by Morgan Lewis | Dec 4, 2019 | Blog
In public relations, we work with most of our clients on thought leadership bylined articles. These articles frequently include the client’s opinions, most often about how healthcare provider organizations or payers can improve productivity, efficiency, patient care and other aspects of running their businesses.
In healthcare business-to-business PR, however, we rarely get the opportunity to work with clients who truly want to take a critical stand on an issue, not necessarily political, but one that some readers may interpret as (gasp!) controversial. This is understandable considering businesses often do not want to alienate any potential clients based on their position.
At the same time, it’s a shame because writing opinion pieces generates credibility when the article is carefully researched, speaks from a place of knowledge and experience and is well-written. Opinion pieces also elicit a stronger emotional response in readers and are more likely to be shared online. One study by a marketing research company analyzed the 10,000 most shared articles across the web and categorized them by feelings, finding that “awe” was the most common emotion among the highly shared articles. “Laughter” and “Amusement” were the other top emotions, but that’s not typically our goal with opinion pieces.
The firm’s analysis echoes an earlier study conducted by The New York Times several years ago which asked readers why they shared a story they found online. Among the top reasons was to “bring valuable and entertaining content to one another” and “get the word out about causes they care about.” A good opinion article accomplishes both those goals and can inspire awe or at least a strong sense of admiration in the reader who may share the piece with key decision makers in the healthcare organization. When writing opinion articles, keep in mind the following:
Think of the reader
Certainly, the CEO or other thought leaders at your company may have an opinion about a healthcare industry problem or regulation, but is it what the reader also cares about? If not, the lack of relevance will make for a forgettable article. Instead, determine one of the most common pain points among your customers (and one that your solution may address) and focus on the opinion piece on that issue.
Do your research
Eliciting emotion is crucial for opinion pieces, but the piece will fall flat without the facts to back them up. Opinion articles, like any sort of persuasive writing, need ample statistics from credible sources to support this position. Don’t go overboard, though. Too many numbers may get confusing or cumbersome and may overshadow the story you’re telling and the personality of the writer, both of which must come through.
Establish credibility
The Duke University Communications Office offers a great, quick content and style guide for writing opinion articles. In their tips, they recommend that the writer “play up your personal connection to the readers” to increase relevance and build credibility. For their guide, Duke is referring to local consumer newspapers and publications. For trade and national business media, it’s helpful if the writer demonstrates their deep healthcare knowledge by sharing a bit about their background in the industry, if they have some.
Readers tend to trust people more who have been in their shoes, so showing you’ve felt their pain firsthand can elicit a stronger sense of admiration and drive action. If the writer lacks personal experience in healthcare, describing an anecdote about a client or several clients can be just as effective.
Ruffle some feathers, respectfully
With facts and credibility established, the writer needs to take an unequivocal position on an issue, even if some or many readers will not agree, or even object to it. Taking a bold stance on an issue that is relevant to readers demonstrates confidence, strength and leadership, all qualities that healthcare leaders are looking for in partners. At the same time, demonstrating humility by explaining why you can understand the other side of the issue or the limitations of your position, is also important to show that this is a well-considered position.
Offer solutions
If an opinion article just criticizes and offers no solutions then it is no help to anybody, including your company. Describe at a high level how this issue could be solved focusing on all aspects. It may be tempting to reference your company’s solution at this point, but refrain from self-promotion as much as possible. Nothing weakens the integrity of an opinion article like an obvious sales pitch. Ideally, the content will drive readers to explore your company and download a deeper dive into your solution through a white paper or eBook. The article is meant to highlight the knowledge, expertise and vision of the people behind the solution, which is just as important as the tech.
Use sparingly
Opinion articles may seem risky to some, but with so much thought leadership content available online, it can be difficult to stand out. A strongly held opinion articulated and argued effectively using credible evidence can differentiate the writer above other thought leaders in B2B healthcare, but also help readers see those leaders as people” – and maybe even inspire “awe.”
by Brandon Glenn | Aug 28, 2019 | Blog
For establishing thought leadership, there are few more effective tools in the public relations toolbox than byline articles.
Like the opinion column in the editorial section of our increasingly vanishing newspapers, the byline presents an opportunity for the author to share her personal take on a topic that is generating media attention or controversy. Generally, a byline represents the best way for an executive to showcase and explain her viewpoint in an in-depth manner to a targeted B2B audience of industry peers.
But writing bylines can be tricky. Publications are increasingly inundated with contributions, and several have changed their business models, now treating contributed bylines more like advertising meaning if you want to play, you have to pay. That means the media outlets that still publish contributed content can afford to be more selective than ever in terms of what they will accept, and some bylines will inevitably be rejected by editors.
