Write2Health Blog

How to Grab a Doctor’s Attention with Relevant Content

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If you’re marketing to an independent medical doctor, good luck. They don’t have time for emails that don’t nail a great topic immediately – which is probably not news to you. Like most marketers, you’ve been struggling to figure out the magic words that will hit home.

Your content must be spot-on – tapping exactly on their pain points. It can’t simply be a message cooked up by your marketing consultant.

A recent article outlined strategies for lining up topics that are “both compelling to the C-suite and make sense for your company to tackle.’ In our world, “C-Suite” is most certainly a person with MD behind their name – and an independent medical practice. These MDs are struggling to keep new patients coming in the door amid stiff competition with the MD down the street.

How will your email cut through this MD’s day-to-day deluge of emails?

The three core ingredients to this worthy content are

  • Relevance
  • Credibility
  • Innovative value

Let’s examine how you can achieve this triad of compelling content:

Tap into timely client priorities

It’s imperative that your topic addresses issues your audience wrestles with every day, as well as problems forecasted as imminent. FDA and CMS advisories and policy changes are grist that will get every independent physician’s attention – because they can’t dodge the inevitable.

Create credible content

Choose topics that relate to your expertise – or it’s just not relevant to your message. Only by presenting content that MDs will take seriously will you provide them with value. If you create EMR software, don’t try to dance around issues regarding personnel hiring. It’s just not credible.

Spark new ideas

While an MD will welcome tactical strategies that can help their practice thrive, they really like messages that surprise them – insights that signal thought leadership, that help them think differently. When you’re creating “out of the box” content, envision MDs who clearly want to grow their practices – which is just about all of them. They want to embrace change, but they need a game plan to do it. Give it to them.

Hitting this “content trifecta”

To truly hone in on your MD stakeholders’ key pain points, get their input. Conduct interviews to develop a list of important topics. Check in with your focus group regularly for updates. Also, check trade journals and competitors’ websites to figure out how to differentiate your message.

Dig in, and do your research. You can make a big impact on the medical practice’s success by doing so.

Learn more here: http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2016/09/csuite-relevant-content/

 

Write2Health Blog

Momentum: Biking & Social Media

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In January, even in Atlanta, the weather is not always conducive to biking. A 50-degree day can seem pretty brisk when you’re creating your own wind chill. I miss those Indian summer days of fall, and even early winter, when my friends and I would put in 20 miles or more in an afternoon.

A few times, I’ve logged 30 miles!

If you’re NOT a cyclist, it may sound like a long hard ordeal. Here’s the thing, it’s really not that bad. In fact, it’s fun. And I’m no athlete.

I had to work up to those 30-mile bike rides—spending time at the gym on the stationery bike, elliptical as well as leg-strengthening machines. I’ve done plenty of shorter rides. Like I said, I’m no natural athlete.

It’s so worth it. Biking provides a great calorie burn. One of my friends has an Endomondo Sports Tracker that measures calorie burn based on distance, time, and ups and downs in elevation.

On a pretty much flat surface, a two-hour bike ride can burn over 1500 calories. Whoa! That’s like a whole day’s worth of calories. And if you’re with a friend, it doesn’t even seem like two hours.

So that’s why I bike. It’s an incredibly efficient way to burn calories. Plus, it gets me away from my laptop, away from my overly active brain, for a few hours.

What does all this have to do with social media?

Just like I need exercise, you know your company’s marketing requires social media. You may have already set up accounts, even posted a few items. But that’s where it’s stopped.

Or, you may have pushed the whole social media thing onto someone else. It’s too overwhelming; let them deal with it.

That certainly works well. But in doing so, you’re missing out on the fun. You’re missing the immediacy of being connected with your customers and your prospects. And you’re missing a great deal of good information.

It’s time to get into training mode!

Identify one social media outlet, and dive into it. Once you’ve figured out one, you can move on to another. Twitter is a very active platform for the health industry. It’s a great place to get started.

  • Put a hashtag like “health” or “healthcare” or “health IT” or “mHealth” into Twitter search, and you’ll find multiple companies to follow.
  • Put your competitors’ names into search, and start following them. Watch what they’re posting.
  • Once you follow a company, you’ll see their tweets – as well as their followers. You see who they’re linked with; perhaps that’s a prospective client for you. You can develop a relationship by commenting on someone’s tweets.
  • Put your own company’s name in search. Monitor the conversations. Ask questions; answer questions, and help people get the help they need. Twitter is a great forum for customer service.

