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Thought leadership or not?

Thought leadership or not?

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One of the trickiest jobs of a PR professional consists of guiding corporate executives to the proper mix of marketing and thought leadership in various types of writing.

The easy part, relatively speaking, is persuading them that if they insist on promoting their product directly in a bylined article, it won’t be published. In case they have any doubts, you can just suggest that they take a look at the publication online and see if any of its articles are marketing-oriented.

On the other hand, by its nature a case study or a press release is strictly promotional. Readers expect that the story will focus on a product or a business deal and that it will be structured to make the company and the product look as good as possible.

But the boundaries are much more porous when it comes to white papers, sometimes known as position papers. Over the years, I’ve worked for clients who have had many different ideas about what such papers should be.

Ultimately, of course, they all wanted to sell their products. But only some executives grasp the concept of a truly effective white paper: It should draw in readers with a point of view about an industry trend and promote the company’s product indirectly by showing the need for it.

The rest want me to blatantly list the advantages of their product somewhere in the paper. To them, it’s just another form of advertising.

I don’t know whether a rigorous study has ever been done to measure the readership of these two kinds of papers, controlling for length and the demand for information on the topic. But I’d venture to guess that industry stakeholders would be more interested in a paper that gave them information they could use than in another piece of marketing collateral.

Interestingly, big companies are no more likely than small ones to embrace the concept of true thought leadership pieces. Because they’re big, they may commission longer papers that have space to discuss industry trends or government regulations at greater length. But in the end, they still usually want their product promoted, with hardly a fig leaf to cover it.

It was actually a small, rapidly growing firm that gave me the widest rein to show its thought leadership and vision. Over a period of several years, I wrote a dozen or more white papers that helped build the company’s reputation for expertise in population health management.

I always mentioned the need for health IT solutions that could help healthcare organizations manage population health. But for the most part, the papers focused on topics that people needed to know about, ranging from accountable care organizations (ACOs) and patient-centered medical homes to care coordination, patient engagement and post-discharge care. Eventually, the company pulled together my essays into a book that it used effectively as a sales tool.

White papers and byliners are not the only vehicles for thought leadership. Occasionally, if a company CEO is a recognized expert in a particular area, you might be able to get a major publication such as the Wall Street Journal or the Washington Post to publish a thought leadership piece by that person.

The easiest way to do this, by the way, is to pitch a letter to the editor. But it has to be on a hot topic, and you have to get it in very quickly.

One way to show a company executive the difference between marketing and thought leadership is to ask him or her where they see a bylined article or position paper being published. If they say they’d like to reach a broad universe, you advise them to think about thought leadership. If they insist on a marketing message, you tell them that it’s probably only going to be posted on their website or printed up for use by their salespeople.

A sophisticated PR professional or marketer knows that organizations need the right mix of these two kinds of communications to be successful. But thought leadership should be part of the package so that companies can impress potential clients with their deep knowledge and brilliant insights.

After reading a white paper or a bylined piece of this type, the potential buyer will probably not go running to your client. But when the organization’s salesperson comes calling, they’re likely to remember something about the company that caught their attention.

Like medicine and angling, PR is as much an art as a science. What it takes to help organizations succeed depends on how many tools you have in your toolkit, and how many different approaches you try. Eventually, if your executives trust you, they will land a fish or two.

When Worlds Collide: Is the Merging of PR and Marketing a Good Thing?

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Before social media, cross-platform campaigns and general business trends toward greater economy and efficiency of services, public relations and marketing though often collaborators were two distinct disciplines. Despite a kind of “kissing cousins” relationship, each had its own mission and purpose.

In today’s world, however, public relations and marketing are connected in ways that are both complex and granular. How effectively these well-blended professions work together is key to positively and creatively positioning your business for success.

Two Faces or a Vase?

It used to be that marketing handled advertising and PR handled earned media. Both jobs required that they make the business look good. That’s still true today kind of. It depends on how you look at it, and even then it can be hard to explain.

