by Louie Holwerk | Mar 13, 2019 | Blog
If you’re a content marketing professional who is anything like me, I feel for you. But let’s set that aside for the moment.
If you’re a content marketer, you might be overlooking one of the best sources of intel regarding how your target audience talks and just as important how they don’t talk.
Here’s the thing, good people: Search data can be instructive. It can also be misleading. At the very least, it needs to be gut-checked against the experience of the experts who continuously interact with, and listen closely to, the decision makers and influencers your company needs to reach. Who are these mysterious experts?
Your company’s sales force.
Look to your left. Look to your right. One of those people might be a salesperson.
To forge a good working relationship with salespeople around content marketing, you have to remember that the demands on their time are already quite high, their leadership is understandably protective of their attention, and in some cases their insights and best ideas were previously hoovered up to create resources or wins for which they didn’t receive any real credit.
So it’s critical to be a conscientious colleague. Put yourself in their shoes and approach working with them as a two-way street, rather than a one-way value-extraction operation.
The glorious benefits of working with salespeople
Let’s look at a simple example from the world of revenue cycle management (RCM).
Imagine you work for a company that sells software and hardware solutions designed to help providers accept and process patient payments, verify patient insurance and coverage details, and estimate patients’ financial obligation before they receive care.
Further imagine that your company has two sales teams one focused on small and medium-sized outpatient facilities, and one focused on large hospitals and health systems. Finally, imagine that you, the snazzily dressed content marketer, need to develop content that helps generate quality leads for both teams.
Step one is understanding the same messaging won’t necessarily work for all audiences. Step two is making sure you gut-check the messaging and language you do use with the salespeople who talk to those audiences every day, and pick their brain for what makes the relevant decision makers perk up their ears. Doing so will ensure you don’t mix messaging when it needs to be segmented, and that you don’t waste time segmenting your messaging where it doesn’t need to occur.
For small and medium-sized providers, topics and terms related to the above example might include “front office,” “patient payments,” or “patient collections.”
But an executive at a health system might see those same terms and think, “this content isn’t really intended for me.” Why? Because their ears and eyes are more attuned to terms such as “patient financial services” (PFS), “patient access,” and “patient financial responsibility.” In addition, they might hear/read “patient collections” as an outsourcing service, rather than a function conducted in-house as part of PFS.
That’s the kind of real-world insight you gain from working with your salespeople. And when you have it, you not only have the ammo needed to self-optimize your content marketing work product you also have grounded insight that can inform your paid search and advertising, your booth materials, keyword research, direct mail campaigns, and all other marketing activities that involve copy in one capacity or another.
Pull up a chair and stay awhile
As I mentioned above, to truly harness the power of your sales team’s insight, you have to step up with respect. Here are a few suggested best practices based on my experience of getting it wrong and getting it less wrong:
Don’t schedule a stupid meeting. Examples of stupid meetings include:
- Any meeting that takes place during that salesperson’s most critical or productive selling hours. (Ask them what day/time is best.)Any meeting that cuts into their time at the end of the month or end of the quarter.
- A meeting in which you give a lengthy presentation or introduce yet another spreadsheet where they’re supposed to do or track something
- A meeting scheduled based on assumed interest or assumed uniform interest. Talk to the sales managers a little first; they’ll know who to connect you to.
Ask if it’s OK to just kind of hang out and work on your own stuff while you absorb what they’re saying to prospects, upsell clients, and each other. Not everyone is comfortable with this approach, and not every office setup is conducive to it, but pulling up a chair and being a fly on the wall (or wherever the chair is) is a great way to gain insight and generate new content ideas. Even better, it cuts down on the additional demands you’re placing on sales folks’ time and attention.
Snacks never hurt nobody. You’re a guest in their world. Bring some good coffee, some quality cookies, a bag of dang fine tangelos whatever floats your bobber. If you really, really have to schedule a stupid meeting, spring for lunch. These are gestures of respect, but they’re also a helpful way to get and keep the conversation going. Based on careful research, I can tell you it’s called breaking bread for a reason.
Look for ways to help them. Whether it’s copy-editing a high-profile email, showing them a Microsoft Word or Google Docs trick, or helping them navigate a byzantine content management system, there are countless ways your skills can turn the hangout into a more equitable exchange.
Celebrate and reward. Make sure their bosses (and, as appropriate, their bosses’ bosses) are aware of the their extra effort and contributions after you demonstrate qualitative and/or quantitative improvement.
