by Jim Sweeney | Aug 6, 2025 | Blog
The engineer shifted from foot to foot, stumbled over his words and his eyes darted all over the room.
Yet, the client insisted that this particular engineer be featured in the company video about a new polymer used in artificial joints. So we shot take after take while the poor guy fumbled with a knee joint.
A week later, we sent an initial cut of the video to the client, who noticed that the engineer had been holding the knee joint upside down and backward the entire time. There was no money in the budget for another out-of-town trip to redo the shoot so we edited it so the engineer could be seen only from the chest up. This was a long time ago while working for another agency, but this disaster has stuck with me.
Video is an incredibly compelling medium, but it can be jarring when it’s done poorly. We’ve all seen enough movies and TV to expect good production values and performances to notice when they’re missing.
And they’re often lacking in one of the most common forms of marketing video — the ones featuring a company spokesperson or leader. Typically, the subject appears alone onscreen, often sitting on a chair or stool or at their desk, talking to an off-camera prompter whose voice is not heard. These videos often are used to introduce a new product or service or as an introduction to the business.
Unlike media interviews, these videos are entirely under the control of the client. Done well, they can be highly effective; done poorly, they can give the company and executive a black eye.
Here are some tips for avoiding black eyes – and get the best performances on video:
Don’t force it. Some people, like that engineer, simply will never be comfortable on camera, so don’t put them in front of one. No amount of coaching or reassurance will get these people to relax so find someone who is more comfortable.
Take your time (but not too much). Rushed video is bad video. Give the subject some time to relax on the set and get used to the surroundings. Of course, CEOs often are in a hurry so the crew should respect their schedule.
Use multiple takes. Interviewees often feel pressured to nail it on the first take and that causes undue pressure. Remind them that they’re not live and they can do it as many times as it takes to get it right. Also, most videos are pieced together from the best parts of multiple takes. Most importantly, reassure them that the audience will see only the final version.
Prepare the subject. Go over the subject matter beforehand and share the material with the interviewee well before the shoot so they can be familiar with it. However, be careful that they do not memorize it in order to avoid sounding scripted.
Incorporate the question in the answer. Because the interviewer is unheard and offscreen, the viewers won’t know the question being asked of the subject. So if you ask the CEO, “What was your first job?”, make sure he doesn’t answer, “Waiter.” Instead, he should say, “My first job was as a waiter.” That way, the audience can follow the thread.
Establish a rapport between the interviewer and interviewee. Even though the interviewer will be unseen and unheard in this style of video, they’re the person with whom the subject is talking and maintaining eye contact throughout the video. They are the anchor for the subject. The two should spend a few minutes together before the shoot to get comfortable with each other and establish a link.
Be nice. In most cases, the interviewee is looking for reassurance from the crew, if not overtly, then subconsciously. An impatient or unfriendly interviewer, sound tech or videographer can give off negative vibes that rattle the subject and ruin the interview.
Hire a stylist. I’ve had executives balk at the idea of someone applying a little powder to their brow, but the alternative can be a spokesperson so shiny-faced that the glare obscures the message. Stylists also can advise on appropriate clothing and spot faults, like a crooked tie.
Follow these tips, make sure the knee joint is right side up, and you should get a video that makes you and the CEO proud.
by Mardi Larson | Jul 23, 2025 | Blog
In today’s fast-moving digital world, content marketing takes some discipline. You can’t rely on great content alone — it demands structure, consistency, and a results-driven mindset. To establish true thought leadership and maintain brand credibility over time, organizations must adopt a rigorous approach to content planning, creation, and distribution. Below are some proven best practices that can help advance your overall content marketing program from good to great.
- Develop an Editorial Calendar – Plan your content ahead of time, aligning with product/service launches, company or industry events, webinars, speaking engagements, and more. Don’t forget strategically aligned social holidays, which can help drive engagement.
- Be Helpful and Educate – Drawing from your ideal customer profile and target personas, think through their pain points and what your product or service helps them solve. Think through the questions they ask themselves every day and answer them! Driving out educational and informative content is a great way to position your organization as a thought leader and the go-to resource for smart, useful content.
- Be Relevant – Track the trends and news events in your industry and reference and tie to these regularly. Consider a weekly insights column or quarterly report to curate the top trends to watch with your take on why it matters.