Let’s start with a visual the Rubin’s vase. This is a rather famous optical illusion that is usually depicted as a simple black-and-white image that can be interpreted differently depending on who is looking at it. One person looking at the image may see the shape of a vase, while another might glimpse two faces in profile facing each other. The person who sees the face can eventually see the vase, and the person who sees the face can see the two profiles, but neither person can they maintain both images concurrently.

This is what PR and marketing used to look like. Marketing helped move the company’s product (two faces), while PR sold the “vase” in the form of the company’s brand and reputation.

Today, those distinctions are not as stark. Businesses are expecting their PR and marketing teams to find a way to see two faces and a vase at the same time. Like never before, PR and marketing need each other to help a business succeed.

A Distinction without a Difference?

OK, so the average business executive may not really care about whether PR and marketing represent a single entity or distinct areas (after all, they care about results, which as we know, always fall freely from the magical Results Tree). It’s OK we’re used to it.

But you should care. More than anyone else in the company, the PR and marketing teams orbit in close and consistent proximity to your customers. Understanding how they best work together can make or break a business. If they are not on the same page, your company will not be on the same page with the customer.

You do the math.

The Content Example

One of the reasons why PR and marketing are “colliding” is that in today’s environment content is king. Byline articles, blog posts, tweets, status updates, e-mail blasts. It seems that every new piece of content is “old” by the time the final stamp of approval is given.

Campaigns highly customized to the business or even a specific initiative within the enterprise maximize your business’s core messages. But they also act in a way to bring a measure of control, discipline and meaning to the tsunami of content most businesses need to produce to stay relevant in hyper-competitive industries.

The success of these campaigns often hinges on how well marketing and PR work together.

With any initiative, the Golden Rule is “early and often.” This means that your PR and marketing pros need to engage early and often in order for the client to enjoy the end result (capitalizing on the success of a campaign or initiative).

PR and marketing teams feed on data both internal (from sales, product developers, c-suite executives) and external (customers and market shifts within the industry). That data will ultimately define the functional aspects of a campaign (the best vehicles and channels to reach prospective customers) and the emotional resonance (how the precise positioning of a message impacts a customer and their willingness to buy from and stay loyal to the business).

Final Thoughts

When I start with a new client, one of my first goals is to get to know the marketing team and what they are working on. I also ask to engage with the sales team. What are customers connecting with? How do they interact with the company? And I don’t accept stock answers. I drill down. Sometimes, a turn of phrase or just the right word can be the different between a lost sale and a signature on the dotted line.

Years ago, I might not have thought to do this. Today, I understand that the data I acquire from them will inform the shape of my PR campaign. I also understand that my PR campaign will affect everything on their side from sales presentations and the keywords and phrases used in a brochure to social media campaigns and the priorities on the content calendar.

Marketing and PR, while still very much distinct, are travelling toward the same goal and often taking the exact same road. There are the occasional places where the two diverge, but understanding those subtle differences is where true collaboration and the success of your business lies.

Facts Tell But Stories Sell

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“Story telling is the oldest form of teaching,” Matt Cavallo declared when we met on May 23. I couldn’t agree more. Great story telling has always intrigued me. Maybe that’s why I’m in PR. I have always believed that behind every organization is a zealous individual with an epic story waiting to be shared. It’s usually the CEO or founder, though not always.

Matt is a passionate patient advocate who dedicates his life to the fight against multiple sclerosis. He has been named among the top 10 Social HealthMakers by WCG and his blog was selected as one of Healthline’s top multiple sclerosis picks in 2015. His story of being diagnosed and overcoming the physical and emotional challenges associated with having a chronic disease can be read in his memoir, The Dog Story: A Journey into a New Life with Multiple Sclerosis.

