Your Corporate Messaging Needs A Makeover

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Recently, I was listening to a podcast featuring the CEO of a healthcare tech company that’s doing fantastic things in a new way—an actual innovator, as much as that word is overused. The podcast wasn’t sponsored, so the line of questioning was broad and geared toward thought leadership. In response to the host’s first question, the CEO launched into a detailed explanation of the issues with just a quick “At [Company Name], we deal with [thorny topic] all the time, starting with A and B.”

The rest of the conversation bounced around from there, and it was a decent interview overall, except for one thing: I never found out what the CEO’s company did, exactly. I agreed with many of his sentiments about the industry and was already predisposed to think highly of his company, but the onus fell on me, the listener, to search online for more info. That CEO had one shot to make a first impression, but he failed to take advantage of it: he didn’t introduce his own brand.

As an account director, I see clients fail to effectively communicate their corporate message. When prepping for an interview, clients tend to focus on which successes to share. They talk about how to answer tricky questions that might come up, and discuss whether a data point from Client 1 or Client 2 would be best. But they don’t focus on the messaging basics: how to say what you do as efficiently as possible, in a variety of settings. Your leaders need to agree on the language they’ll use to give a quick introduction, and they need to practice this phrasing until it becomes second nature.

When I was listening to that podcast, if I had heard something like this: “At [Company Name], we provide [innovative feature] to [type of customers] to help them [accomplish this result]” before the CEO continued with “So we deal with [thorny topic] all the time…” I would have had a context for all the insightful things Mr. CEO said from then on. I would have been properly introduced to the company, grounded in what they provide to a particular market.

You Need More Pitches Than You Think You Do

At large companies, marketing departments will hammer out corporate messaging templates with several components: the top 3 bullets that describe the company’s accomplishments; the 25-word elevator pitch; the 50-word elevator pitch; the 100-word boilerplate; the corporate mission; the list of values. Smaller companies, being nimbler and more mission-driven, tend to think of such messaging docs as unnecessary—and completely disconnected from what their leaders will say to the press.

They’re not. Just as all companies must determine their market positioning, they must also determine their specific language: how will we introduce ourselves? Your company’s oral and written messaging needs to include both features and benefits. What do you make/provide/enable for customers, and how does that feature benefit them?

Once you’ve got your messaging down, you need to spend time iterating it in multiple formats. Contrary to popular belief, the best 25-word intro to your company is not the first sentence of your “About Us” page on your website. Be thoughtful about each version, and note who it’s for: 50 words to describe us to investors; 5 bullets to include on slides for existing customers; 3 key messages for trade shows; etc. This legwork will pay off in spades as you apply for awards, send reporters background information, complete RFIs, connect with potential clients, and more.

Lastly, don’t forget to train your leaders in the verbal version of your messaging for conversations and interviews. While it doesn’t need to be exact every time, you should certainly have at least one or two phrases that are consistently said aloud by your executive leadership.

Revamping Your Boilerplate

Found at the bottom of all press releases, a company’s boilerplate is a standardized paragraph that describes the organization’s purpose, size, and presence. It often includes details such as the year the company was founded, its annual revenue and/or financial backers, and market share or angle. Your boilerplate should also incorporate a few key words—or even better, a unique phrase—to enable search engine optimization.

Unfortunately, many companies write their boilerplate once and then forget to refine it as their messaging evolves. Along with your messaging, you should review your boilerplate at least once a year. Does it reflect where you are now? If your key phrases aren’t getting any traction, but your customers all respond enthusiastically to one specific value prop, consider the SEO version of that value prop. Will it work in your boilerplate? Is it clear and meaningful, or did you accidentally jargonize it?

While this is not an exhaustive how-to post about how to write an excellent company boilerplate—for that, see this post from PR expert Dmitry Dragilev—I do have a few tips for you.

#1: Don’t be aspirational.

If your company makes teapots, but your five-year plan involves the creation of compostable coffee, tea, and mimosa single-serve pods, you’re not an “major vendor in the eco-friendly breakfast beverage supply chain”; you’re still a teapot manufacturer.

Startups in particular are frequently tempted to include their overarching vision in their boilerplate, as they can’t yet do what they mean to do – and they want everyone to know the scope of their ambition. While this is understandable, companies run the risk of undermining their own success if they stake their reputation on future-state aspirations. Potential clients may simply want a beautiful teapot; they need to know that your company makes them.    

Don’t let your excitement about what your company will eventually do overcome reality; market what you have now, and market it well. If you’re afraid that your company will be discounted because everyone’s talking about single-serve beverages, then find a way to incorporate your proximity to the Hot Topic without overselling what your company does in the present moment.

