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One CHP understands digital tactics driving consumerism, strengths of diverse patient communities

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UnitedHealth Group created the Optum brand in 2011 by merging its existing pharmacy and care delivery services into a single brand, comprising of OptumHealth, OptumInsight and OptumRx. The commercial healthcare provider (CHP) has business interests in technology and related services, pharmacy care services and various direct healthcare services. In 2019, Optum’s revenues surpassed $100 billion.

Focusing on data and analytics, pharmacy care services, population health, healthcare delivery and healthcare operations, Optum serves employers, government agencies, health plans, life science companies, care providers and individuals and families.

How did it grow its brand awareness among its target audience of health system buyers and bellwethers? Its content marketing through different distribution channels including digital, print and other media helped promote its partnerships with healthcare stakeholders.

Benjamin Meents, senior vice president of corporate marketing, brand and events at Optum, has said that the CHP’s content strategy, messaging and story was grounded around celebrating the accomplishments achieved through working with those working in the healthcare space and tackling the biggest challenges in healthcare with their partners.

The intersection of technology, data and analytics with the humanness of the healthcare sector provides a unique opportunity for those in healthcare marketing to share the impact of their organizations. Making an emotional connection with prospective patients and their families can inspire them to stay healthy for themselves and those around them.

A brand awareness campaign in healthcare must be flexible and adaptable to the diverse communities that the healthcare community serves. Optum strives to portray the real, lived experiences of patients and understand that strength comes in many forms. Highlighting patients’ exceptional stories is one of Optum’s own strengths through its omnichannel marketing approach. 

Optum also understands the need for digital marketing in healthcare and what’s driving it. Consumers want instant gratification with access to information anytime, anywhere, online and on-the-go. They want innovation that integrates the disparate data from all their devices into a single view. They also want personalization and expect their needs to be known and their communication preferences to be targeted. And they want simplification in all their interactions, which must be quick and easy.

According to an Optum whitepaper, digital tactics today that support healthcare consumerism include:

  • Online health insurance shopping.
  • Doctor email patients within secure applications.
  • Pharmacy calls with prescription refill reminders.
  • Consumer receives push message on smartphone, e.g., fitness challenge ranking.
  • Health insurers provide free wearable for completing preventive screening.

And digital tactics in the future include:

  • Request medication from smartwatch.
  • Get a real-time text alert when blood pressure is too high.
  • Receive one simple bill for care.
  • Build their own health plan, based on their personalized needs, on their insurer’s website.
  • Have a single dashboard with all their health information.
  • Receive personalized messages based on their data to drive better decision-making and better health.

Healthcare organizations must meet consumers where they are online. Optum says the most commonly researched topics are specific diseases or conditions, treatment options, doctors or other health professionals, and healthcare coverage in general, and that digital marketing is a critical enabler.

How can your business leverage marketing to generate revenue and attention for your brand? At Share Moving Media we help best in class manufacturers build relationships with industry stakeholders. Please contact us at sadams@sharemovingmedia.com to learn how we can help you gain market share.

The Value of a Trusted Industry Newsletter

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In today’s marketplace, the email Inbox has become a coveted place for marketers to try and pique the interest of supply chain leaders.

According to Templafy, 86% of professionals named email as their preferred means of business communication and email ranked as the third most influential source of information for B2B audiences – topped only by colleague recommendations and industry-specific influencers.

In the same blog, Templafy revealed that the average office worker receives around 121 emails  every workday. Indeed, to truly grab the attention of supply chain leaders, healthcare marketers will need to find a way to stand out.

One powerful digital marketing tool is a well-regarded newsletter. These are much more personalized – and informative – than a marketing email. Newsletters are useful tools to educate and inform readers, all while building an audience that will come to depend on the platform for news, insights and tips on how to do their job better.

However, newsletters need compelling content and repetition in order to gain the trust of healthcare supply chain leaders. It can take months, or even years, to build that kind of value for today’s readership. That’s why partnering with a trusted industry newsletter is a good strategy for brands looking to get in front of, and stay in front of, their targeted audience.