Summing up: Snacks are key, content is king
Pair this approach with an overall sound marketing and PR strategy, and your prospect audience(s) will experience a seamless content funnel that feels almost perfectly tailored to their interests one that makes them want to learn more.
by Erik Yorke | Nov 14, 2018 | Blog
Many young organizations seeking to amplify their marketing and communications initiatives look to a public relations agency to help augment existing sales and marketing initiatives. But PR is not a one-size-fits-all discipline and it isn’t limited to media relations, as some still believe. Which means there are all types of ways to become a PR client.
Certainly, media coverage can be powerful, but is your organization built in such a way as to attract the kind of coverage needed to move the business needle? Or are there other facets of PR that you should consider that are more targeted and a better fit for how your business works? Let’s start by taking a look at what your current organizational strengths are.
Media Relations Why and Why Not?
Not all organizations are well-suited or prepared to generate media coverage. Earning coverage is already not an easy task, but can be impossible if your organization doesn’t have some key assets.
Asset #1 A Story
To get coverage in the media, whether it’s a trade publication or The New York Times, you need a story. The growing number of journalists publishing on the internet means there are a lot of places for you to potentially see your story. However, despite enthusiasm and passion within your organization for the projects, products, services and industry trends that you’re involved in, journalists often still don’t see the value to their readers. Some questions to ask yourselves that can help determine if your story is a winner for journalists:
How unique is your business or niche? If you do something that a lot of other companies do, or if you produce a commodity product, it will be more difficult to find a story hook.
Do you have SMEs that possess a truly unique experience and point of view on key trends? Personalities can drive coverage, particularly if you have people that are uniquely qualified to discuss certain topics.
Do you have customers in the healthcare realm this typically means providers that are willing to share experiences and outcomes either (or both) patient health outcomes and financial outcomes?
Asset #2 Data
Building off that last point top tier business journalists are always looking for data. They are a skeptical bunch, and claims of performance are not enough. Validation data represents something that media can sink their teeth into. All the better if you have a third-party such as a healthcare provider or a representative from a respected professional association share their data and perspectives on your story.
With those two key assets in mind, we can look at two very common asks that PR pros get from clients; interviews and content marketing.
Interviews
Every organization would love to have its leaders interviewed. But, despite the number of media publishing online, the amount of top-tier publications with editorial staff dedicated to doing interviews and writing in-depth stories is shrinking. That means that the ones that do interviews can be extremely selective. To stand out, you absolutely must have both of the key assets we’ve discusses a great story , and data to back it up. For B2B organizations, this almost always means linking the reporter up with a customer e.g. a physician, a hospital system executive, etc. that can speak to how a solution helped them solve a problem with data that supports the point.
If your organization has a difficult time coaxing customers to speak out on your behalf, interviews will be harder to come by. But there is another option that might work better.
Content Marketing
Such organizations may have a much more successful program if they lean more heavily into content marketing. By producing your own content and sharing it online, through social media, and through email marketing campaigns, you can control your message and time your stories based on your calendar.
Content is also a good alternative to interviews for these kinds of organizations. If your organization is staffed with a group of subject matter experts, you can often find a home for your story by writing it yourself. Most media are understaffed, yet still hungry for content, so bylined articles by your leaders are a great way to get your message out to targeted audiences.
Finding the right fit
Many, if not all, organizations can benefit from including PR in their marketing mix. It’s important, though, to have a good understanding of how your organization can best utilize PR for maximum success.
Setting out on a program heavily focused on media relations may not be the right fit if your organization doesn’t have unique and compelling data to support its claims of market differentiation. But even without a bench of enthusiastic customer champions ready to help you share your story, you can still find success through other channels, such as content marketing.
by Ken Terry | Oct 24, 2018 | Blog
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.
by admin | Sep 25, 2018 | News
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Sept. 25, 2018 Amendola Communications, a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare and health IT public relations and marketing agency, is pleased to announce that PatientPing has selected Amendola as its agency of record to lead its PR and marketing strategy. PatientPing is a Boston-based care coordination platform that reduces the cost of healthcare by seamlessly connecting providers with crucial information about shared patients.
Amendola will leverage a broad range of public relations, marketing and content services to help drive PatientPing’s expansion of a nationwide community of providers coordinating care through real-time notifications, or “Pings,” that keep providers informed when patients receive care anywhere across the continuum. Amendola will craft engaging content to showcase the thought leadership and expertise of PatientPing’s corporate leadership and the success stories of its end users.