- Create a distribution tip sheet or checklist – Develop a PESO-based content distribution framework specific to your company and refresh it quarterly. I call it this the “Content Marketing Wheel.” Pull it out and review it for each new content opportunity. There are now more channels than ever before from news releases to YouTube and this tool will help you think through the opportunities well suited for each piece of content.
- Monitor and Measure – Use analytics tools to track engagement, media mentions, and conversion rates. Regularly analyze these metrics – some of the best content marketers do this daily! Assess and adjust your content marketing strategy based on channel performance.
- Engage with Industry Influencers – Build relationships with journalists, analysts, and other industry thought leaders to enhance your reach. Foster collaborative opportunities for content co-creation such a joint webinar or co-authored thought leadership article with a business partner — 1+1=3!
- Encourage Employee Advocacy – Empower employees to share content on their professional networks to expand visibility, credibility and optimize content reach. Leverage internal experts and lift them up as brand ambassadors to enhance the credibility of the expert and the organization.
Maximizing Earned Content – Four Key Tips
Earned content — media coverage, awards, analyst reports, and speaking opportunities — is one of the most credible forms of content, but it’s often underleveraged in content marketing and the PESO model. The key to maximizing earned media is following a “create once, share everywhere possible” approach:
- Repurpose Media Coverage – If your company is featured in an article or analyst report, don’t just let it sit on the website of that publication or firm. Share it across your company’s blog, social media channels, and presentation decks. When sharing via blog post, include additional commentary to showcase your expert insights and include a backlink to the article or report. Backlinks to reputable media outlets bolster your website’s authority ranking on search engines like Google.
- Leverage Awards and Recognition – If your company wins an award, create a news release and issue it on a wire service, share the news on social media, update your website, and include it in email campaigns. Consider running a paid campaign sharing this exciting news. Recognition builds credibility, but only if people know about it.
- Maximize Speaking Engagements – When a leader from your company speaks at an event, record it, create short video clips for social media, and repurpose key takeaways into a post or infographic for your company’s blog. Consider turning the presentation content into a LinkedIn article series, a webinar or a podcast episode for additional mileage. Don’t forget to do a news release covering the speaking engagement either before the event or after and be sure to include details and key callouts from the high-value presentation itself.
- Cross-Promote on Different Channels – Content should not exist in silos. Leverage your high-value content everywhere possible. Reinforce thought leadership by integrating earned content across the many channels you have available to you. When you get a piece of high-value earned media coverage, pull out your Content Marketing Wheel to decide where to share it.
Make Every Piece of Content Count
Be disciplined, stay proactive, and always look for ways to get more mileage out of every single piece of content you create.
Great content doesn’t just inform — it influences, builds trust, and opens doors. By applying structure to your content marketing strategy and embracing a disciplined, PESO-aligned approach, you can unlock the full value of every asset you create. Always ask: how can we make this content piece go further?
If you’re looking to bring more rigor and results to your content marketing, the A-Team is here to help. From strategy to execution, we know how to make your content work harder — and smarter — for your brand or business.
by Mardi Larson | Jul 9, 2025 | Blog
Content marketing is a specialized function of marketing that focuses on creating, publishing, and distributing valuable, relevant, and high-value content to attract and engage target audiences. Having been in strategic communications roles for more than three decades, I embrace this model as the modern version of yesteryear’s “integrated communications” approach, where we ensured that content was widely distributed and shared across all the communications channels available to us. Back then there were only a handful of channels where today new channels are popping up every nanosecond, making content marketing programs more opportunistic and increasingly complicated all at the same time.
Content marketing is a smart approach for companies of all sizes, including early stage and maturing companies that want to establish themselves as thought leaders, as well as to build trust, establish industry authority, generate leads, and ultimately drive profitable customer engagements.
Content marketing is both an art and a science.
It requires creativity to craft compelling stories with helpful information that’s search engine optimized, as well as the discipline to ensure that content is planned out and effectively distributed and leveraged across all communications channels for maximum impact. In today’s fast-paced digital media landscape, simply creating great content and posting it on a company blog isn’t enough. You need a disciplined approach to ensure the great content you worked so hard to create reaches audiences across all the ever-evolving channels available.
I have a mantra – create once, publish and post everywhere possible. The art of repurposing content across all the channels is important. Communications pieces shouldn’t be siloed, they should be shared.
That’s where the PESO model comes in.
Understanding the PESO Model
The PESO model stands for Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned and it is a structured framework for content distribution that ensures your content gains maximum exposure. Let’s break down PESO across the four areas and the common channels and forums within each.
