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Consistency And Quality Content Are The Keys to Blogging Success

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’.

Consistency, Quality Are The Keys To Winning Website Content

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.

The Problem with Your Content is You (and Other Content Marketing Truths)

Here’s a valuable lesson for anyone involved in content marketing.Recently, I was chatting with a small group of guests at a party. Then, the other partygoers gracefully exited the conversation and suddenly, I was trapped. I looked right. I looked left. But my efforts were futile. I was officially stuck in a never-ending conversation. Yes, I had entered the dreaded Party Vortex, which is similar to the Polar Vortex but much less cold and much more dangerous.

But the real problem, and what made the circumstances so precarious, is that the never-ending conversation wasn’t a conversation at all. It was a monologue without audience participation. It was a soliloquy but far less articulate. It was all about my new acquaintance, who would most certainly not make the cut to be called a friend. As he continued to talk at me for 20 minutes, which felt like 20 hours, I smiled and nodded but secretly plotted my escape. Yet, despite my best Party Ninja skills, there was no way.

Spoiler alert: I survived this party trauma and lived to tell the tale. But sadly, this blog is not about party etiquette. It’s about content marketing because my Party Vortex nightmare is undeniably similar to the experience that potential customers might be having with your content right now.

While content marketing missteps are many and frequent, the biggest, most overarching mistake is that your content is all about you. It’s all about your company and your solutions. It’s all about your technology saving the world. This is the sort of content that not so subtly shouts “buy this.” After all, isn’t that your end goal?

However, touting the features and functionality of your newest product under the guise of a white paper often fails to make an impact especially as healthcare professionals becomes savvier to the idea that they’re being sold to everyday. It falls short because it doesn’t take readers, your potential customers, into account. It doesn’t address what readers really want to know and what will compel them to take action. It leaves readers hanging, and then what happens?

Rather than completing a “contact us form” on your website to learn more, they’re lost to you. They may have simply decided that it’s not the right time to buy or that your company isn’t the right partner. They may have even gasp moved on to one of your competitors.

From company-focused to customer-focused
When developing a content marketing strategy and crafting each piece of content to support that plan, it’s critical to keep your future customers top-of-mind. Remember that every decision-maker or influencer that engages with your content could be your newest client, smartest super user, or most reliable reference.

How can you better connect with your audience? It’s simple but shockingly hard to do. Write what they want to hear about, rather than writing what you want to say. Write what they are hungry to learn about, rather than what you’re desperate to teach them. It’s a small change in perspective that makes a big difference. And while that may seem obvious, it’s not abundantly clear to many marketing and PR professionals unless they’re just doing it wrong.

Effective, customer-focused content prompts an “aha moment,” by sharing new ideas or even the same old ideas in a new way. This matters because encouraging readers to think differently is the first step to being seen as a thought leader in their minds and then as the ideal strategic partner.

These new perspectives aren’t necessarily earth-shattering but they draw readers in. Customer-focused content addresses the problem you’re solving, not just the solution.
It also doesn’t oversimplify the solution by presenting painless and perfect success stories of IT solutions that were seamlessly implemented and quickly gained adoption by all end users. Further, it provides insights on process improvements, change management, and other tactics that readers can put into action, aside from just buying your technology.

Real-world tips and lessons learned are valuable takeaways that readers appreciate much more than a bulleted list of your product’s bells and whistles.

Your new customer-focused content will not only satisfy readers but also help turn more potential customers into actual ones. Even more importantly, we know that your new, improved content will ensure that you’re invited back to the party. And isn’t being invited back to the party the ultimate goal of any marketing?

Healthcare IT Agency, Amendola Communications, Features Top Blogs of 2016

Healthcare IT Agency, Amendola Communications, Features Top Blogs of 2016

Agency insiders share tips for getting noticed at HIMSS, securing coverage by the New York Times and more

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Jan. 3, 2017 Healthcare IT companies seeking strategic tips and advice for their 2017 public relations efforts can start by checking out a series of blog posts from Amendola Communications, a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare and healthcare IT public relations and marketing agency. In brief, here are Amendola’s top posts of 2016 covering a range of topics from how to land national press to leading your company out of a healthcare PR crisis.

“Be a Media Darling.” A media darling is someone who knows how to engage the media by delivering pithy sound bites that reporters love and audiences remember. Being engaging not only helps build your brand, it keeps you high on a reporter’s list of go-to sources as well. Here is an example of how being quotable got Amendola’s client, Chris Bowen, chief privacy and security officer at ClearDATA, mentioned in USA Today. In the article, It’s East vs West in Healthcare, Bowen said, “Sometimes it’s not as comfortable as you think, straddling a barbed-wire fence like that.” Here’s a tip: Before your next scheduled media interview, write down the key message you want to convey. Then go the extra step of formulating a sound bite.