“Amendola came highly recommended to us by a leading healthcare data analytics company whose amazing success with the agency speaks volumes,” said Jay Desai, PatientPing co-founder and CEO. “Amendola hit the ground running and we’re excited about working together to spread the word about how the PatientPing platform enables providers, payers and other healthcare organizations to leverage real-time data to achieve the shared goal of improving the efficiency of the healthcare system and ultimately, achieving better patient satisfaction and outcomes.”
Amendola will work with PatientPing to increase brand awareness and engagement by crystallizing its core value proposition to target audiences and drawing on Amendola’s deep industry knowledge and top-tier media relationships in health IT.
“Safe and effective care coordination and transitions continue to challenge healthcare organizations,” said Jodi Amendola, CEO of Amendola Communications. “This partnership is rewarding for the Amendola team because our strategy and tactics will increase awareness among key stakeholders that they can effectively address this challenge with PatientPing’s proven solutions that share real-time patient information across care teams in any location.”
About PatientPing
PatientPing is a Boston-based care coordination platform that reduces the cost of healthcare by seamlessly connecting providers to coordinate patient care. The platform allows providers to collaborate on shared patients through Pings real-time notifications when patients receive care and Stories important patient context at the point of care and allows provider organizations, payers, governments, individuals and the organizations supporting them to leverage this real-time data to reach their shared goals of improving the efficiency of our healthcare system. For more information, please visit www.patientping.com.
Media Contact:
Marcia Rhodes
Amendola Communications
mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com
by admin | Aug 28, 2018 | News
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., August 28, 2018 Although they say you can’t go home again, don’t tell that to CTG, a provider of reliable information technology (IT) solutions and services to organizations in North America and Western Europe. Amendola Communications, a nationally recognized, award-winning public relations and marketing agency, announced today that it has been selected as CTG’s public relations agency of record in North America across all of its lines of business. This marks the second PR engagement between Amendola and CTG, in addition to a number of individual projects that the two firms have worked on together.
CTG’s PR program will focus on promoting the company’s solutions in various industries, including healthcare and life sciences, tech, oil and gas, manufacturing, and a strong strategic staffing offering across all lines of business. The Amendola team will apply its industry expertise, longstanding relationships with editors and writers, and content development capabilities to help CTG expand its business.
“We are very excited to be working with Amendola Communications again, especially with their extraordinary communication experience, media relationships and knowledge, and proven reputation for results,” said Amanda LeBlanc, Chief Marketing Officer and VP, Marketing of CTG. “CTG’s strategic plans for growth will require a strong PR partner that can help us rise above a crowded field. Our clients have told us that our reliability, in terms of doing what we say we’ll do, on time and on budget, is one of our greatest assets. We feel the same about Amendola Communications. We are looking forward to taking full advantage of the knowledge and expertise of their entire team.”
For more than 50 years, CTG has built a reputation as the most reliable IT services provider across multiple industries. The company delivers high-value, industry-specific strategies, solutions, services, and staffing. The company boasts a Fortune 1000 client list that spans 74 of the 83 major industries defined by the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes, many of them with long-standing relationships.
Amendola will support CTG with a comprehensive media relations program, pitching the knowledge and experience of its numerous subject matter experts for interviews and contributed content as well as bringing its press releases to the attention of the media. The agency will also provide event-related media support, support for speaker opportunities and content development, webinar programming guidance, as well as collaborating with the CTG team on new ways to take advantage of social media.
“CTG is an incredible company with a long history of doing great work for its clients, so we are delighted to have them back on our client roster,” said Jodi Amendola, CEO of Amendola Communications. “They have a stellar reputation in healthcare, which is where Amendola began and where we first began our working relationship. Today, we’re looking forward to working with them to generate opportunities to increase visibility beyond just the healthcare space to all the industries that CTG serves. It says a lot about us that they chose to return, and in an expanded capacity.”
About CTG:
Over the last three decades, CTG has provided reliable IT solutions and services to more than 145 enterprise information management clients. Our more than 500 Information Management professionals help clients recognize the true business value of their data by transforming, managing, and visualizing it through our solution suite. Our EIM services have helped meet the unique needs of companies in various industries, including manufacturing, energy, government, healthcare and life sciences, telecommunications, and financial services. CTG has operations in North America, Western Europe, and India. The company regularly posts news and other important information online at www.ctg.com.
Media Contact:
Marcia Rhodes
Amendola Communications
mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com
Page 4 of 15« First«...23456...10...»Last »