- Paid Media includes traditional and digital advertising where companies pay for visibility. It quickly expands reach, driving targeted website traffic and increasing brand awareness. Common paid media channels include:
- Social media ads (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, etc.)
- Pay-per-click (PPC) search engine advertising
- Display advertising (banner ads, retargeting, and programmatic ads)
- Sponsored content and paid influencer partnerships
- Streaming ads on Hulu, NetFlix, Amazon Prime, etc.
- Traditional media such as TV, radio, billboards
- Earned Media is exposure gained through third-party entities. Earned media is just that – earned (not paid for). And it’s one of the most credible forms of media in the PESO model. It comes from external sources that provide the added value of independent validation for your company – its expertise, opinion, innovation or product. Earned media includes:
- Press coverage (features, quotes, and mentions in the media)
- Industry awards and recognitions
- Speaking engagements at conferences and industry events
- Coverage in industry analyst reports and recommendations
- Shared Media involves organic content distribution through social engagement. Shared media is a critical component for consumer brands and is often an underutilized area for B2B companies. This includes:
- Social media shares and engagements
- User-generated content (customers organically sharing experiences with your brand)
- Brand/company mentions and hashtags
- Organic, non-paid influencer engagement
- Community discussions (LinkedIn groups, Reddit, industry forums)
- Owned Media refers to content that a company owns and thus directly controls. These channels are essential because they allow companies to manage their messaging, share stories and provide valuable resources to their audiences. Examples include:
- Blog posts and company website content
- Whitepapers, case studies, e-books, infographics, reports and other informational resources
- Webinars, podcasts, and newsletters
- Sales presentations and corporate reports
- News releases
For a content marketing strategy to be successful, all four PESO areas and the many channels and forums nested within each should be considered.
Don’t just do a webinar – leverage the content across as many channels as possible. Don’t just do a news release on a news wire service, create a blog about bylined directly from an on-staff expert offering a personal perspective, post it to your newsroom and create social media posts. And that high-value earned media coverage, share it everywhere – work it into speaking engagements, awards applications, sales presentations, marketing collateral, social media channels, investor decks and more.
Content marketing isn’t just about creating high-impact and useful content – it involves strategic distribution and integration across multiple communication channels and touchpoints. By following the PESO model and maximizing earned media through smart distribution, companies can enhance their credibility and position themselves as true industry thought leaders. Their companies will come up more easily in online traditional and generative search, which is powerful for any B2B thought leadership brand.
by Brandon Glenn | Jun 25, 2025 | Blog
You’ve planned, outlined, and drafted some content that clearly communicates the points and messages you set out to convey. Time to sit back, relax, and think about what’s next, right?
Not exactly. Before the content appears publicly, it must go through the editing process. The more people who are involved in the process – writers, marketers, executives, subject matter experts – the more lengthy and convoluted the process becomes.
Welcome to the “dark side” of the editing process, as Joel Schwartzberg writes in Harvard Business Review, which may be characterized by excessive nitpicking, numerous disagreements, and competition over authority and expertise. Fun times all around!
However, editing doesn’t always need to be so painful. To improve the editing process, keep in mind the following three tips:
Be mindful of version control: Given that editing often figuratively involves several cooks in the kitchen at the same time, it’s important that those cooks work from the exact same recipe. In the public relations world, this means that we must ensure that all editors work from the same version of the content. This is easy in the beginning, but the process often breaks down as individual editors simultaneously make changes to the same Word document.
Three editors may equate to three different versions of the same content, creating challenges in reconciling what may be contradictory edits. To avoid this, develop a plan that includes all the individuals who will need to make edits, and send the document to them one at a time. Separately, shared cloud-based tools such as Google docs can reduce problems with version control but may bring their own set of issues with competing voices.
Resist the commenting urge: We all understand the urge to include edits in comments in the right-hand margin of a document or the body of an email. Resist the urge. Comments in the margin lead to confusion, misinterpretation, and inefficiency. Instead, if you think a change needs to be made to the text, simply make it. Save comments in the margin for genuine questions – not edits. Doing so will reduce the time and ambiguity associated with the editing process. As an alternative…
Make use of track changes functionality: The tools “Track changes” in Word and “Suggesting” in Google docs can be an editor’s best friend. By using these tools, the reviewer can make desired changes clear to the writer without the ambiguity and confusion associated with right-margin comments.