“How to Get Your Startup Covered by The New York Times.” The Times coverage of healthcare IT seems to consist almost entirely of IBM Watson Health (it helps to be one of the world’s great brands) and of large health insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Conspicuously absent from their coverage is your average startup with a Series A round in the low 8-figures, and two or three marquis clients who may or may not be willing to talk to the press. The odds of such a company getting ink in the New York Times are slightly worse than the odds of being struck by lightning while speeding. And yet, sometimes, under the right circumstances and with the right preparation lightning does strike. Case in point: Amendola client Zipongo, a three-year-old San Francisco-based startup with about 50 employees, $10 million in funding, and one brilliant idea.

“Getting Noticed at HIMSS: Four Insider Tips from Industry Journalists.” With 125 credentialed press floating among a sea of 43,000-plus attendees and over 1,300 HIMSS exhibitors, rising above the noise takes hard work, tactical planning, and a little bit of luck to land the coverage your company desires. So how can you make the most out of your HIMSS investment and improve your chances of getting noticed among press, analysts, and ultimately, potential customers? We asked four respected healthcare IT journalists what advice they would give to attending vendors to maximize their efforts, remain relevant, and stand out among an overly “transformative,” “disruptive,” “innovative,” and “solution”-saturated HIMSS conference world.

“7 Factors for Finding Your Agency Soul Mate.” Selecting a PR agency is much like selecting a spouse. It’s an intimate relationship; we often talk with our own clients several times a day on the phone and email, so we know how important it is for agencies and their clients to “click.” As for finding this perfect PR match, it’s a lot like real life dating. With 25 years of experience running an agency, our founder and CEO Jodi Amendola has identified a foolproof vetting process with 7 key factors.

“What HIT Writing Needs is More Cowbell.” If the headline to this blog post made you smile, conjuring up visions of Will Farrell in a shirt two sizes too small and Christopher Walken being, well, Christopher Walken, it proved an important point: At the end of the day, clinicians and HIT leaders put their pants on one leg at a time just like everyone else. Even if they don’t make hit records once their pants are on. Yes, there is a time to be serious and straightforward, such as in a journal article or a white paper. But in many other materials, a reference to pop culture, common quotes or other more consumer-oriented areas can put just the right amount of cowbell into your message.

Vlog: “How to Handle a Media Crisis.” In this video blog listen to Marcia Rhodes, Regional Managing Director at Amendola Communications, explain why preparing a PR crisis plan is as important as having a fire escape route.

“The Rise of Sponsored Content Or Is It Content Marketing Or Is It Native Advertising?” These terms have some subtle and not-so-subtle distinctions they are anything but one and the same. It’s important to understand the difference to ensure digital marketing program execution follows your strategy.

Amendola’s blog posts cover all things public relations and marketing. A go-to source for communications professionals, the blog publishes on a weekly basis and features over a dozen authors who are subject matter experts in every aspect of publicizing and marketing healthcare technology companies.

Tweet this: #PR insiders share tips for getting noticed at #HIMSS, securing coverage by @nytimes and more http://bit.ly/2aLriaQ | #HIT @AmendolaComm

About Amendola Communications
Amendola Communications is an award-winning national public relations, marketing communications, social media and content marketing firm. Named one of the best information technology (IT) PR firms in the nation four times by PRSourceCode, Amendola represents some of the best-known brands and groundbreaking startups in the healthcare and HIT industries. Amendola’s seasoned team of PR and marketing pros delivers strategic guidance and effective solutions to help organizations boost their reputation and drive market share. For more information about the PR industry’s “A Team,” visit www.acmarketingpr.com, and follow Amendola on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
Marcia Rhodes | 480.664.8412 ext. 15 | mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com

Blog writing can be frustrating when you have no ideas. These tips will help you generate some.

6 Tips for Generating Blog Writing Ideas

By now you’ve no doubt heard about the benefits of establishing a corporate blog. One of the most important, of course, is for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes. Google (and other search engines) rewards frequent content updates on your website, so if your blog is connected to your website, and it’s active you’ll rise in the organic search rankings. That makes blog writing a pretty important part of your marketing program.

This simple fact creates an ongoing challenge for many, however. Namely, coming up with interesting topics to blog about.

Sometimes the ideas flow easily, especially at first. It seems like you have a cornucopia of information to share with the market. After that initial gold rush, however, you find yourself staring at the blinking, nagging cursor for longer and longer periods of time. You’ve expended the obvious topics and begin to wonder if establishing that blog was such a great idea after all.

The reality is great blog writing ideas are all around you. They crop up in your life every day. Like Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza’s idea for a show about nothing, you just have to learn to recognize them.

Comment on industry articles

One of the good things about working in healthcare and health IT (HIT) is that there is never a lack of new information, new approaches, new discoveries or new regulations coming out. Most of us get several newsletter and at least scan the headlines every day.

These articles can become a rich source of blog fodder. For example, if an article announces a new rule or a change to a program from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that will affect your customers/clients, that’s a blog post! Link to the original article, provide a one- or two-sentence synopsis, then add your thoughts about what it means to the industry.

