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Leadership and Marketing Strategy

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Reliable leadership within the marketing of med/surg products is a must have in today’s dynamic industry. Brands must have a marketing strategy they can count on to promote their brand, and implementing that takes strong, trustworthy teams.

In order to get noticed by supply chain executives and to set your brand apart, team members must practice and display leadership skills when conducting marketing efforts. Marketing leadership plays an important role in the strategy of attracting new and existing customers.

Leadership as defined by Harvard Business Review, is “the accomplishment of a goal through the direction of human assistants, a great leader is one who can do so day after day, and year after year, in a wide variety of circumstances.”

Leadership is a universal business skill and should be practiced not just by the C-Suite and managers, but by all employees within a company. Marketing teams especially can benefit from the critical leadership skills of taking initiative, compelling team action, strong communication, and task delegation.

  1. Taking Initiative

Taking initiative, including exhibiting autonomy, drive, and capitalizing on opportunities are essential leadership qualities for all employees within a business. Encouraging teams to take the initiative will keep each employee on top of current trends, and better ensure that they are best promoting your brand.

  1. Compel Team Action

Marketing teams must encourage and challenge each other to form new ideas, create new content, and continue improving campaigns. This allows marketing teams to stay up to date on industry trends, changes, and ways the business could improve to stand out from competition.

  1. Strong Communication

All team members should actively communicate with each other within the workplace. Clear and concise communication is a crucial skill for all team members whether they are cold calling, writing content marketing articles, brainstorming new ad tactics, etc.

  1. Task Delegation

Delegation, or transferring authority or responsibility to another team member, can result in better decision-making, autonomy, and increased teamwork and understanding. In the workplace, delegation allows smaller tasks to be completed more efficiently while allowing for increased focus on the overall marketing campaign.

Strong leadership is essential to a marketing team’s success, and individual leadership encourages more efficient work, increased focus on marketing campaigns, and the delegation of important tasks such as content marketing. If your brand could use assistance with the creation of marketing content that stands out in the medical distribution industry, contact John Pritchard with Share Moving Media at jpritchard@sharemovingmedia.com. SMM has over 30 years of experience working with brands to market their products to health care supply chain leaders.

How commercial healthcare providers are helping change the healthcare marketing industry

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With increased consumerism in healthcare, these new participants are changing how healthcare organizations market themselves 

The healthcare industry is witnessing a continued push towards consumerism. Stakeholders are turning to retail, tech and other sectors for innovation to help solve familiar healthcare problems. Enter commercial healthcare providers (CHPs). They can be defined as retail, payor, senior and tech-based providers changing the landscape of consumer healthcare as people seek convenience and quality in their healthcare experience.

In recent years, retailers have delivered products in a more convenient way, changing consumer behavior. An omnichannel approach has blurred the lines. Consumers can easily research a product and maybe even test it before purchasing it. As this approach has become more comfortable for consumers, they are pursuing it in other areas like healthcare.

Some familiar names in retail like Walmart, Walgreens, CVS and Amazon can be considered retail-based commercial healthcare providers today. Those and other retail-based commercial healthcare providers are acquiring and investing in tech-based startups and senior-focused providers in response to the shift in dynamics – both consumer-centric preferences and an aging population.

Payors like UnitedHealth Group and its Optum division are considered payor-based commercial healthcare providers. They are also investing in tech-based startups and senior-focused providers. Redefining the space is a change to fee-for-value reimbursement models, physician shortages, consumerism and digital disruption.

But how are commercial healthcare providers successfully marketing themselves and their services to the changing landscape? And what can other healthcare stakeholders learn from their entries into the marketplace?

Organizations must constantly expand their footprint in today’s healthcare environment. But there are plenty of barriers to growth like increased consumer expectations of healthcare, greater patient exposure to price, and expanding choices for healthcare consumers. Consumer interest must be stimulated to remain competitive in this healthcare marketplace.

Optum says that to drive sustainable growth, healthcare leaders need to better understand the consumers and patients they currently serve. Every healthcare leader should ask these four data-centric marketing questions:

  1. What customers do we need to reach in order to be successful?
  2. What do we know about our current customers?
  3. How do we ensure our current customers continue to choose us?
  4. How do we attract more of the right customers?

There is more consumer data, patient data and real-time marketing data to generate strategic and actionable insights than ever before. Healthcare organizations must act more like consumer-driven brands in today’s consumer-centric marketplace. Deploying precision marketing makes marketing more effective and more cost-efficient.

Optum helped AdventHealth develop a six-month marketing campaign that led 134,000 patients to the Central Florida health system, instead of its competitor. They discussed it during a healthcare marketing webinar.

They supervised a precision marketing campaign designed to speak directly to the people likely to use their services. But AdventHealth needed digital tools and help from marketing partners to achieve their results. Optum mined digital data to prioritize 850,000 people, dividing them into 11 specific cohorts. Some included young singles without a primary care physician, married couples with kids, very sick people with more than two or three diseases requiring complex care, and people of all ages suffering from unexplained stomach and abdominal pains.