Editing can be a pain, but it is a necessary step when creating great content to ensure all participants are on the same page. To increase efficiency and create content that drives key messaging, practice the three tips above.
by Kim Mohr | Jun 10, 2025 | Blog
Many times, when we think of a brand that we know and love, we automatically associate that organization with the person who represents it in the public forum. Apple, the Dallas Mavericks, Nike and Microsoft have all had a notable spokesperson associated with their brand. While you may not have Michael Jordan on your bench, it’s as important for your organization to have a trusted frontman or woman to tell your story to the world.
So, Who Should You Choose?
While it may seem like a given to choose the head of your company, a recent article from pr.co cites research that shows the CEO is not always the way to go. Sure, the top boss might know the company and the technology better than anyone else, but does that person have what it takes to relay this knowledge in a relatable way that members of the media and the public can grasp and connect with?
When selecting a spokesperson, credibility is key. Even if your company exec is an expert on your product or service, it’s of the utmost importance that they have experience and knowledge that extends beyond the company talk track. Often, executives who have lived another life as a clinician, health system leader or hands-on data engineer make great spokespeople. They have worked through and grappled with the technology your solution is solving and can speak firsthand to the perils of the problem and the importance of a solution to like yours. Titles such as Chief Medical Officer and Chief Nursing Officer are often great choices. We’ve recently seen great interest in Chief AI Officers, and these executives are often adept to speak not only to the current state of technology, but they can offer insights into how we could see technology change in the near and long term.
Importantly, would you find the person you’re considering to speak for your company interesting to talk to over coffee or at a dinner party? Do they have a unique perspective? Are they passionate about finding a solve to the problem you are addressing? Media are people too, and just like you, they can get bored easily if a spokesperson comes across as static or rehearsed.
Another consideration: In key strategic situations, a company may select someone who is controversial to speak for the organization. Generally speaking, it’s best to avoid someone who runs the risk of alienating your customer base. If you’re considering a controversial or confrontational figure, work closely with your PR agency and internal stakeholders to weigh the pros and cons.
The more, the merrier?
A mistake some companies make lies in thinking they must choose just one person to speak for the company. This couldn’t be further from the truth. While you do want to maintain a consistent brand voice and drive home key talking points that have been determined through a thoughtful process, it is perfectly fine and often even preferable to have more than one spokesperson.
When using multiple spokespeople, differentiate based on each person’s area of expertise. Perhaps your CEO would be the one to give an interview to Axios a funding round, while your CMO would talk about the challenges of clinician burnout in a chat with a provider-focused podcast. Be deliberate when determining how many people will speak for your company. While a couple key leaders focused on disparate topics is great, too many voices can muddy the message and leave your audience confused. Additionally, determine who will speak for the company during a crisis (often your CEO or board chair) and develop a crisis communications plan that is shared with all relevant stakeholders in advance.
How to Build a Thought Leader
Once you have determined who will speak for the company, create a plan to introduce that person to the company. A PR plan should include thought leadership articles from your spokesperson that will be pitched and placed in key trade publications. To build credibility for your spokesperson and to secure earned placement, these pieces should cover a topic relevant to your space and avoid direct mention of your company. If your piece sounds like a sales pitch for your tech, it won’t see the light of day. Further, develop a social media content calendar that details posts for the company and your key spokespeople. Your audience wants to see that your leadership is part of the conversation in their area of expertise, so posting relevant articles from outside your company as well as engaging with outside content are all effective strategies.
A key part of being a spokesperson is, of course, speaking. Well before you schedule your first interview, schedule comprehensive media training for anyone who might be speaking on the company’s behalf. Amendola Director of Media Relations Grace Vinton offers tips for making the most of opportunities.
When it’s time to pitch, again, focus on broader areas of interest and prepare talking points in collaboration with your spokesperson and other stakeholders. You’ll often be given the chance to talk about what makes your company different, but let’s face it – no one likes someone who only talks about themselves all the time.
Additional Pitching Opportunities
While we often focus on health tech and healthcare trade publications and podcasts, Amendola Senior Writer Brandon Glenn reminds us in this recent blog post not to neglect mainstream media. Consumer and local outlets can provide golden opportunities in the right situations. Business publications such as the Wall Street Journal will often publish hiring news, so this can be a great option if your spokesperson has recently joined the company – a great way to get their name in front of a large audience. Axios loves big financial news, so if your spokesperson is willing to talk about a recent funding round or lucrative business deal, don’t overlook this mainstream outlet. Are you hosting a user meeting or participating in a charity even in the city where you’re headquartered or elsewhere? Try for an interview with the local business journal or morning news show.