Or perhaps a new research report has come out that could affect your clients. Again, bringing it to your clients’ attention and providing a little analysis with it can provide added value to them while giving you a blog post that practically writes itself.

Share a tip or trick that helped a client with a general issue

This is another rich source of blog writing ideas. Perhaps your team has helped a client solve a particular issue, such as data that needed to be scrubbed in a certain way in order to be used in a specific electronic health records (EHR) system. Whatever the issue, there’s a good chance it isn’t just that one client who is facing it.

Talk about the challenge, and the problems it’s causing, then explain how to solve it. All you really have to do is recap what you’ve already done  no original thinking required. If you’re not directly involved with this aspect of the business, check with the development or customer service team. They can probably keep you supplied with ideas for months. Just be sure not to give away anything the business would consider a competitive advantage.

Blog about discoveries in a related field

Everything you write about doesn’t have to be directly in your company’s space. Sometimes it can just have a loose relationship with a tie-back later.

Take the example of cognitive computing. There are all sorts of advances in this area going on outside of healthcare as well as inside. If you hear about how cognitive computing is being applied to make self-driving cars smarter, there’s a blog post. You can write about what is already happening with cars, the speculate on how it might affect healthcare or HIT in the future.

Mine some key data

Data and analytics are huge in healthcare and HIT these days. It seems just about every organization is generating tons of them. Most, however, are under-utilizing that information, especially when it comes to marketing.

You can take advantage of that by looking through the reports for trends that are interesting without giving away anything that again is proprietary. For example, if you have software that enables payers to create member portals, and there is a sudden uptick in the number of portals your team is creating, you may want to comment about how portals are on the rise and speculate as to why. That will also give you an opportunity to talk about the advantages of portals to encourage more sales.

Or maybe you see that your clients’ customer satisfaction scores are suddenly on the rise. You can find out what changes they’ve made to enable that to happen and share them with your blog audience.

Pay attention to day-to-day conversations

Each day you, your co-workers, your clients and others share information and ideas in passing. It may be through conversations, emails, reports, meetings or some other sources.

Hidden within the ordinary course of business may be a few nuggets that can make worthy blog posts. All you’ll need to do is listen to them with that filter in mind. If a co-worker says something you find interesting write it down. Establish a folder for emails that contain good ideas that you can reference later if you’re stuck.

However you save them, the good news is when you need an idea and none are coming to you immediately you can go back to your files and dig one up. Just be sure you have enough information available to remember what the original topic was. Nothing worse than having a great headline and no idea what it means.

Work with your PR agency on ideas

While most healthcare and health IT companies tend to be very specialized in a particular aspect of the industry, PR agencies such as Amendola Communications cover a much wider swath. That can work in your favor by bringing in ideas that are related to, but not dead center in, your sweet spot.

If you have one, you can brainstorm topics with your PR agency, taking advantage of their experience to in other areas, especially general industry knowledge, to develop blog topics you might not have thought of on your own.

Of course, having a PR agency also means you can turn over some or all of the content creation to them, particularly if writing isn’t your strong suit. But even if you prefer to do your own writing, that sort of collaboration can open you to new ideas and areas that help build your blog as a go-to resource for your target audience.

Yes, blog writing can be challenging. The Internet is always hungry for new content. But the reality is great ideas for posts are all around you. You just have to know how to find them  or let them find you.

One Factor that Will Kill a Corporate Blog

Having a corporate blog is a great idea. After all, a blog can:

  • Build SEO and attract visitors to your site
  • Provide a platform for exchanging ideas with prospects and customers
  • Strengthen your brand
  • Serve as the hub of your content marketing efforts
  • Establish you as thought leaders in the industry

This last bullet point establishing thought leadership has been a major motivator of most of the companies I have helped launch a corporate blog. They want a venue for sharing the innovative ideas they bring to the market, and they want to gain prestige and attract interest.

But despite their enthusiasm to launch a blog, many companies balk at the effort it takes to actually maintain one. Naming the blog and creating a space for it on the website is one thing; making it effective in the long-term is another task altogether.

The number one barrier I have encountered to establishing thought leadership through a corporate blog is a lack of commitment. A blog will die a slow (or sometimes not-so-slow) death when an organization fails to develop a culture committed to establishing thought leadership through content marketing.

Establishing this kind of culture can be difficult. The following are two straightforward tips that make the task doable.

  1. The executive team must lead the way. This seems like a no-brainer, but it is by no means easy. Executives are busy. They are also the main thought leaders in the organization, and they have the clout to drive participation in the blogging effort.
  2. The marketing team must recruit additional thought leaders in the organization to take the pressure off of executives. These thought leaders must receive formal responsibility to share their insights with blog writers, and executives must empower them with time to participate.

Naturally, executives and other team members shouldn’t have to take on the legwork of maintaining a corporate blog. After all, that’s what writers like me are for. Nevertheless, their insights are absolutely essential for establishing thought leadership. With enough participants, a 30-minute interview every other month is all the time it will take out of their busy schedules.