This blog post is #14 in the series, 21 creative social marketing examples.

One of which was the hospital identity campaign for St. Joseph’s hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota.  Talk about being different.  I applaud their agency for even having the guts to present the concept to their client.  And I give St. Joseph’s a standing ovation for taking the risk of running it.

It’s always scary to be different.  To break the mold.  To do the unexpected.  But, as this campaign proved – the risk is well worth the results.

What do you think?  Were there other campaigns that deserve a shout out?

After learning the daily operations and being able to input five invoices per minute (I wish), the fun began.  I have found that there is nothing more exciting than being given the opportunity to pick and choose what TV or radio stations should run our spots.  And can you believe we should watch TV for research?! No mom, I can’t help you clean now, I am doing research!!!

Being in the media department has not only educated me on the business of buying, selling and placing but it has also allowed me to be more creative, thinking with a non-traditional mindset.  If there is one thing I have learned, it is that media is ever changing and those that can think outside of the box will pave the way for the future.

As I move on in my media career, I will remember what I learned here at Brogan… to be smart, creative and successful at all costs.  And I can thank the wonderful media team for beating (no, not literally) those attributes into me!

The key marketing problem: OCMS offers lots of good stuff…but docs are way too swamped to read about all of it.

So what did we do? Condensed the facts down to a simple message appealing to the 2 things that matter most to docs: Time and Money. We let them know they can get “Experts on Call”, a waiting room full of valuable professionals, for free with membership. Put it on a quick-read microsite. Developed banner ads and eblasts zeroeing in on key benefits each expert provides. In a fun way.

The goal: replace blah blah content with conceptual messaging that emotionally connects with doc desires.

The result: lotsa clickthroughs thusfar, only a couple weeks in!

Share with us your best doc campaign.

Non-traditional forms of advertising are great in terms of finding unique ways to show off a product or brand, but are they as effective if the same traditional mediums are being used to display it? I would think not.

Imagine the benefits of using a non-traditional advertisement and implementing it with social media. Combining the most innovative and cutting edge techniques of the media world would provide the ability to capture the audience’s interest with a unique idea while serving it in a relaxed, open environment.  This also gives a viewer access to sharing capabilities which would conveniently be at the their fingertips.

The clip below provides us with a great example of a non-traditional social media advertisement.

Notice how they created an ad unlike others and placed it in blog.  Like I said, innovative.  How do you feel about the possibilities involved in this new advertising combo?

This blog post is #13 in the series, 21 creative social marketing examples.

As the account management intern, I learned a lot about the wonderful world of advertising.  And now that my internship is wrapping up, I thought it might be helpful to share some insights to those that may come next.

Top 5 Insights from a B&P Account Intern:
1.    Photo shoots are not all glamour. It may seem exciting and glamorous (it is very cool), but let me just tell you it is a LOT of work and a LONG day. (Especially when it’s an 8 hour shoot at 3 different locations and 90 degrees out!)
2.    Communication is key. Learning the way to interact with clients based on their various personalities is important to sustaining a good relationship. It also helps in making sure everything goes smoothly and everyone is happy!
3.    Practice makes perfect. Or close to it. The first time I tried binding I messed up.  And then I just got better.  I can now proudly say I’m the fastest binder in town (or at least at B&P). But this along with everything else I learned all began to come with ease after a bit of practice.
4.    Smile often. Sitting by the back door to greet everyone in the morning is underrated. How nice it is to have a steady flow of smiling faces bright and early! It makes the morning much more enjoyable…and brings some joy to my co-workers.
5.    New Business is your best friend. When I was first asked to start developing a new business database, I felt a bit out of my element.  But after doing a ton of research, finding good new biz opportunities, and helping create the new biz letters, I realized how important the task was.  I can’t even tell you how awesome it was when one of the letters I sent helped result in a NEW CLIENT!

Leaving this internship, I’ll take with me a whole set of new skills/experiences, a greater interest in healthcare marketing, and a ton of memories. Will my next job be as challenging and rewarding? Hopefully! Will I enjoy myself as much with the people and environment? Fat chance.

Are you an intern or looking for an internship?  What other insights can you share?

This blog post is #12 in the series, 21 creative social marketing examples.

It’s funny how much the story relates to the lives of healthcare marketers across the world.  Many of you deal with a similar issue day-to-day with your internal audiences.  Too many of them think they can do your job.  I’m sure many of you have received a call from a Dr. saying he didn’t like your recent marketing campaign.  And this pretty much sums up the feelings on that ….

So, how do you prove to them that you are the expert and that they can allow you to do what you do best?

Here are a few ways that may help guide you:

• Be confident.  This is your turf.  You have been doing this for x amount of years.  You went to school for this.  You’ve launched x amount of campaigns that have resulted in a great ROI.  Think of it this way, would you trust a doctor that sounded like he was second-guessing his capabilities?

• Build a sound strategy.  We all know a campaign won’t work if you don’t have a smart, thought through strategy with specific outcomes stated.  And remember, no one can argue the right strategy.

• Get buy-in.  Explain your strategy to those that matter and get their buy-in before you develop a campaign.  Meet with them, gather their input and use it to help strengthen your position.

• Remind them who the target audience is.  Sometimes it’s hard for them to remember that they are not the target audience.  It always helps to verbally tell them to take off your “Doctor hat,” and think like the target audience.  Then have them ask themselves – does it connect with me, does it breakthrough to me, will it make me take action?  After they do that exercise, they tend to get it.

• Tout your successes.  If a Doctor didn’t talk about her outcomes, how would anyone know she’s a leader in her field?  Make sure you shout your positive results from the rooftop.  Let them know when your marketing campaign successfully increased web traffic, brand awareness, calls to the call center, etc.

Do you have any more hints?  I would love to hear what you have done to help establish yourself and your team as the marketing experts within your healthcare organization.