Content Marketing

How Gen X and Boomers Shop for Health Care

Ken Robbins, CEO of Response Mine Interactive

“Much has been written about marketing health care products and services to millennials, and for good reason,” says Ken Robbins, CEO and founder of digital agency Response Mine Interactive. “Since millennials are coming into disposable income and are extremely health-conscious, it makes good sense to understand how to reach them. But marketers cannot afford to Read More

How Cook Children’s Health System Fights Back Against Child Abuse

Center for Children's Health led by Cook Children's

// By Lisa D. Ellis // The faces of two beautiful toddlers practically jump off the Star Telegram’s website, their vibrant expressions and sparkling eyes captured so clearly on the screen that it’s hard to believe that both of these youngsters are no longer living. Tragically, these children—who did not know each other but are Read More

Marketing Science Plus Soul Equals Brand Success for City of Hope

Lisa Stockmon, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at City of Hope

When a young woman named Kommah was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer, she was told she had just a 5 percent chance of surviving. Gus, a firefighter, had to forgo saving others’ lives to focus on his own fight against leukemia. Today, both Kommah and Gus have beaten the odds, thanks to Read More

Gen X Is All Grown Up: Meet the Patients Driving Health Care Consumerism

Ken Robbins, CEO of Response Mine Interactive

// By Ken Robbins // Much has been written about marketing health care products and services to millennials, and for good reason. Since millennials are coming into disposable income and are extremely health-conscious, it makes good sense to understand how to reach them. But marketers cannot afford to overlook other generations. More focus should be Read More

Beyond Testimonials: A Fresh Way To Advertise Your Expertise

Peter Hochstein

“If you’ve been involved with hospital advertising for a while, you’ve probably seen it all,” observes Peter Hochstein, veteran copywriter and SHCM contributor. “Touching testimonials from patients telling what a hospital’s doctors did for them. Doctors explaining how they collaborated on a medical breakthrough. Pictures galore of high-tech tools, people in surgical masks, MRI images Read More

Creative Ways To Engage Consumers and Move Them To Take Action

“Consumer engagement is one of those terms-of-the-moment in marketing to which marketers apply a variety of meanings,” says John Brand, senior director of marketing and public relations at St. Luke’s University Health Network. He says his organization defines “engagement” as “compelling consumers to take action on behalf of our brand, primarily in social spaces.” Brand says Read More

Is There a Fresh Way Left to Advertise That Your Hospital Is in the Front Lines of Medical Science? Here’s a Surprisingly Engaging One from Galveston, Texas

Peter Hochstein

Notable Health Care Advertising // By Peter Hochstein // If you’ve been involved with hospital advertising for a while, you’ve probably seen it all. Touching testimonials from patients telling what a hospital’s doctors did for them. Doctors explaining how they collaborated on a medical breakthrough. Pictures galore of high-tech tools, people in surgical masks, MRI Read More

Lessons Learned from the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, and How St. Luke’s Applies Them to Move Patients and Employees to Action

John Brand is the senior director of marketing and public relations at St. Luke’s University Health Network

// By John Brand // Consumer engagement is one of those terms-of-the-moment in marketing to which marketers apply a variety of meanings. At St. Luke’s University Health Network, a seven-hospital health system spread across northeastern Pennsylvania and northwestern New Jersey, we define it as compelling consumers to take action on behalf of our brand, primarily Read More

Blogging Can Spread Knowledge Within—as Well as Beyond—Your Organization

Blogging is becoming an increasingly important way to communicate with your target audience. And it can also provide a valuable forum for your staff to share their experiences and ideas within the larger organization and beyond. This lesson comes from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, where some forward-thinking staff members created Read More

Cook Up an Effective Marketing Strategy with these 8 Key Ingredients

Eric Brody

“Your health system or hospital story doesn’t matter—until it does,” says Eric Brody. “What matters is simply how your story fits into the lives of your audience.” Brody is president of Trajectory, a national branding and marketing agency. He notes that while this simple concept is tough to deliver on, it’s also critical to your success Read More

What To Do When a Blogging Doctor Goes Off-Message

Physician-contributed writing provides a great way to provide thought leadership and to share your medical staff members’ expertise more broadly. It can also help to personalize your organization and make a deeper connection with patients. But it’s essential that any staff-contributed writing goes through a defined editorial process that ensures the content accurately represents your Read More

Tips From Google for Driving Patient Traffic To Your Doors

It probably comes as no surprise that in 2017, people are relying on smartphones more than ever before. And most of them go beyond using these devices to make calls, send texts, and check their emails. They also go mobile to search for information, find services in their neighborhoods, and get directions. This trend has Read More

Case Study: Work Smarter, Not Harder, on Your Marketing Efforts

Henry Ford Health System Logo

Industrialist Henry Ford (1863-1947) manufactured the first affordable mass-produced car in the early 1900s, striving to improve the quality of life for many middle-class Americans. Now a full century later, the Henry Ford Health System is following his tradition by strengthening its marketing efforts to reach residents from all walks of life in the greater Read More

How Henry Ford Uses Technology to Drive Its Messages to a Growing Audience

Henry Ford Health System Logo

// By Lisa D. Ellis // Industrialist Henry Ford (1863-1947) manufactured the first affordable mass-produced car in the early 1900s, striving to improve the quality of life for many middle-class Americans. Now a full century later, the Henry Ford Health System is following his tradition by strengthening its marketing efforts to reach residents from all Read More

Children’s Hospital Finds Success with Humorous Campaign

Veteran copywriter and SHCM contributor Peter Hochstein boils down one hospital’s advertising campaign down to one word: wisecracks. The little girl getting wheeled into surgery is about 11 years old—and not at all like any other little girl you’ve seen in TV spots about surgery. She’s a quick-thinking, fast-talking, smart mouth. But then, so is Read More

Word of Mouth Remains a Health Care Marketing Imperative

“Here’s important context for health care marketing in 2017: Attention and trust continue to decline across the country,” says Ryan Hanser, APR, who leads Hanser & Associates, a full-service PR firm based in Des Moines, Iowa. “Sure, we still have knowledgeable specialists—doctors, for starters. The trouble is that people increasingly reject the authority of expertise. Read More

Kids and Docs Engage in Jocular Banter. Result: Stony Brook Children’s Hospital Builds Awareness and Preference for Its Serious Approach to Medicine

Peter Hochstein

Notable Health Care Advertising // By Peter Hochstein // The little girl getting wheeled into surgery is about 11 years old—and not at all like any other little girl you’ve seen in TV spots about surgery. She’s a quick-thinking, fast-talking, smart mouth. But then, so is the pediatric surgeon who accompanies her. The girl asks, Read More

Augusta University Health Gets Strategic To Improve Payer Mix

Augusta University Health System is no stranger to change. Over the past five years, it has undergone several rebranding campaigns and two consolidations. Yet through all of these fluctuations, one thing has remained the same: the need to find new and more efficient ways to improve its reputation and continue to grow market share. The Read More