(Apologies to the Ask a Manager readership for the teapot analogy. This site answers reader questions on workplace dilemmas, and it’s well worth your time: the letters are often hilarious, and writer Alison Green gives useful advice for navigating difficult work situations.)

#2: Keep it modest.

This is not the time for verbs like ‘transform’ or ‘revolutionize,’ nor for adjectives like ‘impressive’ or ‘powerful.’ Your boilerplate should state what you do and why you do it, but not offer its own opinions on how well you do it. We don’t include self-referential compliments when we’re introducing ourselves for a reason. While you may call yourself “adept” in a cover letter, you don’t say it in conversation; your boilerplate should not be the corporate version of “I’m Jessica, a skillful communicator!”

You should also stay away from superlative phrases like “the industry’s leading platform” or “the world’s largest system,” especially if you’re relatively unknown. Even if your software has twice as many users as your closest competitors, comparative phrases invite readers to respond with skepticism. There should be nothing in your boilerplate that is arguable; your statements should be clear, simple, and unassailable.

If you work for Amazon, then sure, you could say you’re the world’s largest online retailer—but readers would know that already. For everyone else, it just sounds like a humble brag that may or may not be true. If you want to show size or range, opt for facts instead: “used by 65% of U.S. health systems” is more believable than “the industry’s leading platform.” If you’ve won a prestigious award, make sure to include it in your boilerplate. Let others do your bragging for you!

#3: Avoid nonsense taglines.

My husband’s favorite tagline of all time was for the beer Stella Artois: “Reassuringly expensive.” For 25 years, the company used this phrase in television and print ads in the U.K., where it hit just the right note: this beer tastes so much better than its low-end counterparts that it’s not even in the same category—nor are you, discerning drinker!  

In corporate America, and especially in healthcare, there’s a tendency to choose random inspirational words for your tagline. Often these aren’t even connected to what the company does, but just a collection of positive qualities or actions: “Collaborate. Innovate. Accelerate.” Taglines should be clear, practical, and instantly relatable to what your business does, according to this advice from entrepreneurs.

In healthcare, I’ve seen many variations along the lines of “We move care forward” or “We put the care in healthcare.” Avoid stating the obvious (nobody moves care backward), and avoid being cheesy. Your tagline requires real thought and a sense of what sets your company apart from competitors. This is where you can get creative and evoke your company’s higher aspirations (as long as they relate to what you do now). Where do you want to be in ten years? What mission connects your present and your future?  

You won’t be able to encapsulate every last thing that you do in one tagline, but you should be able to come up with an evocative phrase that distinguishes your approach. Don’t be afraid to test it out across your company, or ask your employees for help brainstorming. Once you have a good tagline, use it to close out your boilerplate, along with a link to your website. Now, you’re ready for prime time: You have everything you need to make a good impression.

COVID’s Impact On B2B Marketing And PR: Insights From Our Clients

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COVID-19’s impact on remote work, supply chains, and staffing has been well documented, but one area that hasn’t received much attention is the effect the pandemic has had on the marketing and public relations (PR) efforts of businesses. Insights gained from a survey of our clients’ 2022 B2B marketing and PR priorities show the pandemic is influencing several aspects of the marketing mix – from budgeting and brand awareness to lead generation and nurturing.

Building brand awareness is a primary challenge

We asked our clients to select their top three marketing and PR challenges from a list of nine commonly cited struggles. “Increasing brand awareness” topped the list, being selected as a top-three challenge by 67% of our customer base.

A contributing factor to this challenge may be ineffective use of marketing mediums. For example, the pandemic has caused many businesses to turn to social media for brand awareness, replacing more traditional branding outlets such as events and mass media. While this can be an effective strategy, it can also be risky. Leveraging social media for sociability’s sake won’t help build your brand. In addition to being engaging and compelling, social activity should closely align with your messaging and business objectives to reinforce brand consistency and drive results.

Thought leadership drives action

When asked what marketing and PR efforts would impact their success most in 2022, 53% of our clients responded with “participation in thought leadership opportunities,” topping other initiatives such as digital marketing (20%) and strategic planning (27%).

Research validates the importance of thought leadership to business success. According to data from Edelman, 55% of C-suite executives offered to provide their contact information to an organization after viewing thought leadership from the company, and 42 percent reached out to the organization to follow up on the material. In addition, nearly two-thirds of executives invited organizations to participate in a request for proposal after seeing its thought leadership.

With COVID, thought leadership is particularly sought after in healthcare. Businesses serving this space have an opportunity to gain mindshare and attract prospective customers by weighing in on pressing healthcare challenges and demonstrating how their solutions and services can address these issues. More on this topic can be found in our earlier blog, Why Thought Leadership Matters in Healthcare.

