Whether you’re a hospital or health system executive, leading a health technology organization, or managing another type of healthcare organization, the work you’re doing to better the lives of patients and consumers is likely always top of mind. And prioritizing care quality and the patient experience can make it hard to find time for public relations. But building the right kind of healthcare thought leadership by expanding your media presence can make your company stand out from the rest.
Focusing your communications and marketing efforts on bolstering brand visibility, fostering trust with your audience, and establishing healthcare thought leadership can elevate your organization’s reputation by positioning executives as trustworthy industry experts. To do this effectively takes excellent knowledge of the industry and willing participants at your company to serve as subject matter experts. It also requires getting these executives interviewed, authoring articles, speaking at conferences, and even applying for and winning industry awards.
Don’t fret if this sounds daunting. The work is often a heavy lift for internal marketing and PR teams, but firms like Activate Health are here to help. We’ve put together a list of healthcare thought leadership tips to help guide you toward a sound strategy.
Strategic healthcare thought leadership requires thoughtful media outreach
Every company wants their name in lights—your executive team might be dreaming about getting an interview with Modern Healthcare, or Becker’s Healthcare covering your latest acquisition, or securing a coveted panelist seat at HIMSS. And if you’ve seen your competitors do the same things, it’s likely that their prominent media placements were accomplished through highly strategic outreach to journalists.
However, this can be a difficult task for someone who has to juggle day-to-day marketing and communications priorities. That’s because reaching the right industry influencers, reporters and media outlets requires much more than sharing a link to your latest press release and hitting “send all” to a media list. Thoughtful press outreach requires a plan, including knowing what story you’re telling, who’s interested in it, and how to differentiate your news and cut through the clutter.
How a public relations agency can help
Many companies choose to partner with a healthcare public relations agency to execute on all of these initiatives. And selecting the right PR and marketing firm to help with your organization’s public relations goals is key.
Activate Health has the inside scoop when it comes to sharing newsworthy updates with journalists and getting you published. So, for now, if you’re thinking about how to enhance your company’s visibility, consider these healthcare thought leadership tips.
1. Ensure the pitch is relevant to the reporter you’re contacting.
Do research to determine whether the journalist, blogger or influencer covers the topic. If they strictly cover merger and acquisition updates, they likely won’t be interested in the pilot results from your new diabetes management program. Showing the reporter you didn’t do your background research on them won’t help your pitch get picked up and will only hurt your chances of working with them in the future. In fact, 75% of journalists say less than a quarter of the pitches they receive are relevant, according to Cision.
2. Keep your message personal, short and sweet.
We’re all inundated with too many emails, and members of the media are no different. Plus, no one likes to be on the receiving end of the “spray and pray” model of outreach (sending a generic message to a bunch of recipients). Make sure to establish that what you’re pitching fits with their coverage and offer context—in other words, tell them succinctly why they should care about the story you’re sharing
3. Paint the bigger picture.
While you’re likely pitching to land your organization in the spotlight, it’s important to present the larger story for the journalist. Providing additional third-party data, resources, or even offering the opportunity of a phone interview with an outside expert will help provide context. Twenty-seven percent of State of the Media survey respondents deem interviews the most trustworthy, non-brand source. All of these tactics allow the reporter to better visualize a story angle, and offer a better chance that your company’s story is picked up.
4. Maintain contact.
The best PR professionals build and maintain authentic relationships with members of the media. And with the help of social platforms, it’s easier than ever before. Using a site like LinkedIn to connect with journalists lets you monitor any changes in job roles or beats they’re covering, and also keeps you up to date on their recent bylines, which are great to weave into a media pitch when relevant.
At Activate Health, our sole focus is on providing marketing, advertising and PR services to organizations in the healthcare space. This sets us apart from other marketing firms that work with companies in a diverse range of industries—everything we do is healthcare. We know the ins and outs of how to create effective healthcare thought leadership campaigns for our clients. Our team of strategists, writers, account and PR specialists all speak your language, and we’re passionate about telling the industry’s most complex stories and translating them into messages that resonate.
If your organization is seeking a public relations agency to elevate your communications and marketing or share some additional healthcare thought leadership tips, contact us today.