To ensure your byline article doesn’t quickly end up in editors’ trash folders, make sure to avoid the following common mistakes.
Too self-promotional: For those unfamiliar with the nuances of bylines, this may be the most difficult concept to grasp: It’s not about you. The vast majority of publications expect bylines to be vendor-neutral, meaning authors cannot sell, promote or generally even mention their own company, products or services. Rather than viewing a byline as a means of converting your go-to sales deck to paragraph form, consider it an opportunity to share an inside perspective on a specific, well-defined topic of interest from an experienced industry veteran.
Doesn’t deal with an industry problem: While most readers who come across your byline aren’t interested in learning the intimate details of the widgets your company sells, they are interested in learning about real problems their industry peers have encountered and the steps leaders have taken to overcome those problems. That’s where the real value of a byline is found, in the straight talk of one industry leader providing others with an inside story of a challenging situation that they struggled (at least initially) to conquer. Extra points are awarded for honesty, clarity, surprise or even controversy.
So for example, a byline on the topic of “why hospitals need to account for patient’s social determinants of health” doesn’t have a great chance of pick-up, because everyone knows that social determinants are important by now. In contrast, an author could get much more mileage from a byline topic such as “why hospitals’ social determinants initiatives are doomed to fail without A, B and C” because that’s a topic that may tell readers something they don’t already know.
Too long: Renowned prize-winning authors may have the luxury of slowly setting a scene by painting a picture with words, drawing the reader in with multiple anecdotes and examples and then getting to the meat of the story. Business executives who contribute content to health IT publications are rarely granted that indulgence. In other words, keep it short. The sweet spot for a byline is about 700 to 1,000 words, and most editors prefer the shorter end of the spectrum. A good rule of thumb: If your byline exceeds two pages of a Word document, it’s time to make some edits.
Bylines are a wonderful tool for demonstrating industry expertise and thought leadership, but they can quickly go off-the-rails if authors don’t incorporate best practices. To interest readers (and editors) in your unique viewpoint, remember the above guidelines.
by Morgan Lewis | Feb 13, 2019 | Blog
As a PR writer, I often ghostwrite bylined articles for clients. These articles typically involve interviewing the CEO or another thought leader at the company so I can gather information for a first draft. But they are also helpful for giving me a sense of the executive’s or physician’s voice and learning about their goals for the content.
During these interviews, there is occasionally some confusion about who I am, why I am interviewing the thought leader and what they should say. I am not at all surprised or offended when this happens.
Considering the many meetings and countless calls these thought leaders handle in a typical day from customers, partners, investors and other company leaders, it is no wonder that our interview is not high on their priority list. However, going into an interview prepared can help cover more ground in less time.
If there is one thing I’ve learned over the years, all thought leaders love efficiency. That’s why I’ve created some tips to remember for your next thought leadership interview with your PR team.
- Speak freely. This tip is first because it’s an obstacle that pops up frequently. When thought leaders start an interview, they are occasionally under the impression that I’m a reporter or editor for the publication. To the contrary, I’m an extension of the thought leader’s company, not the publication, so thought leaders can speak their thoughts freely knowing that they will have plenty of opportunities later to review and edit the content as they wish before it is published or posted.
- Know your reader. Some of our clients offer solutions that serve the spectrum of healthcare stakeholders including health systems, physician practices, payers and patients. While some topics are universal, an independent primary care physician is not always concerned with the same challenges as a health system CFO and vice versa. It is always helpful to concentrate on readers’ specific, highest-priority pain points so the content is most relevant.
- Tell me stories. Thought leadership content, by its nature, is high-level. Because of this, sometimes it can lose readers’ interest when they can’t visualize how it applies to their organization. Which is why I’m puzzled when executives ask: “can I tell you a story?” Or apologize: “sorry to bore you with that story.” To the contrary, I love stories and so do readers, even in B2B. Granted, the narratives should be relevant to the topic we’re discussing, but examples and stories are a memorable and effective way to share or explain a thought-leadership concept.
- Bring the facts. Writers are usually pretty good at researching statistics and studies, but, as all healthcare executives know, there is so much data and so little time. I urge everyone I interview to offer their favorite data or studies they feel would be relevant and interesting to readers. It is always better to have too much information and cut it later than have points woefully under-supported.
- Stay on point. Some executives want to discuss nearly every challenge or improvement opportunity in the healthcare industry during our interview. It is often interesting to hear their perspective, but it can occasionally stray from relevance and not always be useful, especially when writing a bylined article with a word-count limit. Shorter, focused articles are also more likely to be read and remembered, according to Forrester.
