Healthcare Marketing Advice: 'Establishing and sustaining trust are paramount'

Healthcare Marketing executives share advice around being patient- and consumer-focused.

Recently, HealthLeaders connected with six healthcare marketing executives who talked about their organization's focus for 2022. Their patient-centric focus included personalized care and messaging, increasing digital engagement, and creating community impact are among what their organizations will pursue.

Additionally, those healthcare marketing executives shared advice for other healthcare marketing executives to heed around being patient- and consumer-focused.

Creating relationships is just as important as utilizing data and technology

Mark Kandrysawtz, MBA, chief innovation officer, WellSpan Health

"Technology and digitalization have added visionary elements to the marketing toolbelt with new channels for messaging and precise data analytics to gauge effectiveness. The applications of each continue to expand and it is easy to venture too far down a path of ingenuity or become lost in a matrix of statistics. To be effective, marketers must embrace both the science and the art of marketing. Data helps to inform strategies and evaluate effectiveness, but creativity is the key to creating an emotional connection and impact. As marketers develop plans for the year, perform a litmus test to ensure there is a balance of science and art."

Nisha Morris, VP of marketing and communications, City of Hope Orange County

"After many months of crises and ever-shifting priorities, U.S. health care organizations are looking at new ways to deliver their services, much of which is highly personalized –telemedicine and wearables, personalized medicine, and genomics. That means marketers will need a deeper understanding of their patients and their patients’ experiences and communities. My advice is to take the time to know your market –and even re-examine the changes in your market during this transformational year. Build relationships, strengthen multicultural and multigenerational efforts, understand how people access health care content right now, and partner with those who manage and evaluate the patient experience. Don’t short-change this work because health care organizations are launching many new initiatives in 2022, and, as a marketer, you want to be ready with well-informed strategies that will effectively reach your customers."

Get to know your audience on a deeper level

Nick Ragone, JD, executive vice president, chief marketing and communications officer, Ascension

"We shouldn't assume there is a "new normal" for healthcare consumption as we hopefully get past the pandemic. As marketers, we need to listen to patients and consumers to truly understand how COVID-19 has impacted and shaped the way they want healthcare and their expectations for a seamless and convenient experience."

Sandra Mackey, chief marketing officer, Bon Secours Mercy Health

"Know your audience and spend the time learning more about them. As we emerge from two of the most challenging years in the history of health care, the focus on wellness is refreshing."

Building consumer trust is 'paramount'

Sherri Gilligan, MBA, chief marketing officer, Mayo Clinic

"Consumer trust is at an all-time low in many areas. It is critical that healthcare marketers do everything we can to build trust with transparency in sharing data and information wherever possible to inspire hope and promote health. A key value for Mayo Clinic is that we adhere to the highest standards of professionalism, ethics and personal responsibility, worthy of the trust our patients place in us. This is a critical time that we ensure we are doing everything we can to maintain and build consumer trust in our institutions."

Chrisie Scott, MBA, chief marketing officer, Virtua Health

"Before anyone will choose our providers or health system for their care, they have to believe and feel confident that we are the right partners to help them navigate to their desired state of health. With COVID as a continuing backdrop, communicating with empathy, leveraging the authority of some of our organization’s most trusted experts, and finding creative, meaningful ways to be present with consumers—even when they are not actively seeking health care—will be important components to building awareness and brand reputation. Establishing and sustaining trust are paramount."