Leads stall at conversion phase

According to our clients, closing leads is their biggest marketing-related sales challenge. A convincing 53% of our clients said the bottom of the sales funnel (the Conversion & Purchasing phase) is where engagements frequently fizzle out.

A primary reason for this issue is an unbalanced mix of marketing messages and content. For example, many marketing efforts focus too heavily on the Awareness phase of the buyer’s journey (e.g. introducing specific pain points or problems, making prospects aware of potential solutions and associated benefits, etc.). Few businesses spend equal time and effort crafting strategies, messaging, and content for the downstream Evaluation and Conversion phases, resulting in leads stuck at the top of the sales funnel. More attention should be given to later phases of the buyer’s journey. Self-evaluation checklists, ROI calculators, and customer references/testimonials are examples of marketing pieces that can move buyers beyond Awareness and toward Conversion.

Lead generation takes priority

Even though brand awareness was identified as the most significant marketing/PR challenge, lead generation is the top marketing priority for 73% of our clients in 2022. COVID has placed new pressures on business sales efforts, causing many organizations to demand more leads to nurture in order to meet sales quotas.

B2B brands often treat brand-building and demand generation as two separate objectives with different budgets, but it is more effective to have one integrated approach through the whole marketing funnel. Considering branding and lead generation together leads to more consistent messaging and conversion success.

Events still viable marketing medium

When it comes to B2B marketing and PR outlets, COVID has likely had the biggest impact on events and trade shows, causing many to go virtual and others to be cancelled outright. You would think this disruption would sour business enthusiasm for industry events, but our clients indicate the opposite is true. In fact, 53% of our customers say they plan to budget more for events this year than they did before the pandemic.

In-person networking events have been sorely missed by healthcare vendors, who are eager to invest in and attend these conferences again in 2022. Prior to the pandemic, 24% of B2B marketing budgets were allocated to meetings, conferences, trade shows, and events, and there’s a good reason why. Meeting face-to-face sparks genuine, enduring connections. Events are where businesses often turn prospects into customers and customers into relationships and revenue.

It’s clear that COVID-19 has impacted traditional B2B marketing and PR approaches, particularly in the healthcare space. Adjusting to these changes requires a proactive strategy, a wider network of marketing content and channels, and an experienced partner to help you navigate unfamiliar terrain.

Press Release Headlines: When Short Is Just Right

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A famous saying in my family is, “Our family is SO short, our family tree is a bush.” Ba dum bum.

Seriously, there are certain times when being short and sweet is right on point. Example: press release headlines.

My colleague Brandon Glenn recently wrote a blog about the 2021 State the of Press Release report from PR Newswire (a Cision company). Point 3 specifically states that for headlines, less is more. Cision recommends keeping headlines fewer than 70 characters. Not words…characters (including spaces.) Why? Email applications and Google’s search engine will cut off any text over that amount.

PR Newswire offers editors and journalists the option to subscribe to their wire service based on keywords that interest them. Subscribers are only emailed press releases with the applicable terms. Imagine how frustrating it would be if they missed relevant news because key words weren’t included in the first 70 characters of the title.

We all have a limited amount of time in our day, which is why a list of shortened titles that grab our attention is useful for helping us to decide what we will spend our valuable time reading. A clear example is the daily news feed from Becker’s Hospital Review. Not only do you see headlines comprised of just a few words, for each article you also get a one-paragraph synopsis that provides enough information to help you decide if you should open the article for a deeper dive.

Now I’m going to pick on a press release that fails to be short and sweet. Note that this is not one for our clients, but the release did make me flinch when I ran across it:

“Sandoz launches authorized generic of Narcan® (naloxone hydrochloride) Nasal Spray 4 mg in US to help reverse opioid overdose, expanding access during surge in overdose deaths”

This poor headline is 175 characters. Do we really need the generic name in the headline, as well as the dosage? Again, keep in mind that email platforms and Google will cut off after 70 characters, so all anyone will see is “Sandoz launches authorized generic of Narcan® (naloxone hydrochloride).” Journalists looking for important keywords like “opioid” and “overdose” would not see this release.

If I were writing this headline, I would say, “Sandoz unveils generic Narcan® to help surge in opioid overdose deaths.” My version is exactly 70 characters and succinctly communicates the company’s general message. The rest of the details could then be included in the sub-headline or body of the release.

A headline is meant to catch readers’ attention – and it is important to do it quickly. When it comes to writing a press release headline, remember that a short and sweet 70 characters is the magic number.

Consistency And Quality Content Are The Keys to Blogging Success

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It takes a combination of hubris, masochism and bad judgment to write a blog post about the importance of writing quality blog posts. Reporting for duty.

Chicago web design and development company Orbit Media recently released its 8th annual blogging survey, and it is full of detailed data that should allow me to easily knock off this post fast enough to catch the opening kickoff on Thursday Night Football.

