by Administrator | May 9, 2017 | News
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 / mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com
by Heather Caouette | Apr 12, 2017 | Blog
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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?
by Administrator | Mar 15, 2017 | News
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
by Lisa Chernikoff | Feb 8, 2017 | Blog
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:
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- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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?
by Heather Caouette | Jan 4, 2017 | Blog
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!
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