What started as a simple half-hour meet-and-greet with Amendola Communications agency staff turned into a 90-minute conversation. Who has that kind of time, you ask? Well, Matt knew how to keep our attention: he had us laughing one moment and fighting back tears the next. It’s a skill few people have but many aspire to. This ability to connect comes in really handy during media interviews at large trade shows (such as HIMSS) where our PR clients (health IT vendors) get to pitch their product or solution to editors who decide on the spot whether they care enough to write about them or not.

GetWellNetwork founder and CEO Michael O’Neil was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 28. While the medical outcome was excellent, the patient experience was challenging. After four cycles of chemotherapy, he started GetWellNetwork to help hospitals improve performance and outcomes through patient engagement. Michael and his team work tirelessly to ensure the voice of the patient is heard. Today, more than 4.6 million patients use GetWellNetwork technology to engage in their healthcare. Take a minute to watch Michael tell his story in this short video.

Growing up in a family of doctors, ClearDATA CEO Darin Brannan got a firsthand look at the challenges healthcare practitioners face in treating patients using paper and outdated technology. It made him painfully aware of the number of people who die each day as a result of medical errors long before it became national news.

Despite the availability of electronic health records and other technologies that were supposed to solve the problem, reports show that more than 1,000 people still die each day due to medical errors. At the center of this seeming disconnect is a lack of cohesiveness among advanced information technologies. Darin believes that, “Healthcare is less of a science problem, it’s more of an information problem.”

In 2011, he co-founded ClearDATA to apply his cloud computing expertise to healthcare in order to remove the technical obstacles inhibiting patient safety and costing lives. Today, ClearDATA is recognized by organizations such as CB Insights as a leading healthcare information security services company, with $54 million in funding and a customer portfolio that includes some of the largest healthcare providers in the nation.

Dave Bennett, EVP, Orion Health, is passionate about precision medicine. He often tells the story about his son, Carter, who has cystic fibrosis (CF). Here is how he tells it.

Carter’s story

About a decade ago, my oldest son, Carter, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

Like most kids with CF, Carter had a host of physical problems, like lung infections due to mucous build-up and thrive issues due to pancreas blockage. In eighth grade his lungs needed a thorough cleaning, so he was hospitalized and homebound for three consecutive weeks with a PICC line.

Five years ago, Vertex Pharmaceuticals released a drug designed to address Carter’s specific genetic variation of CF, one that only four percent of patients have.

But when I told Carter’s doctor about it, he said it wouldn’t help Carter because he didn’t have that genetic variation.

Once I pressed the doctor to review 60 pages of Carter’s data, however, the doctor soon reversed his position.

“This is a game changer,” he said.

Now let’s be clear: Carter’s doctor is a great doctor. But he didn’t have the tools to help him analyze that 60 pages of data and connect my son to a promising new drug therapy that went on to stabilize his lung function, end his annual sinus surgeries, eliminate his regular bronchial scopes, made his ED visits a thing of the past, and allowed him to flourish into a six-foot-two-inch, 225-pound captain of his high-school football team. Today, Carter is a thriving college student, our payers don’t have to pay for all the procedures mentioned above anymore, and his mom and I don’t worry about him one bit.

That is the promise of precision medicine exemplified. But in the future, rather than rely on a highly interested advocate like a parent who’s passionate about precision medicine to provide that cognitive support, payers and providers will be able to rely on technology that synthesizes and analyzes the data (e.g., those 60 pages Carter’s doctor couldn’t effortlessly process) and utilize it in the right context at the right time.

“This is my mission,” Dave tells journalists. “I want to help doctors and patients in making decisions about what will help them. To do this work, you really need focus at the mission level, because it’s going to change healthcare for the better and make a difference in people’s lives.”