Just kidding! I am all about quality. And that’s because quality pays off. While this is confirmed by the survey, we all know intuitively that quality content has intrinsic value, whereas crap content does not. The challenge is in 1) defining what makes a quality blog post and 2) enacting a realistic strategy to produce some on a regular basis (very important!).

But we’ll get to that discussion later, about three paragraphs before I log off to go watch a little NFL action. First I want to go over blog trends highlighted by the Orbit Media survey of more than 1,000 bloggers, some of which are relatively predictable and some genuinely surprising.

It’s a big survey, so I can’t cover everything. But if you are responsible for making your healthcare organization’s content strategy a success, you’ll find some interesting trend data about SEO, traffic sources, analytics and headlines in the survey write-up by Orbit Media cofounder Andy Crestodina.

Bloggers spent 67% more time per post in 2021 than in 2014.

A typical blog post takes 4 hours and 1 minute to write in 2021, up from 2 hours and 24 minutes in 2014. Even I couldn’t ascribe this increase to improved procrastination techniques (though I’m a pro), so there’s got to be some other reason why blogs are taking longer to write. And there is…

Blog posts keep getting longer. The average is now 1,416 words.

Ebooks, anyone? I mean, seriously? Nearly one-third (32%) of blogs in 2021 are more than 1,500 words. Only 6% of blogs today are less than 500 words, versus 21% in 2014.

Which reminds me of when I attended a digital content conference in New York in 2007 or so. I vividly remember looking around the hotel ballroom and determining that there were maybe two people there who were older than me. (Full disclosure: I used an abacus in my first job.) Anyway, there was a guy in his early twenties on stage during a panel discussion who authoritatively proclaimed, “Anything over 300 words is an essay.” Combined with the demographics of the room, this purported truism made me feel rather ancient. Well, who’s the dinosaur now, Essay Boy?

This is not to conflate length with quality. Just look at this post: I’m 448 words in, have yet to say anything of substance, and there’s no end in sight! (Actually, there is an end in sight because it’s now 7:02.)

OK, enough fooling around. Time for some real value:

Bloggers who publish more frequently get better results.

Cadence matters. Nearly six in 10 (59%) of the bloggers surveyed who reported “strong results” from their work published at least weekly. This is something I’ve said before: You’ve got to publish regularly. That’s how you build an audience and raise your profile as a thought leader. To have a presence, you must be present.

What kinds of content are bloggers publishing?

“How to” articles are far and away the most popular form of blog content at 76%, followed by lists at 54%. Yet only 23% of bloggers reported “strong results” from “how to” blogs.

The biggest challenges for bloggers

Just what you’d expect: Finding time to create and promote content (53%), getting traffic and attracting visitors (49%), creating quality content consistently (39%), and creating enough content consistently (35%). All formidable challenges for which there are solutions!

Stirring, informative conclusion

Let’s focus on those challenges because the keys to quality content lie within them. To find time to create and promote content, Orbit Media suggests 1) delegate, hire and outsource, and 2) make content development a top-three priority for one team member.

Both excellent suggestions. Whether it’s someone in-house, an agency such as Amendola, or a freelancer with experience in healthcare, you need someone who can focus on the job and do it well.

As for driving traffic and attracting visitors, the first step is to ensure you’re producing quality content. One way to do that is to post blogs that include original information and research or a unique take on a high-profile problem for your target audience. Thought leaders lead, they don’t offer “me too” content.

Another way to improve your blog content is to incorporate outside voices of authority. Get a quote from a healthcare professional who’s not one of your clients. It will add credibility. Also, it always helps to have better ideas – and lots of them. Orbit Media suggests you “improve your process for capturing ideas, collecting examples and quickly starting articles.” Amendola, for example, works very closely with clients to regularly generate ideas and get the ball rolling on content production. An editorial calendar never hurts, either.

Finally, creating enough content consistently requires ownership and commitment. You’re in on a winning content strategy or you’re merely paying lip service. Being a lip-service payer is the road to mediocre results! While you shouldn’t do more than you can do without sacrificing quality, you can’t disappear for long stretches. Orbit suggests publishing a minimum of one or two blog posts a month, which sounds about right. That’s minimum!

Blogging can be an effective component of a healthcare organization’s communications strategy that makes you stand apart from your competitors. But you must be dedicated, consistent and committed to quality. That means devoting the time, money and talent necessary to do it well and support your organization’s messages and goals. 

It’s 8:17. I’m just sayin’.

Know Your Audience: The Fine Line Between Technical Language And Jargon

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One of the foundational PR rules that any communications professional learns is to avoid the use of jargon –  the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group, as defined by Merriam-Webster. In my years working in PR for healthcare and health IT organizations, this has been a permanent item on my list of interview tips, and any media training I’ve conducted has included guidance to avoid the use of jargon.