Share Moving Media’s flagship newsletter, the dail-eNews, is a real-time email newsletter for those involved in the business of healthcare. It has been delivered on a daily basis to over 20,000 decision-makers in GPOs, IDNs and the manufacturing and distribution segments of the healthcare industry for more than a decade. Each edition of the dail-eNews provides an opportunity for healthcare marketers to gain the attention of supply chain leaders via banner ads, announcements of new product launches, features, initiatives, and more.

Share Moving Media also produces several other newsletters including National Accounts Weekly, the Medical Device Council, and Supply Chain Hub. For more information on SMM’s digital publications and how to partner, visit sharemovingmedia.com.

Growth in Ads

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The pandemic impacted many aspects of daily business, including the marketing and advertising industry. During the pandemic, the advertising industry experienced rapid growth, and now that the world is moving forward, and continues to be higher than average.

According to a forecast by Brian Wieser and published on AdWeek.com, the advertising industry in the United States is projected to grow 5% in 2023. Total ad revenue will grow 2.0% to $363 billion in 2023. In 2024, there is an expected surge of 8.1% projected ad revenue growth.

The growth of the ad industry has steadily increased in the past decade due to access to cheap capital that provided “vast sums” of money for companies to use toward advertising pursuits, according to analyst Brian Wieser, media and advertising analyst/consultant.

So, how has the industry changed? And what do those changes mean for the medical supply chain industry? Read on to learn more:

Why did the ad industry expand during the pandemic?

Advertising during the pandemic was unpredictable. During COVID-19 lockdowns, many advertisers took the time to pause and reevaluate their marketing strategies to develop more engaging and creative ads. Now that the world is beginning to normalize post-pandemic, there have been many changes and differences in the primary ways that companies advertise, such as an increase in digital advertisements such as with content on social media, website, podcast, etc.

How popular is digital advertising?

Digital platforms such as social media, YouTube, commerce/retail media, and companies like Apple account for 64% of all advertising. This influence is expected to grow 11% this year in 2023, according to Wieser. Retail media is also on track to grow by 20% in 2023, led by companies such as Amazon.

What does the increase mean for the supply chain industry?

The supply chain industry can greatly benefit from taking advantage of digital advertising in their marketing efforts. Advertising content published on platforms such as online and social media can promote a brand to a wide audience and gain invaluable exposure. For companies in the medical supply chain industry, digital advertising is also beneficial because it can provide a platform to promote a company to hospitals or industry execs.

The advertising industry is expanding and increasing, and that dominance is only expected to grow in the coming years. If your brand could benefit from assistance with creating content for a strong and successful marketing campaign, contact John Pritchard with Share Moving Media at jpritchard@sharemovingmedia.com. SMM has over 30 years of experience advertising within the medical supply chain industry and can help your brand take advantage of the rise of digital advertising through content creation. Contact us today to set up a preliminary meeting session to learn more.

How to Create Shareable Content

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Social media marketing is all about creating shareable content – those viral posts are veritable gold in the hills for social media marketers, and it’s not always easy to find that gold. The goal of using your social media to connect with your audience is to leverage the power of each platform to get your followers to engage with your posts. When your followers are sharing the content you create, knowledge of your brand will organically, naturally grow its online presence. It’s a big job, but it’s critical to succeeding in a digital world.

Finding the right ingredients for content that is inherently shareable can be elusive and challenging for organizations who are trying to engage with their audience through strategically engineered content. Strategy is the key word here – when you are intentionally creating content with the audience in mind, this becomes much easier to do well.

Here are three key ideas to keep in mind when you are creating shareable content.

It needs to be relevant

With all of the background noise in the world right now, there’s never been a better time to strive for relevancy. Our attention is constantly getting pulled in a dozen different directions, so when we find something that is relevant to our experience or circumstances, it resonates much more. This is especially in regard to creating shareable content. When your audience sees something that is relevant to them, they are much more likely to share it with their own colleagues and peers, effectively getting more eyers on it.