Healthcare IT Agency, Amendola Communications, Releases Top 7 Blog Posts for Spring Cleaning your PR & Marketing

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Agency insiders give tips to refresh and reenergize content marketing, tradeshows, social media and more

SCOTTSDALE, AZ., May 9, 2017 With more than half of the year still on the horizon, healthcare IT marketers and communicators are evaluating next steps to promote their companies. To jumpstart creative thinking, check out the following series of blog posts from Amendola Communications, a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare and healthcare IT public relations and marketing agency.

“The Four P’s to Think Like a Marketer.” As marketers prepare their budgets, a few perennial questions emerge. Should more of the budget be allocated to content marketing or advertising? On trade shows or public relations? There is no shortage of options vying for the marketer’s dollar, but savvy marketers get that a balanced approach is better than risking most of their budget on a single strategy. With that, a terrific process exists to get the most results out of existing resources.

“Don’t Judge a Book by its Sales: Tips for Making Your Book a Relationship Magnet.” It’s a marketing vehicle tapped by relatively few companies, but a book can attract attention, credibility and leads galore. For executives seeking to establish their thought leadership or steer their way to media attention, penning an authoritative book could be the most direct path they take.

“Content Marketing: Remember to Ask “And Then?” A blog post or video that’s gone viral, a webinar that attracted lots of sign-ups”¦too often these are considered ideal end goals, when what they really should be are the starting points. Wise marketers plan ahead to make sure there’s always a next step in place to guide prospects to the sale.

“Tips for Social Media Success.” A social media presence is almost as important as a brick-and-mortar address, at least from a public relations and marketing standpoint. Yet for many companies, social media remains an enigma, especially with so many social media platforms to learn and navigate. And make no mistake, each does have its own set of best practices. The good news is there are universal guidelines to quickly become a competent practitioner of social media marketing and PR.

“HIMSS is Over, Now What?” Sure, HIMSS is several months in the rear view mirror. But there is still time left to leverage the investment made in the show, and act on the contacts and opportunities that were made to secure analyst coverage, bylines and more.

“The Press Release: Marketing’s Swiss Army Knife.” Just like the Swiss Army knife performs a multitude of functions, so too does the press release. In fact, this staple of public relations turns out to have a surprisingly versatile set of benefits for marketers, from SEO to lead gen. This is in addition to the good public relations and media attention that a strong press release can still generate.

“How to Make the News, Even When You’re Not the Headline.” Companies often hire PR agencies with the intent of getting front page coverage on USA Today or the Wall Street Journal or to star in an in-depth feature in a widely read trade publication. However, such a score rarely happens at the beginning of one’s PR effort; even Steve Jobs had to wait years to become a media darling. However, there are plenty of other ways to garner attention from the press that are of great value to any company.

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 subject matter experts in every aspect of publicizing and marketing healthcare technology companies.

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, Amendola Communications, 480.664.8412 ext. 15 / mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com

The press release is the Swiss Army knife of marketing

The Press Release: Marketing’s Swiss Army Knife

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Swiss Army knives are generally thought of as the go-to multi-tool, capable of performing all sorts of handy functions in one neat little package. Marketers have their own version of the Swiss Army knife: the press release. It has the versatility to advance a variety of marketing goals.

That was not the case several years ago. Back then, press releases were written for the media; hence the name. Today the internet, social media and business practices have blurred the lines, which means in many cases a press release is no longer written with the sole purpose to attract media attention or fulfill an SEC guideline. Instead, it is a multi-function business tool.

Press releases allow you get your message out to your audiences unfiltered. This one piece of collateral is completely versatile and can help companies work towards a plethora of goals, including:

  1. Media relations: Good, solid media relations. Through distribution services, press releases are sent to journalists’ email, where they can choose to write about the news. Even if the reporter does not cover the announcement right away, your information may be filed as a “source” for future articles. The exposure can also make journalists aware of your company, or keep them informed about your latest developments.
  2. Sales: Current projections estimate that 60% to 70% of the business buyer’s purchase process is made before they contact the vendor. Given that most information a prospect obtains is before they enter the sales funnel, you need ways to reach them earlier in the purchasing journey. Also, press releases can be a reason for the sales team to go back to a prospect. Customer wins may be shared with prospective client of a similar size, specialty and/or location. Many deals are completed by potential customers after seeing what their peers are doing.
  3. Attract New Talent: Who does not want to work for a company that is doing exciting and innovative things? Showing momentum can turn the heads of qualified candidates for even hard to fill spots.
  4. Keep Investors in the Know: Highlighting your successes can attract investors. A steady cadence of news signals an active company that is gaining traction, a key to obtaining investor interest.
  5. SEO Benefits: When credible websites and search engines pick up your press release, it can raise your placement in Google search results, which drives traffic and increases awareness for your site. Using specific keywords can optimize the press release to be easily searchable by audiences, including prospective and current customers, employees, investors and the media.

You can significantly increase interest in your press releases by adding images or video, making them even more beneficial. Which business objectives will they help you unlock?

Zynx Healthcare Taps Amendola for Public Relations, Content Creation and Marketing Strategy

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Scottsdale, Ariz. March 15, 2017 Amendola Communications, an award-winning healthcare marketing and public relations agency, announced today that Zynx Health, a market leader in providing evidence- and experience-based clinical improvement solutions and part of the Hearst Network, has selected Amendola Communications as its agency of record. Amendola will provide a broad range of public relations and content services that promote Zynx Health as a pioneer and innovator in the delivery of clinical solutions that improve the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare.

“The Amendola team has impressed us with their in-depth knowledge of the healthcare IT space, as well as their commitment to going that extra mile to meet our needs, such as helping to secure a recent interview with the industry-leading blog, HIStalk,” said Kevin Daly, president of Zynx Health. “Not only has Amendola represented Zynx Health before but one of our executive management team members has worked with Amendola at two companies with stellar results. We are confident that they are the right partner to help us create excellent content and achieve our PR goals as we launch new solutions into the marketplace.”

Amendola Communications will provide broad public relations and marketing services, including media research, media and analyst relations, and the generation of top-tier awards and speaking opportunities. The agency will also be responsible for delivering a range of content demonstrating the thought leadership and expertise of Zynx Health’s subject matter experts, including bylined articles, blog posts, press releases and other materials.

“Zynx is a KLAS-recognized leader in healthcare IT based on their long history of delivering evidence-based clinical decision support solutions that improve patient safety and the delivery of quality care,” said Jodi Amendola, CEO of Amendola Communications. “We’ve worked with Zynx in the past and we look forward to promoting its new leadership team as thought leaders/visionaries as the company continues to enhance and expand its portfolio of solutions that help reduce variations in clinical care, financial performance, and clinician documentation.”

Zynx Health was founded around a mission to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of healthcare. For more than 20 years, Zynx Health has empowered thousands of healthcare organizations and clinicians to align their clinical decision support, strategies, and workflows around the standardization and infusion of evidence-based vital information and experience-based best practices. Over the years, Zynx Health has earned numerous awards for its products and was recently named the 2017 KLAS Category Leader for Clinical Decision Support Order Sets.

About Zynx Health
Zynx Health, part of the Hearst Health network, provides healthcare professionals with vital information and processes that guide care decisions and reduce complexity across the entire patient journey in a way that leads to healthier lives for all. Zynx is a pioneer and market leader in evidence- and experience-based clinical solutions that help health systems improve patient outcomes, financial outcomes, clinical engagement and technology performance. With Zynx Health, healthcare organizations exceed industry demands for delivering high-quality care at lower costs under value-based reimbursement models. To learn more, visit zynxhealth.com or call 855.367.ZYNX.