Social media shows your company’s transparency. Prospects and customers love the one-on-one conversations and immediate care. Twitter is a great way to increase customer loyalty—and create relationships that lead to sales.

You may also find, over time, that these interactions stimulate ideas for new services, products and promotions.

Just like exercise, social media is one of those “gotta do it” tasks. But once it’s part of your routine, you’ll get more efficient. And you’ll see big benefits to your business.

Here’s a great article that will ramp up your company’s Twitter power.

To your success in 2015!

Write2Health Blog

Social Media Gives Your Biz Personality

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For the past two years, I’ve been ghostwriting blog posts for a group of medical specialists. They practice at a major university – one that’s a rising star, Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

The hospital’s marketing team wanted a tool to recruit new patients in the tri-state region, and gave blogging a try.

It’s worked!

The blogs have been very successful in connecting medical specialists with prospective patients. Every doctor with a blog has taken on new patients.

In fact, the marketing department has been able to cut back significantly in advertising dollars—all because of the blogs. And, they’ve starting using the posts in employee publications, too, get even greater mileage.

Why are the blogs so effective?

They are written in the physician’s voice – which gives each blog a very distinctive quality. Each blog has a very conversational tone. The blog speaks directly to the patient in words that educate in a very personal way.

And, the blogs can easily give public relations a boost – spinning off the hospital’s U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospital rankings, for example.

It’s a doctor- patient conversation that works very well in this hospital’s marketing campaign. It is content that resonates with the reader in a very personal way.

It reminds me why blogging – and social media in general — is so effective. Social media, of course, includes blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Vine and all the others.

Social media helps infuse a brand with personality. They tell the company’s story. They capture the passion and energy of individuals in the company. Essentially, social media humanizes the company, gives it a face and a voice – and connects on a personal level with your prospects.

Marketers are embracing social media like never before.

A new report shows that:
◾92% of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business, up from 86% in 2013.
◾68% of marketers plan on increasing their use of blogging, making it the top area marketers will invest in for 2014.
◾Spending just 6 hours a week on social media is sufficient to significantly boost your lead generation—and reduce your marketing expenses.
◾Nearly all – 92% of marketers – indicated that social media generated more exposure for their businesses; 80% reported increased website traffic.
◾Social media also helped 72% of companies develop loyal fans; 71% gained marketplace intelligence by listening to social media.

Is it time for your business to ramp up social media efforts? Is it time to start a blog? Let’s talk. I can help you set up an efficient social media plan that practically runs itself. Contact me: jeaniedavis1@gmail.com or call 404-457-3963. Would love to hear from you!

Source: 2014 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, published by SocialMedia Examiner.

Write2Health Blog

Science Geeks & Me

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I’ve been invited to a new trivia game this week—and if there are any medical topics in the mix, I’m golden. Working in the health/medical field for so many years, I’ve soaked up a lot of details that seem to still reside (randomly) in my mind.

All the interviews I’ve done with medical experts—and all the studies I’ve read and translated into articles. Makes for great talk at parties. And it really pays off in certain trivia games.

I tested it out just a few months ago @ our local Science Tavern Meet-up here in Atlanta. The room in Manuel’s Tavern is always packed; this city has lots of science geeks, with the CDC, several universities, and a strong healthcare business community.

But, let’s face it, the subject of science is very broad–and as trivia night wore on, it became increasingly apparent that my breadth of science knowledge is not. Then, the topic of neurology popped up. My own brain switched back on:

  1. What brain proteins are linked with Alzheimer’s?  Beta amyloid plaques!
  2. What are the tree-like extensions of neurons that allow neurons to receive and transmit signals? Dendrites!
  3. What part of the brain is often referred to as the lizard brain?  Pineal gland!

I’m not sure those are the exact questions, but close enough. I was so excited that I could fill in these blanks–whereas my post-doctoral friend, with her studies in virology and human pathogens, could not.

It’s one of the unlikely benefits of all these years spent writing about health and medicine—and working hard to make it understandable to people who are worried about their own health problems.

If your company needs a copywriter specialist in health, medical or healthcare, contact me. Jeanie Davis – jeaniedavis1@gmail.com or 404-457-3963