Mayo Clinic Bolsters Content Strategy with Newspaper Partnership

Content marketing is a natural approach for healthcare organizations, which have many in-house experts and stories. Mayo Clinic has partnered with a large newspaper to reach its readers.

Content marketing—the publishing of informational content (as opposed to traditional advertisements) to attract an audience—continues to gain popularity among healthcare marketers. After all, hospitals and health systems have no shortage of in-house experts to tap for information, and digital content is a low-cost way to provide value and boost viewership.

Mayo Clinic has been churning out a high volume of quality content for years, both through its own channels, such as several blogs and social media accounts, and through external partnerships. In September, the Rochester, MN, health system added another arrow to its quiver when it announced a content sponsorship deal with the Star Tribune Media Company, publisher of the Twin Cities' largest newspaper.

Value-Added Content
"Mayo Clinic continues to look for ways to extend our reach and increase brand awareness in the Twin Cities region," says Adam Brase, chair of marketing for Mayo Clinic. "A relationship with the Star Tribune presented a unique opportunity to distribute Mayo Clinic content to more consumers with an interest in health and science in Minnesota. The Star Tribune is the largest media company in the Midwest and the opportunity offers Mayo Clinic the ability to reach consumers in new and relevant ways."

Each week, the Star Tribune generates an infographic based on health, disease, and condition treatment-related information provided by Mayo Clinic experts. The infographics are published in the print edition of the Sunday newspaper Health + Science section and posted online on a new Health Highlights page.

"Ads will run on startribune.com to promote Health Highlights, and readers can subscribe to a free e-newsletter that will feature the weekly graphic along with previous topics," Brase says. "We also own the content for distribution beyond the Star Tribune, i.e., through our own media channels."

Since the partnership launched, infographic topics have ranged from stem cell therapy to Halloween candy. Last week's edition covered concussions and included information on symptoms, the danger of repeat concussions, and treatment guidelines. At the bottom, readers can find information about the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center.

Ethical Concerns
Each infographic links back to a related Mayo Clinic web page—and that prominent sponsorship element of the arrangement has prompted some journalists to raise ethical concerns.

"Anytime any healthcare entity enters into an exclusive sponsorship arrangement with any news organization for placement of that healthcare entity's information within news space, there is cause for concern," Gary Schwitzer, publisher of Health News Review, told another newspaper, the Post Bulletin. Schwitzer, a former University of Minnesota journalism ethics instructor, was also the founding editor of MayoClinic.com 14 years ago. "Who will edit, verify, question the information?"

Brase did not comment on the details of the partnership or whether the content in the infographics is being vetted by journalists.

However, the Health Highlights page, branded in a combination of the Star Tribune's green and Mayo Clinic's blue colors, clearly states on the second line that it contains "Sponsored Content from Mayo Clinic." Thus, logical readers likely assume the content that follows comes from the health system and not the newspaper—or the purview of its fact-checkers.

A Broader Digital Strategy
With content marketing, it is in Mayo Clinic's best interest for readers to believe that the content came directly from their physicians and other experts, and is scrupulously correct. The whole point is to solidify the health system's brand position and keep the organization top-of-mind in the Twin Cities area.

Brase says Mayo will measure the success of the Star Tribune partnership through engagement with the Health Highlights web page and Mayo Clinic web content. He hopes to see a continuous lift in audience views week-to-week.

Ultimately, the Star Tribune Media deal is just one of many pieces that make up Mayo Clinic's vast digital marketing strategy.

"Distributing content to targeted consumer audiences plays a key role in Mayo's overall digital marketing strategy," Brase says. "Mayo Clinic has significant medical and health knowledge and vast amounts of content. We are always looking for ways to share our knowledge and content with others with the goal of helping people."