When communicating to a general audience, this is sound guidance and standard practice. Jargon is unnecessarily complicated, can confuse your audience and cause your audience to lose interest. If your audience has tuned out because they don’t understand what you’re telling them, they won’t hear or read your message.

It may be tempting to include technical language to demonstrate proficiency and credibility with particular subject matter. This is an especially tricky trap for those of us who work in specialized areas like healthcare and health information technology. But there’s a fine line between using familiar terms and wading into the murky waters of jargon.

As with any marketing content, one size does not fit all. Public relations and marketing must be specific to your audience. Using technical language can demonstrate competency and help build credibility, if the audience can understand it. That’s why it’s crucial to do your homework, research your audience and their level of understanding.

Get to Know Your Audience

In a recent Amendola Communications blog post, my colleague Jack O’Brien reminded us that PR representatives should take time to do their research on the journalists and outlets that they’re pitching. Not only will this help you target your pitches to topics of interest, but it will also help you tailor your language to the journalist’s readers and the publication’s audience.

This is especially true for any media relations professionals who work in a specific industry, as we do at Amendola Communications. We work with a variety of reporters – from those who write for publications focused on a specific medial specialty, to trade reporters with a deep focus on health IT, to healthcare beat reporters at major national publications, to general assignment reporters at daily newspapers. The audience and level of understanding for each of these reporters and publications will be different, and so should each pitch. As you can see, one size definitely does not fit all.

Write in a Manner the Audience Will Understand

Once you’ve done your homework and you understand your audience, you should also delve into their level of familiarity and understanding of the topic you’re pitching. For example, if a publication targets physician executives, you can safely assume the audience will understand basic medical terminology because of their medical education. A physician discussing cardiovascular health can thus feel confident that the audience will understand the term “myocardial infarction.

However, if that same physician is instead speaking to the general public about heart health, it would be more appropriate to use the more colloquial and widely understood term “heart attack.” A good rule of thumb when pitching to and writing for a general audience is to avoid using language that your Aunt Sally wouldn’t understand.

Always Keep the Reader in Mind

I’ll offer some sage advice that one my college professors, Steve Kopcha, shared from his decades of experience in strategic communications: “Say it square, then say it with flair.”

It’s easy to get so caught up in figuring out how to “say it with flair” that we forget to first “say it square.” In the simplest terms that Aunt Sally would understand, how can you communicate what your client’s product or service does? What problem does it help to address? Why does this matter for the reader?

A former communications colleague of mine who had spent years as a local news reporter offered a helpful way to frame this concept. She would ask me how I’d explain something to my next-door neighbor, and why it would matter to them. When you find yourself struggling with whether to use technical language, ask yourself what it will mean to the person reading the article you’ve pitched. Will it help further their understanding, or does it muddle your message? Keeping the reader in mind will help you to walk that fine line between technical language that helps to inform and jargon that muddles your message.

Why Thought Leadership Matters In Healthcare

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To be successful in business, you have to come up with a viable idea, develop it, bring it to market, and sell it to customers. That may be an oversimplified version of the formula but the basic principles are there: craft a product or service and then spend most of your time selling it far and wide.

As with so many things in healthcare, this process is more complicated than usual. Caring for patients is always the top priority but then there are also so many different stakeholders and revenue streams that muddle how a company should explore expansion.

Ultimately, healthcare executives are the guiding force that can bring an organization to the next level by embodying the mission statement, promoting value to the market, and winning over skeptics.

But in an era where the playing field is so flat, where new markets emerge only to experience a sudden rush of competitive saturation, companies have to stand out. The most obvious answer to an executive might be to rely on standard business strategies to address these challenges.

However, I would argue that the best way to differentiate yourself as a company and secure necessary industry credibility is to operate above the fray.Optics matter, so leaders must recognize that opportunities to interface with the media and stakeholders as a vendor-neutral voice of reason are an effective, proven way to better serve the business.

Casting yourself as an industry authority or subject matter expert pays dividends down the line because outsiders can look at you and realize you have more to say than simply reciting the same sales pitch over and over.

In the years I spent as a healthcare reporter, some of my most valuable contacts in the industry were accomplished executives that could speak to specific events or general trends in a vendor-neutral way.

Neither me nor my audience needed to know about how their RCM company was the best at streamlining the financial experience for patients or how their virtual care service was going to be the Holy Grail of care access. Quality journalists aren’t there to hand out superlatives or write puff pieces about executives and the companies that they run; rehashing a press release isn’t why reporters do what they do.