Unique messaging was designed for each group, considering clinical needs, gender, language and culture. People received the messaging through their preferred media channels at the times they were likely to see it.

It led 134,000 patients to AdventHealth rather than the competitor’s emergency departments and the investment yielded a $474 return for every marketing dollar spent, according to AdventHealth.

A focused approach to marketing by reaching out directly to likely customers and engaging them through personalized messaging can provide better results with less wasted effort.

Share Moving Media is experienced with the creation of marketing campaigns that increase SEO searches for companies within the medical distribution industry. We can assist your brand in creating content that is simple, shareable, and that appeals to emotion to effectively promote your company. Visit www.sharemovingmedia.com to learn more.

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.

Top Influencers in Healthcare

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The healthcare industry has many facets, from health systems, to hospitals, outpatient centers, the medical supply chain, and more. Influencers can help customers navigate the industry, understand the products they are buying, and make purchasing decisions by experiencing someone using the product firsthand participating in medicine.

So, what is an influencer exactly, and who are the top names in social media influencing the healthcare industry?

An influencer is someone that has the power to impact a consumer’s purchasing decisions and they follow a distinct niche. According to Forbes, influencer marketing is certain individuals conveying marketing messages on behalf of corporations and brands.

Brands request the help of influencers to convey marketing messages and positive brand narratives, while the audience receives tailored, original, and individualized content about a brand.

Below are examples of some of the top influencers in healthcare:

  1. Jennifer Arnold, M.D. (@JenArnoldMD on X, formerly Twitter)

Dr. Jennifer Arnold is a mother, neonatologist, educator, cancer survivor, and medical news contributor for Katie Couric Media (KCM). She tweets about her experience as a mother, physician, and media contributor.

  1. Grace Vinton (@Grace Vinton on LinkedIn)

Grace Vinton is a Healthcare PR Professional, a patient advocate, and a podcast host in the Boston area. She aims to modernize the healthcare industry through giving innovators the platforms to share information about choice care, data, technology, science and research within healthcare.

  1. Matthew Holt (@Matthew Holt on LinkedIn)

Matthew Holt is the founder of The Health Care Blog (THCB) and throughout his career has spent 30 years in healthcare and healthcare IT as a forecaster and strategist. He has conducted ground-breaking studies on many aspects of healthcare and delivered keynote addresses all over the world.

  1. Sanjay Gupta, M.D. (@drsanjaygupta on Instagram)

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is a neurosurgeon, medical correspondent, and author. As a trusted voice for both patients and healthcare professionals, he posts health information, stories, and trends in the healthcare industry.

The world of marketing within the medical distribution industry is increasingly impacted by knowledgeable and impactful influencers. Trusted leaders in the industry can boost brand’s trustworthiness, gain a larger customer base, and encourage customers to further research a brand and potentially make purchasing decisions.

If your brand could benefit from content created by knowledgeable experts within the industry, Share Moving Media can help. SMM has extensive experience navigating marketing efforts in the supply chain industry, and can assist your brand in creating social media posts, podcasts, written content, and more that influences consumers and promotes your brand’s goals. For more information, contact John Pritchard at jpritchard@sharemovingmedia.com.

Virtual healthcare and the impact on the supply chain

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Health systems have begun to adopt virtual nursing to address workforce challenges, including OSF Healthcare (Illinois), MUSC Health (South Carolina), CommonSpirit (Chicago, IL), and more. With growing industry workforce shortages, more hospitals and health systems are implementing virtual healthcare programs to streamline workflows.

The pandemic has changed many aspects of the healthcare industry, and the healthcare supply chain has experienced the impacts too. Read on to learn how healthcare supply chain leaders can navigate virtual healthcare and be successful in the dynamic and ever-changing industry.

What is virtual nursing/healthcare?

Virtual nursing is delivering patient care and services from a remote location. The purpose is to supplement care and reduce the burden on bedside nurses. It is used in many healthcare systems such as acute care, home health, mental health, chronic care management, and more. These programs aim to reduce burnout and make workflows more efficient.

Organizations most often use videoconferencing technology for virtual healthcare, and physicians and nurses work together to monitor patients, document care, and respond to questions.

How does virtual nursing impact the supply chain industry?

COVID-19 undoubtedly impacted the healthcare and healthcare supply chain industry. Supply chain leaders have faced challenges due to the pandemic including a higher incidence of virtual healthcare, supply chain shortages, and disruptions.

What can supply chain industry leaders do to navigate health industry changes such as virtual nursing?

Adapting to the new reality, such as with virtual healthcare changes post-COVID, is critical for supply chain leaders to be successful. To address and overcome these challenges includes identifying alternate vendors to meet immediate short-term needs, collaborating with other distributors in the industry to understand current supply chain issues and trends, and learning how to transition into the new, highly virtual world of the current medical supply chain.

The challenges that have been presented in the healthcare industry post-pandemic can be navigated by healthcare supply chain leaders taking advantage of technological solutions. Share Moving Media has over 30 years of experience adapting to and navigating changes 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 online sphere, contact Scott Adams at sadams@sharemovingmedia.com to set up a time to meet.