April 22, 2016
Recently, Aria Marketing attended the third annual Health IT Marketing and PR Conference (HITMC) in Atlanta. We’re always up for exchanging Boston’s unseasonably cold weather for some warmth in the peach state, and had a great time taking advantage of the networking and learning opportunities that are provided by the conference.
Still energized by our experience at HITMC, the following are our top five highlights from the event:
5). Mingling with our clients and industry friends: We are always grateful for an opportunity to spend time with our client contacts at Craneware and CynergisTek and catch up with our friends at Orion Health. We especially enjoyed attending Craneware’s presentation regarding the value cycle, and how it leads to quality patient and optimal financial outcomes. We thought Craneware’s VP of corporate marketing, Rick Weissinger, also did a great job educating HITMC’s attendees on the importance of rebranding.
4). Learning about how personality impacts marketing outcomes: Scott Ferguson, chairman and CEO of DDP, LLC (a group of companies providing EHR solutions), presented the “whole brain marketing” concept. Whole brain marketing, as described by Scott, breaks down four potential communication styles and how each is affiliated with certain parts of the brain. For us at Aria, we are always trying to anticipate our clients’ needs by interpreting how messages best resonate with target audiences. As marketers, we couldn’t help but be intrigued by the “whole brain marketing” idea.
3). Journalists confirming they appreciate tailored pitches: Aria prides itself on drafting pitches that strike a chord with journalists. During the HITMC panel titled, “How Journalists Pick the Stories they Write,” three healthcare reporters (Jennifer Dennard, Patty Enrado and Roberta Mullin) revealed why they choose to write the stories they do. The panelists confirmed what we already practice, which is, don’t waste a reporter’s time offering a pitch that does not correspond with their coverage area.
2). Providing great PR lessons: While on a the PR panel, our president Scott Collins, spoke about what it’s like working in public relations for healthcare IT clients. He provided tips and tricks of the trade, while also elaborating on client successes he’s experienced over the course of his career. Attendees were interested in Scott’s explanation of how agencies and clients can best work together. He explained that PR agencies should act as an extension of the clients’ internal marketing team in order to achieve optimum success.
1). Winning “PR agency of the year”!: Of course, our #1 highlight of the event this year was taking home the coveted industry award! We believe keeping a finger on the healthcare IT pulse is a big part of achieving PR success. Through our results-driven campaigns, we earned HITMC’s “Agency of the Year” award and as always, we look forward to delivering great work on behalf of our clients which leads industry-wide recognition.
Overall, we had a wonderful time at this year’s HITMC conference and can’t wait to participate again next year.
Now we’re asking our audience, were you at the HITMC conference? If so, let us know if you attended the PR panel and heard Scott’s advice. Tweet us @AriaMarketing and let us know what you learned.