However, soliciting the opinions of healthcare’s movers and shakers never goes out of style. For example, if there’s a significant policy announcement affecting payers and I can get an insurance executive on the phone to talk about ramifications without reminding me that they were the first to offer certain benefits to members, then that’s a source I can reliably turn to again down the line.

Subtlety, rather than outright salesmanship, is the best way to position your organization for maximum opportunity.

Getting your name in print, on industry panels, or invited to deliver keynotes should always be the goal because then you build a natural rapport with the audiences you’re most seeking to connect with. Everybody wants what they say to have merit and thought leadership is the ideal exercise to make that happen.

Perhaps most importantly to note, you and your company don’t have to be the star of the story; you just have to be in the story.

Since the initial outbreak of COVID-19, healthcare innovation has enjoyed prime media coverage, the likes of which hadn’t been seen before. Whether it was telehealth, remote patient monitoring, or vaccine research, there were thousands of stories printed about fast-moving developments in an industry that has historically been averse to change.

In each of the stories that ran on television, in print media, or on podcasts, there were ample opportunities for leaders to chime in about the future of healthcare. Many participated, but I implore those who didn’t to reconsider their approach to promoting their brand.

If there’s an outlet or reporter asking to associate your name with a trending story or a noteworthy event, even one that likely will not give you the sole spotlight, you’re better off accepting that invitation because now you’re linked to it.

I know there’s a strong inclination to use any and every media appearance to preach the company’s gospel, but there’s an even stronger value in looking at the world from a 30,000-foot view. If you can step outside yourself and speak to topics that are not simply related to your company’s latest announcement, you will gain invaluable industry credibility and media contacts that will return to you without hesitation.

Thought leadership is not just a pie-in-the-sky buzzword for the most outgoing executives in healthcare, it’s a useful strategy to expand brand awareness that every leader and their communications teams should be pursuing if they haven’t done so already.

Consistency, Quality Are The Keys To Winning Website Content

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Smart healthcare companies invest in creating a quality digital presence, primary through their websites.  I’ve launched my share of sites over the years and can tell you that a lot of planning, debate, creativity, and effort go into every facet of a company’s website, whether it’s brand new or overdue for a revamp.

Decisions must be made about everything that appears on a website – sections, design, images, and content. Writing content for a website is one of the most challenging jobs in content creation because you are under immense pressure to grab visitors immediately or risk losing them forever. A Chartbeat analysis of user behavior across 2 billion website visits showed that 55% of visitors stayed on a page for less than 15 seconds.

That’s why every word should contribute to telling a company’s story and positioning that company as unique in its market. I know from personal experience that creating website copy is a painstaking process of writing, rewriting, rewriting, hating your life, and rewriting. You can’t just dash off website copy! But the hard work invariably pays off for companies when their dazzling new website is launched.

While many startups are happy just to get their sites live – and it is an accomplishment – others have content plans that extend beyond the launch, such as a blog page. Which is shrewd because a steady stream of original content can demonstrate a company’s “thought leadership,” the ability of its executives to understand the business-critical issues and pain points facing its customer base. Further, blogs provide an opportunity for startups to establish a human connection (podcasts also are excellent for this) with potential customers, partners and investors.

Unfortunately, many startup blogs begin with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and then succumb to the harsh realities of continual content generation. Maybe the team member who championed the blog and did the bulk of the writing got another job. Maybe the CEO or CMO are too busy to contribute the monthly posts they promised. Stuff happens.

The problem is that a blog page containing only three or four posts, of which the most recent was from two years ago, doesn’t reflect well on your company. It looks like you don’t follow through or you ran out of ideas. Worse, you’re losing a chance to showcase the thought leadership that can separate you from your competitors in the minds of potential customers. Remember, many visitors to your site are actively searching for a solution. Your thought leadership content, in conjunction with the marketing content you perfected prior to the website launch, can be the differentiator that wins business for your company.

A blog page (or a section for videos or podcasts) won’t help your business at all, however, if it’s gathering cobwebs. I would argue that no thought leadership content is better than outdated content or a threadbare page.

Indeed, many healthcare startups make a conscious decision not to create a steady stream of content for their site, opting instead to focus their full efforts on the products and services they offer. That’s a valid decision if they truly lack the internal resources or budget to sustain a quality content creation program. And I suspect most visitors to a healthcare startup’s website probably don’t judge the company based on its lack of a blog. Conversely, a thinly populated and outdated blog/video/podcast section may leave a bad impression to website visitors, who likely won’t return.

Healthcare startups don’t have to publish fresh content every day or even every week to have a successful content strategy. Even a blog post a month can help you deliver your message and raise your profile if the content offers something of value for visitors. It can’t just be generic blather that checks off SEO boxes and gives you something to share on social media. Your content should position your company as a unique voice addressing serious, specific business challenges with effective solutions.