About Hearst Health
The Hearst Health network includes FDB (First Databank), Zynx Health, MCG, Homecare Homebase, MedHOK, Hearst Health International, Hearst Health Ventures and the Hearst Health Innovation Lab (www.hearsthealth.com). The mission of Hearst Health is to help guide the most important care moments by delivering vital information into the hands of everyone who touches a person’s health journey. Each year in the U.S., care guidance from the Hearst Health network reaches 84 percent of discharged patients, 177 million insured individuals, 60 million home health visits, and 3.1 billion dispensed prescriptions.

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: Michelle Ronan Noteboom | 512,426.2870| mnoteboom@acmarketingpr.com

Make sure PR becomes the sales team's best friends in 2017

Why PR Will Be Your Sales Team’s Best Friend in 2017

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I always get excited about the first month of a new year. January is like back-to-school season for grown-ups. It’s the ideal time to rethink your current way of doing things and to consider abandoning the status-quo for a fresh, new approach. Especially when it comes to the relationship between your PR, marketing and sales teams.

While we’re not advocating leaving behind what has made your team successful, we are advocating tossing out what’s keeping your team from achieving even more success. While we’re not advocating leaving behind your long-term strategy, we are advocating breaking down the silos that limit that strategy from being even more effective.

One of those limiting factors is managing your public relations, marketing and sales teams as separate entities. Whether you’re at a startup or a large corporation, you’re likely losing both dollars and deals by not harnessing the power of an integrated approach. In fact, we believe that PR can be your sales team’s biggest asset, to use on an ongoing basis or to leverage when times are tough.
But this is also a cautionary tale. When handled poorly, asking your sales team to use PR can be off-putting to your colleagues in sales and to their prospects. If you’re not thoughtful and deliberate in your approach, it can go quickly go awry.

That’s why we’re sharing four tips to help you get started:

    1. Start slow and be smart: Bombarding your sales team with too much information is always a recipe for disaster. But that is especially true when it comes to press releases or articles items they may be less familiar with than PowerPoint slides or marketing slicks. While it’s tempting to start off by sharing the highlights of your PR efforts from the last year, and then to start funneling the sales team every press release and article moving forward, it’s simply not the smartest approach. Similarly, just giving your sales team access to a shared folder of PR materials and saying, “use this stuff,” is ineffective. Most of the sales reps won’t do it, and others will likely do it very wrong, which is even more problematic.
    2. Remember your audience: You must choose your PR content wisely to get buy-in from the sales team. In addition to selecting items that are timely and relevant, it’s critical to think about their audience and end goals. The big idea is that communicating with prospects is vastly different than communicating with the media. For example, do sales prospects want to read a press release about an award that the company earned? Probably not. It’s better to share press coverage about that award from an industry publication because seeing an article in Healthcare IT News, rather than the “News” section of your website, increases the company’s credibility more than any self-issued release. Another great example is providing a client case study article for your sales team, and then letting them know that client quoted in the article is available for a reference call or to answer questions via email. Even though most prospects will not take you up on that offer, it creates instant credibility in their eyes, and puts sales reps one step closer to a signature on the dotted line.
    3. Provide guidance on the message: Keeping the audience top-of-mind helps you deliver the right message to your sales team, and helps them to deliver the right message to their prospects. Writing clear, concise emails to communicate with your sales team is vital. Many of them are traveling and skimming emails quickly on their phones. They may prefer to view articles as links, rather than by opening attachments. Understanding these preferences and adapting as needed is key to forging a partnership and facilitating their success.It’s equally important to help streamline their outreach for the PR materials you’re providing. Otherwise, your good intentions can be misconstrued as creating extra work. Having that message formulated and ready to go makes the outreach much more actionable for busy sales reps. We recommend providing an email template that enables them to easily copy and paste the information, and add a few personalized touches. Copy, paste, tweak, and send. Task completed!To take that idea further, some reps like when communication is sent on their behalf via a marketing automation tool like Pardot or Hubspot. If you have the time and resources to make this a reality for your team, it’s incredibly valuable. The only precaution here is making sure that the team is informed about the automated process so they don’t duplicate communications, or act confused when a prospect mentions the email that came from them.
    4. It should be a two-way street: Lastly, we recommend establishing a regular cadence for communication with the sales team so they know what to expect from you and when. There will always be unanticipated items that don’t fall within the neat confines of these rules but those can be the exception, not the rule. Combining that email communication with a recurring meeting increases your odds for success. While nobody wants to have more meetings, they are the most effective forum for two-way communication between teams, when they are well managed with a set agenda. The simple act of showing up and presenting yourself as a resource to the sales team, and then welcoming their feedback is greatly appreciated. Ideally, their feedback can provide new ideas and help inform your PR strategy moving forward. So, they’re winning deals and you’re winning too. And isn’t that what our work is all about?
Word of mouth marketing is still one of the most effective ways of spreading your message

