The Way We Think

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Tune in to the HTK blog, podcast and weekly round up for insights that can make a tangible difference in the way you think and do business. See below for the most recent thinking, or click the appropriate page for the whole archive.

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Healthcare marketing is addicted to the testimonial. It's easy to see why. People love hearing stories about other people.

This Roundup features links and information about social media metrics, Microsoft's unveiling of the Health Vault Community Connect, and how to follow the Dalai Lama on Twitter. 

There are definitely signs to look for in determining if your organization should invest in a new brand strategy. The term rebranding is accurate; your organization already has a brand.

Inevitably, our health care clients who plan to implement a social media strategy find themselves asking the same question:  Who is going to manage this?

There was a lot of good stuff floating around in the Cloud this week. When I was done choosing what to include in the Roundup, I realized, “They’re all lists!”  I don’t know what that says about me but here they are. Let me know which ones you found most valuable.

There was a lot of good stuff floating around in the Cloud this week.  When I was done choosing what to include the Roundup I realized, “They’re all lists!”  I don’t know what that says about me but here they are.  Let me know which ones you found most valuable.

I’ll begin with a book about lists. The Checklist Manifesto: How to get things right was a Best Book of December on Amazon. Written by Atul Gawande who happens to be a surgeon, the book promises to reveal what it takes to work successfully and with a personal sense of satisfaction. The book includes examples from the medical world but includes examples from all of life’s endeavors.

I meant to include this link last week, but it is a short and sweet newsletter story entitled Ten Questions to Ask Before You Start a New Web Project by our friends at Newfangled. Use this as an opportunity to sign up to receive their newsletter regularly.

You will learn a lot from this post from Social Media Today’s blog, The Top Ten Twitter Statistics and Analytic Tools. This was heavily circulated out in the Twitter-sphere this week.

My last list was written by Edward Boches at Creativity_Unbound, Five Questions Every CMO Should Ask A Prospective Ad Agency.

Just to break the pattern I thought I’d include something relating to Super Bowl advertising because every marketer likes to read about that. The Forrester Blog for Interactive Marketing Professionals posted, Social Media is the New Super Bowl.

Those of us who grew up in the 70s (or before) were very familiar with Leo Burnett’s campaign, “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.”  Too bad Olds no longer exists. A strong brand that just couldn’t adapt to younger consumers.

What is Online Reputation Management?
Online Reputation Management (ORM) is an increasingly important communications strategy born out of the emergence of online social communities. In practice, effective ORM is much more involved than just doing a Google search for your brand, seeing what shakes out, and responding. True ORM requires at least two disciplines: engagement and monitoring.

Policy makers, forward thinking insurance providers and healthcare systems are all talking about the concept of medical homes as a cornerstone of the remodeling of the nation’s healthcare system. While some are already touting medical homes as THE solution to the nation’s healthcare woes, there are still plenty of unanswered questions.

The stakes
The anxiety has possibly never been higher for marketers wondering how and where to make the best media buy for their buck.

Remember when people actually packed a bag to go to the hospital? Though it sounds almost quaint today, we can all remember when the majority of patient care was delivered to patients who had been admitted to an overnight hospital bed.

The push for transparency in healthcare quality—and price.
Open any Sunday paper and you're hit with it. Glossy advertisements with big, bold numbers. "25% off X!" "Region's lowest prices on Y!" "Z is Consumer Report's Most Reliable!" For nearly every purchase they make, consumers can easily get information about price and quality.

Your Web site is arguably the most important marketing tool you've got, 'cause that's where people find information—and it's not just those twentysomethings who've never made a hotel reservation any other way. (Come to think about it, how did we used to do that?)