If your company lacks the bandwidth or skill set internally to produce content on a regular basis, freelancers can fill the gap, though the quality of content producers out there can vary wildly. That’s why working with an agency such as Amendola Communications is a sensible option. A marketing/communications agency specializing in healthcare can match the right writer to the right client, increasing the odds that the client’s content strategy pays off.

Website content isn’t easy and it isn’t free. But it can be incredibly valuable if it helps raise a company’s profile, which can attract customers, the media, and investors. Consistency and quality are the keys.

Blurred Lines: When My Work in Healthcare Became Personal, Again and Again

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When I was a little girl, I always wanted to be a pediatrician. And a writer. I had no idea as an idealistic young lady that there wasn’t really a career that combined the two disciplines.

And when I learned how long I had to go to school to be a pediatrician, I leaned in a little more on the writing.

It wasn’t until I had leaned way into writing and four years of Journalism school that I got my first job at a multi-hospital research health system. I learned quickly that I could combine my three passions—helping people, healthcare and writing. I was not the one performing the lifesaving transplants, but through my writing I got to share the stories of two sisters who shared a lifesaving kidney transplant and encourage others to be organ donors. It was a great fit. I thought of it as writing. I had learned in Journalism school how to write a lead, a body and a close. I never thought of what I did as storytelling.

Then, as if it couldn’t get any better, I got a job as a writer at a pediatric hospital. I met awe-inspiring families struggling through unimaginable heartache but taking me along and allowing me into their lives to tell their story and show how they battled adversity with strength, bravery and grace.

I got to see the loving way nurses and doctors approached children and their families. I got to see the way parents looked bravely at their children and told them it was going to be OK even when they weren’t sure. I was humbled and grateful for each and every family. I remember thinking that I was so glad to be able to tell their stories but could never imagine being in their shoes. I had found my place: healthcare and writing. But then something happened that changed my perspective completely.

The Tide Turned

About two years into my job, I had children. My son and daughter are 18 months apart in age. When my daughter was six months old, she began to have seizures. We spent weeks in the hospital trying to find the root cause—from a brain tumor to epilepsy—what we found was that she had a stroke at birth and had cerebral palsy. When my son was two, he was diagnosed with autism. What had been unimaginable to me about the lives of those parents had become my life. We spent many days and nights with doctors, nurses, therapists—my colleagues—and now my child’s caregiver. I was the one of the parents that I had been writing about.

Why It Matters

My children have been a consistent source of joy and inspiration to me. I know that doesn’t make me unique as a parent, but when they were young, we journeyed through a lot together in ways I never thought I would experience. All the times I wrote those patient stories, I never knew one day it would be me.

I’m happy to report they are both thriving, active teenagers now. What I learned is that in some way for all of us, healthcare is personal. Whether it’s an aging parent, your own health challenges, or a child, when we walk through our healthcare system as a patient or a caregiver of a patient, it changes us.

For me, it changed the way I write. It changed the way I tell the story of the latest innovation in EHRs. It changed the way I appreciate the passion and selfless care that every single position in the healthcare ecosystem puts into what they do.

I think it’s easy as PR and Marketing professionals to get robotic and apathetic in the way that we amplify a brand or write a blog. What we should remember is that at the end of that journey is a real person with a real story. And you never know when that might be you. Write with your heart. Bring your own story in the passion you have for what you do. It will never steer you wrong.

2021 State Of The Press Release: The TL;DR Version

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There are a few yearly traditions Americans rally behind and await with eager longing and hushed anticipation – birthdays, holidays and the publishing of Cision’s “State of the Press Release” report.

The 2021 version of this annual 20-something-page paean to the press release – brought to you by the people who profit the most from press releases, it bears keeping in mind – recently arrived on our virtual doorstep. As is the hallowed tradition in these parts, we read the report and summarize it below to save you the anguish, remorse and indignity.

The report is the result of Cision’s examination of more than 100,000 press releases from the prior year, coupled with a survey of PR pros about their press release practices. For those of you who find the full report too long and do not want to read it (TL;DR), here are five key take-aways to consider:

  1. In terms of volume, the industry has returned to a pre-COVID-19 level of “normal”: Seventy-four percent of respondents said that their press outreach was either on par or more frequent than before COVID or not impacted by the pandemic at all.
  2. Thought leadership releases represent an opportunity for some companies (and a business development opportunity for Cision): As virtually anyone familiar with the concept of a press release knows, the primary reason (83%) companies distribute them is to share business news. Cision notes that just 47% of companies use press releases to share thought leadership content, such as research, data, tips and best practices. Other leading reasons for issuing press releases include: product launches (40%); diversity, equity and inclusion (25%); and corporate social responsibility (19%).
  3. For headlines, less is more: Certainly, headlines are critical to a release’s messaging, and Cision recommends keeping them fewer than 70 characters. Email applications and Google’s search engine will cut off any text over that amount, according to Cision.
  4. Mind your action verbs: The verb “announce” is popular in headlines but doesn’t generate a commensurate amount of page views. “Launch” is also widely used but performs proportionately better with its usage. Also consider “show,” “roll out,” “reveal,” and “allow.”
  5. Check it twice: Not surprisingly when dealing in the written word, Cision found thousands of errors in “final” releases sent by clients. The most common types of errors include: hyperlink errors, misspellings, incorrect dateline dates, grammar mistakes and day/date discrepancies.

