid, the following companies prove that with the right amount of humor and sensitivity, nothing is off the table when it comes to marketing to women. Healthcare brands pay attention: we're in a conservative industry, but when other brands redefine the boundaries, we can benefit from knowing the edge gets a little Read more »

Word-of-mouth marketing is often easy to discount because it is intangible and the rewards are difficult to track. But its affect on the bottom line should not be overlooked, as it can be a powerful vessel for conveying brand.What’s not so easy to discount is the incredible amount of information being exchanged online. Whether it's Facebook, blogs, Twitter or forums, long gone are the days of fence-chatters like Wilson W. Wilson Jr. of Home Read more »

Never underestimate the power of narrative in healthcare marketing and branding. No matter the medium, storytelling is still one of the best ways to meaningfully connect with audiences.  People love stories.  It’s how we’ve communicated with each other for thousands of years.What is your organization’s story?  Do your associates know it?  Does your CEO tell the story in a compelling way?At SHSMD 2012, the Mayo Clinic’s Amy Read more »

All marketers (healthcare and non-healthcare) say they measure their campaigns, and almost all feel they lack the  tools to connect the ROI dots.Information, we've got. We're drowning in data. Google Analytics can tell us everything about our web traffic, except how much revenue we're delivering our health systems with each new visitor.Klout scores (does anyone follow these anymore?) can tell us how cool our social online presence is, except Read more »