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Research: Be Careful What You Link To

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Stats and other evidence can look great at first, but after a little digging…not so much

A big part of the content we create for clients, whether it is a blog post, bylined article, white paper, or even an infographic, is research. It can be a collaborative process where the client will recommend statistics or a recent study they have discovered and want to highlight, but often it will be up the writer to unearth interesting data on their own.

Anyone who’s spent time researching online knows what an exhaustive process it can be. When searching on PubMed, for example, a writer can spend hours scanning study after study and still not find enough relevant data for the article they’re writing. Either the nature of the research does not quite relate to your content, it’s too dated, or it says nothing conclusive other than “more research is needed.”

Searching for recent results from a non-scientific poll or survey can be even more fruitless and risky. Part of the reason is healthcare information technology is at least a $227 billion industry, and it can be difficult to generate media and industry awareness of your company (unless you have a great partner like Amendola). That is why many companies will conduct their own survey or poll to generate media interest.

More often than I would like, while researching for one client I will discover the enticing results data was from a survey commissioned by a competitor. Such a conflict makes those stats, while tempting, off-limits. (But I am surprised how often I come across competitors who will cite one another’s research in their content.)

To avoid these mistakes and ensure the research you use in your content is relevant and accurate, consider these tips:

Get to the Bottom of it

I came across this stat recently that was perfect for a writing project I was working on: 85% to 99% of medical device alerts are not clinically actionable. I saw it cited in numerous medical journals and even in books with different attribution, with many citing it from The Joint Commission.

Although TJC did reference it, the stat originally came from a 2011 report from the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, which cites that figure to a study conducted by Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. I highlight this example to illustrate how challenging, but also how important it is, to identify and link to the original source of the stat.

Not only is it the most accurate way to present the data, but you may discover that by getting to the root of the source it may not be reliable or from an organization (i.e. competitor), that you want to draw attention to in your content.

Find the Context

Avoiding information from a competitor is an excellent reason to scrutinize the source of data. But after you determine where the information is coming from, the writer should also investigate the context around the data so you can further evaluate its credibility.

Some organizations will issue press releases, or mention in blog posts or bylined articles, “astounding” results from a survey or research they’ve conducted. In reading the full report or study it came from, you will learn that its PR or marketing materials carefully omitted important context, which creates a misleading perspective.

For example, you may find survey results that show “90% of physicians are considering retiring within the next five years.” However, if you dig deeper into the survey, you may find that the survey question was only conducted on physicians age 65 or older. While that may be an exaggerated hypothetical scenario, it shows how risky it is to feature data without investigating the context.

Science or Pseudo-Science?

As New York Times reporter Carl Zimmer pointed out, thanks to COVID-19, many more people are reading scientific papers, but are finding them difficult to understand. Although I’ve been reading these studies for many years, I, too, occasionally struggle to interpret findings that I can incorporate in the content we create.

Fortunately, article abstracts typically offer enough information to help decide if you should keep reading. Abstracts also provide insight into the scientific rigor behind the study, such as if it is a randomized controlled trial, which is the gold standard for medical research.

Even in such trials, if it includes only a very small or narrow population of patients, it may not apply to what you’re writing. The publication itself should also be considered. A peer-reviewed publication is ideal, as is information published in prominent journals such as JAMA, Science, The New England Journal of Medicine and Lancet, although even some of these journals have taken some credibility dings lately in the rush to publish COVID-19 research.

You are the Gatekeeper

Regardless of the quality of the data or the publication, you are the ultimate gatekeeper: Do you find the information and publication credible? Will it be meaningful and interesting to the prospective reader of the content? If so, then include it.

The great part about finding lots of meaningful research data is that it can help accelerate the writing process. With lots of information to include, it is just a matter of organizing and presenting it compellingly… but that’s for another post.

Don’t Forget Industry Analysts in PR Programs

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Even before English economist William Stanley Jevons and other 19th Century luminaries formalized the idea of marginal utility, business people grappled with sustaining customer desires for their goods and services.

While Jevons had commodities in mind, I believe marginal utility is relevant to PR programs, too, especially in our digital world.  Keeping stakeholders informed with fresh, compelling news, perspectives and content is a necessity to maintain their interest and attention.

One key group with which to build and cultivate such relationships is industry analysts.  These influencers are different than traditional members of the media and bloggers, and an organization’s approach to them must be different, too.