What will 2022 hold in store for the state of the press release? The sheer possibilities almost exceed the human capacity for thought (or at least mine) but be sure to return here next year to learn all about it. Until then, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you, Cision.

5 Ways To Make Work From Home Work For Your Business

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At the time, I did not realize we were so innovative. When I founded the agency in 2003, it was clear to me that with the Internet, email, phones, and the nature of our public relations and marketing communication services, not everyone needed to be in the same office all the time. I also recognized that I could more easily attract and retain the best talent for our agency – whether they were in California, Texas, Massachusetts or North Carolina – by not forcing them to relocate to our office in Scottsdale, Arizona.

In 2021, our agency looks prescient considering most of my staff have always worked from their homes. In reality, at the time, I was just doing what was best for my business. To this day, though, employee after employee tells me that the choice to work from home, not uprooting their families and starting a new life in a new town, was a major attractive feature in joining our agency.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues throughout most of the country—and survey after survey show how much employees prefer to work from home—some employers are considering that they may need to loosen their policies to allow more team members to work from home. Although it might make it harder for our agency to compete for talent, I would encourage you to do it. Here’s how to make work from home work for your company:

  1. Set Clear Expectations

Like all businesses, our agency runs on deadlines. Whether it is an article, press release, white paper or PR plan, having clear, accountable deadlines ensures that the distractions of working from home do not detract from productivity.

Another expectation we have is accessibility and responsiveness. We offer flexible schedules as long as the work gets done and clients are happy, but when a member of our team says they will be in their office, we expect that they will indeed be available either by email, phone or for web meetings. That availability is important for internal communication, but it is even more crucial to better serve our clients. Being available and responsive to them must always be the top priority during work hours.

2. Communicate, communicate, communicate

Although many companies use Slack and other business communication platforms, our team has still found email to be the most effective and easiest way to stay in touch with each other on a daily basis. Of course, we have plenty of phone calls and web conferences, but the bulk of our daily communication runs on email.

Once again, if one of our clients wants to use a business communication platform, our account teams happily use that method. The key is the consistency of communication and setting the expectation of a prompt response during a team member’s regular schedule.

3. Show Me the Schedule

Our account teams do a lot of writing, editing, and strategic planning, which is much easier without the distractions and interruptions of email and meetings. We also do not want to disrupt any of their client meetings with our internal questions or calls.

For these reasons and others, our account teams make their schedules public so their managers and colleagues can visualize their availability. Other than client meetings, our teams also make sure to block time in their schedule for writing, editing or creating a presentation. Blocking a schedule sends a message like an office door being open or closed. As a colleague, you know what it means when you see it.

4. Company-Wide Meetings Are a Must

Although the actual time seems to constantly change, our agency still meets regularly on a web conference to talk about agency updates, share success stories and best practices and even feature guest speakers. To keep it fun, we compile positive feedback that team members have received from clients or colleagues and share them. We also have a drawing where a positive comment is drawn at random and the person receiving the compliment wins a gift card. We call it our “kudos” drawing and it is always an uplifting way to close a meeting.

5. Check-in Regularly

Every six months, we have a formal check-in where a manager will talk with a team member about their work, accomplishments, challenges and solicit feedback to find out how we can improve as an agency. Since we are still relatively a small company with 25 team members, I also still check in with people I haven’t spoken to in a while on a more personal level to see how they are feeling about work, their life and if we can support them in any way. Since we can’t have impromptu “water cooler” or coffee machine moments, these random check-ins help nurture a sense of closeness and camaraderie that is difficult to cultivate when we don’t see each other in person as often.

A bonus tip: If your work-from-home team feels comfortable traveling, have a company-wide retreat either once a year or every couple of years, depending on your company’s size and budget. It is always rewarding when we can get together in a fun location, enjoy meals and learn from each other. The fact that we so rarely get to see each other in person makes the retreats especially meaningful for our team.

So whether you plan to bring all, some or none of the team back to the office once the pandemic is under control, I recommend instituting an option to work from home, if it is feasible for your company. Our teams appreciate the perk and show it to us every day in their high quality of work and client service.