August 15, 2016
Here at Aria, we spend a lot of time strategizing and executing the best ways to publicize our clients, but rarely get a chance to brag about the people we work with every day that help us bring our ideas to life. To find out how the other half lives, we sat down with Jana Langhorne, Director of Marketing and Sales at CynergisTek, to get her take on working with Aria.
As Marketing Director at a growing healthcare company, what do you value most in an agency partner?
When we were first looking for a PR agency partner, we knew it was important for us to find the company to partner and grow with us as we developed our thought leadership strategy. We needed an agency that could help promote our brand as experts in healthcare information security, privacy and compliance. Our experience with Aria over the past six years has been rewarding because of the team’s professionalism and strong relationships with important media outlets. Aria is more than an agency to CynergisTek— they are an extension of our marketing team.
What are the main programs you rely on Aria to drive?
We work closely together to expand our experts’ exposure to the industry on the biggest security, privacy and regulatory compliance challenges that healthcare faces. Aria actively pitches our executives’ viewpoints and thought leadership on topics that are relevant to us, and we rely on Aria to help us secure speaking engagements at national and regional conferences. I personally rely upon Aria to help keep me on task with deadlines for PR and marketing opportunities that they have secured. Aria also provides ongoing counsel on how to not only join the dialogue on trending topics but drive it.
Can you share a few examples of how Aria has positively impacted CynergisTek’s business?
Aria has helped position our company and executives as the go-to experts in the industry and developed strong relationships with the media. This supports our sales cycle because the media placements and speaking engagements reinforce our expertise, and demonstrates to our target audience that CynergisTek really is the healthcare IT consulting firm to partner with. Aria’s PR efforts have contributed to the company’s year over year growth and we expect our media presence to follow the same strong trajectory.
What are a few of the business challenges you’ve encountered and overcome with Aria’s help?
As a small, growing healthcare IT firm, it was a challenge to get CynergisTek’s name to stand out over some of the “big-box” consulting firms when we first started. As a result of our combined efforts, our CEO, Mac McMillan, was recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of the most influential healthcare IT leaders, and our VP of Compliance Strategy, David Holtzman, was named one of Health Data Management’s top 50 healthcare IT experts. This has significantly helped us build credibility and a name in the market, and it has helped us build and expand our customer base.
What advice would you give other businesses in seeking out a PR agency partner?
What has made Aria my agency partner of choice for all these years is their credibility, relationships with the media, expertise in healthcare and the collaboration with Aria’s executives. I feel like I am a high priority to Aria, proven by the attention I get from the executives, and the CEO, Scott, is always willing and available to jump on a call to talk through any issue, at any time. It is very important to find the agency that recognizes your business goals and that has proven results in helping companies achieve those goals.
Building long-standing relationships with clients like Jana and CynergisTek is one of the most rewarding aspects of life here at Aria. If you’re a healthcare IT business looking for an agency like us, or a PR pro who would like to work with clients like CynergisTek, email us at info@ariamarketing.com.