Shareable content has to be relevant. It has to have some sort of deeper meaning or be timely to the person who is engaging with the content. Without relevance, why will it matter to your audience? If you aren’t sure what’s relevant to your audience, do a poll to see what kind of content they would be interested in seeing. Approach your content and social media strategy as sharing news related to your organization and your industry with your audience.

It needs to get an emotional response

The quest for meaning and value is a huge component of the human experience – part of what makes viral content so powerful is the emotional response it elicits from the people engaging with it. If you want your content to have any resonance with your audience, it’s important to craft it with what your audience cares about.

Stories are the most powerful tool for eliciting an emotional response. When you tell stories that speak to the emotional triggers of your audience, you can better create content that will drive results for your organization. Whether you are using a personal story, a customer testimonial, or even a case study, leveraging a narrative into your content will help to connect to your audience on an emotional level.

It needs to be valuable

The need for valuable content cannot be overstated – if it’s not creating value for the end-user, why would they bother to spend time consuming the content? If you’re looking to create shareable content, anything that’s overly promotional or an advertisement will likely not be shared by your audience. Instead, lean more towards educational content like blogs, infographics, and white papers that are designed to provide relevant information to your audience.

Consider the “80-20 Rule”: 80% of the content that you post on social media should be educational and value-based, while 20% should directly promote and advertise your organization. The reality is that you’ll never connect to your audience by only sharing ads. If you limit the amount of promotional content that your audience sees, they may be more willing to act when they do see one.

Creating shareable content can be a powerful way to increase customer engagement and brand awareness. Share Moving Media has over 30 years of experience adapting business’ marketing campaigns to succeed in the healthcare supply chain industry. If your business could benefit from the creation of online content such as blogs, podcasts, webinars, marketing material, and more to set your business apart in the medical supply industry, contact Scott Adams at sadams@sharemovingmedia.com to set up a time to meet.

How to Build Brand Trust

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Marketing has a major role to play in the rate of growth of companies within the healthcare industry.  Companies that create successful marketing campaigns have the potential to gain more brand exposure and increase their recognition from influential supply chain executives.

Brand trust within the supply chain industry is a large part of what makes a company stand out and excel at marketing. Brand trust is defined as the confidence and loyalty that customers have in a brand. Customers that have high brand trust believe that a company will deliver on promises conveyed in their marketing efforts. Content creation and marketing campaigns can be a great way to start introducing brand information and positive rhetoric about your company that increases consumer trust in your brand.

Read on for four tips to increase brand trust:

  1. Consistent Content Creation

Content that informs and persuades audiences is very influential in the healthcare industry, as it helps foster continuing brand trust. Highlighting a company’s products and services through content creation, blogs, podcasts, webinars, and other marketing efforts allows potential customers to gain positive exposure to a company. Consistent exposure to a brand’s marketing content also helps solidify a company as a knowledgeable leader in the medical supply chain industry.

  1. Speak to Industry Needs

A successful brand has a knowledge of industry trends, challenges, and solutions. Using their expertise, through marketing a brand can convey to customers that they are the most knowledgeable source to navigate industry challenges. Informative marketing content allows supply chain execs to be more aware of potential solutions to any challenges they may face within the industry that your brand can solve.

  1. Accessibility

Marketing content should be accessible to gain consumer’s trust — meaning that a brand should maintain regular interaction with customers through marketing efforts. This can be achieved through being available to customers, answering any questions, and frequently engaging in interactions with customers over social media, email, etc., according to Entrepreneur.

  1. Transparency

Brands that are honest and transparent with consumers have the potential to gain an industry-wide trust and following. Brands should be open and honest about their strengths, challenges, and outcomes to gain the trust of industry execs. Brands that are honest are oftentimes more likely to have a consistent consumer following than their competitors that omit important information in marketing.

Garnering widespread brand trust can improve marketing outcomes and potentially increase the rate of growth for brands in the medical supply chain industry. If your brand could benefit from assistance with the creation of a marketing campaign that fosters long-term brand trust within the industry, contact John Pritchard at jpritchard@sharemovingmedia.com. Schedule a time to meet today to learn about the steps your brand can take to successfully market and build brand trust within the supply chain industry.