Here are six recommendations for building a strong analyst relations program – one that will create third-party validation for a healthcare company’s services and technologies:

Don’t treat analyst briefings and media interviews the same

  • In a media interview, the reporter asks the questions, and the source answers them while bridging to her own messaging and agenda as the opportunities arise
  • A successful analyst briefing, however, is a dialogue, where the client tries to gain as much insight from the analyst as the knowledge it imparts about its company, positioning, and go-to-market strategy

Work with analysts and their schedulers weeks in advance of desired briefings

  • Unlike reporters that expect sources to be available on a moment’s notice for their assignments, industry analysts often work on longer lead times
  • Use such lead times to orchestrate the objectives of your analyst briefing, even scripting what an ideal briefing looks like
  • Follow scheduling protocols; often, analysts require a company to work with scheduling colleagues, and not directly, to secure briefings

Avoid lengthy PowerPoint presentations in the actual briefings

  • Time is currency, and analyst briefings don’t happen with the same analyst firm frequently unless there is a paid relationship
  • Provide a thorough background on your company from a strategic perspective and with the market clearly in mind, but leave the lengthy presentations as leave-behinds – or better yet, provide these materials ahead of the briefings (a requirement with some firms)
  • Focus on how your offerings address current market needs and elicit analyst feedback; remember, industry analysts are experts in specific market segments, so leverage that expertise to the extent they’re willing to share their views

Avoid making product announcements the sole messaging points in briefings

  • While product launches and technology enhancements are important to keep key stakeholders informed, use analyst encounters to discuss corporate positioning, larger market issues and company strategies
  • That’s not to say analysts should not be briefed on new products, but put those products in the context of the challenges the sector is facing and the problems the new products solve
  • Product details can be incorporated into PowerPoints, or via links to company web sites or microsites, for further study and reference

Gaining coverage in analyst reports should NOT be the only reason for engaging analysts

  • For smaller HIT companies, securing feature coverage is often difficult
  • However, a successful analyst relations program builds trust and credibility
  • Over time, those benefits can accrue by having an analyst drop your company’s name with her own clients as a problem-solver worthy of industry consideration
  • Securing an analyst as a media reference is another worthwhile pursuit, if the analyst is amenable

Don’t overplay your hand

  • Unless there is a paid relationship in place, analysts customarily accept one, or maybe, two briefings from companies they cover in their market spaces each year
  • Instead of inundating analysts with news releases and briefing requests, build a steady cadence of meaningful connections – perhaps even summarizing events in a quarterly e-newsletter
  • Use industry conferences, such as HIMSS, to connect with analysts in-person

Keeping these recommendations in mind can produce rich analyst relationships and help companies advance their PR and marketing goals – even when they don’t have the means for paid relationships.

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Guidelines for a Darn Good Press Release Headline

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Editors and journalists get a ridiculous number of press releases in their inbox every day. It isn’t just this week’s news that a press release completes with it’s releases from prior weeks, being re-sent and re-packaged to find new coverage. It’s a tough, competitive world for each press release. Even if you have a newsworthy story, getting eyes on it isn’t always easy. For yours to win, you need a great press release headline that grabs attention, tells a complete story, and makes a reader want to know more.

What is seen first is of utmost importance. Here are some tips for crafting a headline for a press release that maximizes its chance to earn meaningful coverage.

Don’t Clickbait. Do What Newspapers Do.

Baiting people into clicking on terrible stories is a social media norm, popularized by scam websites, gossip rags, and less-than-reputable news sources. And, quite frankly, it isn’t a tactic that works well for educated readers such as those in healthcare IT. While an interesting or fun headline is fine, a journalist isn’t going to be enticed to read a press release unless they know exactly what the press release is about.

Like newspapers and reputable online sources, the headline needs to be a summary of the story, whatever it is. The who, what, when, and where need to exist in the headline. The why is something that can be left for the reader to discover, but the entire “in a nutshell” version of a press release needs to exist in the headline. The selling point of your press release should be its inherent newsworthiness.

Support Your News with Data

If you can, give specifics on your news. If a product showed a 10 percent improvement of patient satisfaction scores in a pilot study, that should be in the headline. If specific numbers exist and they’re impressive, show them off. Burying specifics in the text of a press release is meaningless when the goal of a press release is to earn media coverage anyway.

If you don’t have data, avoid assertive claims. Unless you back them, they shouldn’t be in the headline, since that is just asking for a journalist to press the issue. But when you can, having specific data and numbers is always welcome, since that’s ultimately the meat of any story.

Take an Active Voice

Let me correct what I said above: Product X Shows 10 Percent Rise of Satisfaction in Study. Even if this news is in the past or it’s old news, stick to active voice. Always take the philosophy when writing a headline that this is happening right now. That sends a message that this story is ongoing, worth attention, and hasn’t been covered yet all of which are necessary to earn media coverage.

Don’t Be Afraid to Have Fun

Have you checked the President’s Twitter feed? This is the era of informal communication. The days of a stoic, professional headline for press releases is over. Don’t be afraid to have fun and show a little personality, especially if that’s consistent with your company branding. Even though press releases seem like a formal event blasted through professional channels, they can still be fun. There are no rules here, and creativity is definitely welcome. In fact, a creative, fun headline may help your release standout, especially when a hard news angle isn’t particularly applicable.

Write the Header Last

When I write a press release, I use an ALL CAPs, nonsensical placeholder title, until it’s time to write the real thing. Once the full press release body is written, it’s then that I am able to summarize the story content and get a sense of its tone which is what a headline is supposed to do. It may seem counter-intuitive to work the header last, but it’s an almost necessary part of the press release writing process. A press release headline comes after the story, because if it’s written right, it contains a one-sentence summary of what’s to come.