I realize most senior leaders’ time is very limited, so I’m grateful when they can spare a half-hour of their day to discuss an article or blog post. If they can let their guard down a little and pull some information together beforehand, that time can be well spent, resulting in compelling thought-leadership content that drives awareness, strengthens the brand and generates quality leads.
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 Lisa Chernikoff | Apr 11, 2018 | Blog
We’ve all heard of analysis paralysis the state of over-analyzing or over-thinking a situation so much that a decision is never made and the outcome is impacted. Recently I’ve been witnessing a curious yet similar phenomenon at healthcare IT companies across the country and the analysis paralysis is all about “strategy.” As in overall corporate strategy and direction.
In short, these companies are all about strategic planning, but in the end they seem to come out of it having virtually no strategic plans. They’re all about all-day strategy meetings which result in no strategy but rather more questions that prompt more all-day meetings and shockingly, yet still no strategy.
From the outside looking in, this cycle is an endless hamster wheel that leaves team members feeling tired rather than energized, frustrated rather than empowered, and most troublingly, so terrified that their actions won’t follow the still-to-be-approved (or never-to-be-approved) strategy that they simply don’t act. This inaction can be minor or major as it builds up over time but it’s always detrimental.
Back to basics to get results
Their “strategic focus,” while well-intentioned, sets companies on the wrong path in the short and long-term, especially in regards to PR which should have a constant, ongoing cadence to create momentum and maximize results.
While company strategies can be complicated and have a profound impact on PR efforts, many aspects of PR strategy are quite uncomplicated. In fact, there are core tenets which are quite basic and fundamental to any sound PR plan. There are the pillars that cannot be disputed so they need not be delayed regardless of executive indecision.
Whether your strategy is set or you’re one of many stuck on the endless hamster wheel, these four actions are key to success. They are mission-critical, and safely fit into any PR strategy for 2018 and beyond:
1. Write and distribute press releases
It sounds like a no-brainer but for many companies it’s not because they live in fear of being “off brand” or “misaligned.” They live in fear of putting out too many press releases yet not enough press releases. Those fears are unwarranted though since your company is doing good work. Why shouldn’t it be shared? Did you develop a new product? Let’s write a release. Did you sign a new customer? Let’s write a release. Is your CEO speaking at an industry event? Let’s write a release.
Writing a press release is one of the simplest ways to communicate what’s happening and why it matters. Distributing those press releases positions your company as a key player and thought leader in the ongoing industry dialogue. It’s not complicated. It doesn’t need to be debated and as long as you’re not regularly putting out more than 2-4 press releases per month, you’re not overdoing it. So, just do it.
2. Highlight your customer’s success stories
Once again, it sounds like a no-brainer. You have customers. They like your products. They like your team. They have achieved impressive results that they’re willing to share. Let them be your advocates. Capture their stories in writing. Put them in front of reporters who are eager to hear from both executives and end-users at provider organizations. It’s as simple as that. Just like with press releases, these customer success stories illustrate that your company is doing good work and that’s what makes more customers want to work with you, which of course is one of the biggest end goals of any strategy. It’s not complicated. It doesn’t need to be debated. As long as your customers are singing your praises, hand over the microphone and let them sing.
3. Emphasize your expertise
In addition to highlighting your clients, highlight your company’s thought leaders. After all, they are also doing good work (you may see a pattern here). They have knowledge to share. They have ideas to contribute. They are the faces of your company and you need some faces even if you don’t have a final strategy. This action can mean authoring bylined articles or blogs on their behalf or pitching them as experts for media interviews. By positioning your executives and SMEs as thought leaders and joining the industry conversation, you’re helping to make your company a go-to source for future media opportunities. It’s not complicated. It doesn’t need to be debated and it would really be a shame for their knowledge to go to waste.
4. Educate your sales team about PR efforts
Regardless of strategy indecision, your sales team needs to close deals. There is nothing off-strategy about building your business. Media placements from your PR efforts are one of the most powerful but underutilized tools in your sales team toolkits. Obviously, sales prospects are not interested in the same information as the media. In fact, they may be turned off by being sent a press release about a new client that just signed on. However, they may be very interested in press coverage from well-regarded industry publications that profile your company news, thought leadership, and customer success stories. That is not only informative but also adds credibility and implies that you want to keep them in the know.
Similarly, if one of your client case studies is featured in a third-party publication, that’s a prime opportunity to reach out, share the article and offer a reference call with the client quoted. It’s not complicated. It doesn’t need to be debated and if you’re earning media placements it is certainly a shame not to use them to their fullest potential.
It’s time to get off the hamster wheel and get on with the real work that makes a difference.