Remember, too, that media is changing. While landing big publications is often the goal, smaller outlets can offer a precise target audience. Increasingly, bloggers and hosts of smaller podcasts are targeting the very audience you’re trying to reach.
Conclusion
Selecting a spokesperson is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make for your company. But don’t worry – remember these steps that we’ve covered here and you’ll be on your way to putting your company on the right path.
by Chris Nerney | May 28, 2025 | Blog
Some health technology entrepreneurs are absolutely convinced their company has a unique, revolutionary solution that will transform healthcare. And they will not hesitate to tell you!
Most, however, are more grounded. They only have to look around to see that the problems their solution is designed to solve – whether it’s clinical data quality, patient identity, billing accuracy, etc. – have attracted the interest of other clever and well-intentioned people. They have competition! Worse, some of these sector rivals are well-funded.
Which doesn’t mean your solution is any less genuinely transformative to healthcare consumers, providers, payers, or researchers. What it does mean is you likely face a formidable challenge in rising above the noise in your sector to attract and capture the attention of potential customers and investors. After all, there are a lot of stories being told out there.
So how can healthcare PR and marketing pros make their company’s story compelling enough to break through and stand out in a crowded market? For starters, health tech companies can gain a market advantage by clearly articulating (and repeating) across multiple channels what problems their solutions solve and how these solutions benefit patients. Why should customers choose your solution and not a competitor’s? You need a great answer to that question.
Hone your marketing language to highlight your company’s competitive differentiators. Once you’ve locked in on a framework for your messaging, you can deploy several specific techniques to help your health tech company rise above the clamoring masses. These include:
Practice precision marketing
The marketing messages that resonate with potential customers such as provider organizations or payers may not resonate with investors. While a hospital or health plan will want to know what your technology costs and how it would help them improve care quality or operational efficiency, they’re not interested in a graphic showing the projected growth of your startup’s market sector. Investors, on the other hand, care deeply about a sector’s growth potential as well as a prospective portfolio company’s strengths and weaknesses (particularly its technology and leadership team) relative to the competition.
It is essential that you learn the needs and pain points of each target audience and then tailor a message that specifically addresses them. Try to get feedback from members of your target audience (or people who understand their concerns and priorities) and then modify as necessary.
Go multimedia
We may be in the technology business, but humanity sells. The human connection is a powerful thing; people like to hear and see other people talk. That’s one of the reasons why podcasts have become so popular. If there is someone in your company who could shine on a podcast, do not hesitate to get that person some training and some bookings.
No matter how nervous your subject matter expert may be, once they see the positive response internally and externally, they’ll be pestering you for more podcast opportunities. Then they’ll ask for help getting an agent.
You also can use multimedia in social media and in press releases. Spice up your messaging with pictures, graphics, and even short videos. You won’t need to hire a crew for a three-camera shoot, either; videos can easily be recorded on a smartphone.
Get customers to tell their story
I know, it’s one of the hardest things in marketing. A health tech company’s customers – whether they’re a hospital, health system, payer, or academic center – may not want to get involved in your marketing efforts because 1) they’re pretty busy doing their own jobs, and 2) they worry about being perceived as shills for a vendor. From their perspective, those aren’t unreasonable concerns.
But you won’t know what your customers say until you ask. Suggest doing a white paper on their experiences with your solution or ask for one of their spokespeople to join you on stage at an industry conference or for a podcast. People like to talk about their successes and impart advice to colleagues. It’s all upside to them.
One great selling point for healthcare marketing and PR pros who are trying to get a customer to share their experiences is to emphasize that the customer’s story (and yours) centers around how they were able to better serve patients using your technology, not the merits of the technology itself (which should be apparent in the telling of the story). Again, it’s an opportunity for the customer to talk about what they’re doing to help patients, research, or efforts to control healthcare costs.
Conclusion
To succeed in highly competitive markets, health tech vendors need a coherent message centered around how their solution benefits both patients and potential customers. By tailoring these messages to targeted audiences, leveraging the power of multimedia to build human connections, and working with customers to communicate powerful success stories, health tech vendors truly can stand out in a crowded market.
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