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! 5 Steps for Utilizing Word of Mouth Marketing

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Word of mouth is arguably the most efficient and beneficial form of marketing. A recent Nielsen’s Harris Poll Online found that more than 80% of Americans seek recommendations when making any kind of purchase. Also, a Nielsen’s Trust in Advertising report showed that 84 percent of consumers say they value recommendations from friends and family above other types of advertising. Most people trust their peers more than corporate advertising, so hearing the virtues of your solution from a colleague will go far in establishing your credibility.

What does this information mean for your business and how do you incorporate word of mouth into your overall marketing strategy?

Nurture Happy Customers

Happy customers require a solid solution, first and foremost. Addressing the vulnerabilities of your product and services will increase your customers confidence in your company, helping develop customer advocates and extending word of mouth. Many people are happy to be an expert and discuss how they have solved a problem. By delivering a solid solution, exceptional customer service and conducting business as a true partner, customers will be open to acting as brand ambassadors. Build and engage a captive audience of your customers, partners and thought leaders.

Communicate to Your Customers

Collaborative relationships offer benefits to both sides. To have customers and prospects believe you are on their side, it is essential that marketing efforts speak to their motivations. Regardless of how beautifully crafted your campaign or message is, any project that does not speak to what influences your customer will fall flat. What keeps your clients up at night? What inspires them? You need to understand these motivators before you can make the link to how your offerings can help.

Simplify your messaging for the benefit of all involved. Someone outside of your company is not as immersed in the key take-aways as your executives. They will be asked about or offer information about your company, communicating the points they believe. Clear, concise messaging will make it easier for your customers to convey the benefits you want others to understand.

Make Their Voices Heard

You have happy customers who are willing to share their experiences. Now what? These stories and successes should be shared where people can learn from them. This can be through a variety of channels, including case studies, media interviews, social media interactions, presentations at tradeshows. The point is to have your customer’s voice heard where potential prospects and industry influencers could be listening. Having your success stories out there also keeps them alive long after they are told.

Create Targeted Campaigns

Not all messages will resonate with everyone and not all customers are created equal. Segmentation will vary depending on your company and what matters to your customers. Factors can include location, industry, customer size, solutions they are using or problem they are trying to solve. The audience should be able to relate to the customer’s experience. Match the client and message to the correct audience for maximum return.

Pick the Correct Channel

Similar to all customers not created equal, neither are channels. Businesses are made up of people that are using sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. You need to get your message to the people where they are and where they will be receptive to hearing your customer’s story. That said, tread carefully to put your efforts in the channels that can offer the greatest reward as some may be a better fit than others. A channel that makes sense for one industry may not work for another. Also, focus on the message and desired outcome and not the trendy tool.

Ensure your online presence is optimized for mobile channels. According to an April 27, 2016 post by Smart Insights, mobile use grows an average of 58% year over year. Viewers should be able to move seamlessly between devices and have a consistent experience regardless of whether they find you on a desktop, tablet or phone.

Word of mouth marketing can be a cost-effective and credible way to extend your voice. These steps will increase the value of these efforts. Now, get your customers achievements heard!

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

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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.

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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