Blog | G2 Communications Inc.-Medical Practice Marketing

Jul 19 2017

Medical Oncologist Offers These Marketing Tips

“If you want to grow your practice and you’re new to marketing, try to keep an open mind,” says , Medical Oncologist and board chair of Epic Care. As managing partner of one of the largest cancer care centers in the San Francisco East Bay, Dr. Patel has followed his own advice. The larger the practice, he says, the more important marketing becomes.

G2 Communications spoke to Dr. Patel to get his perspective on practice marketing.

“When it comes to practice marketing, most physicians hold on to the age-old philosophy, ‘if I’m a good doctor good things will happen,’ says Dr. Patel. “Because doctors don’t study business they think marketing their practice is like selling their soul.

“For a large practice like ours, it’s very important that we convey to the community who we are, what our mission is and how we distinguish ourselves,” says Dr. Patel.

“And over 90% of our patients come from referring physicians. Our doctors are the face of our practice and they have to make those connections.”

“Mostly we do old fashioned, in the trenches marketing,” says Dr. Patel. “We take our practice to the community with events of survivorship. These Celebration of Life events are a great way to get our name out there and build relationships. They have become our signature marketing program.”

For referring physicians Epic Care physicians gives talks at hospital grand rounds. The practice hosts small forums for referring physicians where the partners bring in leaders in the field and put up attendees at nice resorts. In 2018, Epic Care will begin hosting annual CME events.

For medical practices that want to grow and are ready to take the marketing plunge Dr. Patel has a list: having a web presence is key. So websites are a must and so is social media. He also encourages practices to host and publicize community events, give talks, and hire a marketing liaison to call on referring physicians.

For more information about physician marketing visit www.g2comm.com or call us at 650 856-1607.

Oct 20 2016

What Makes a Successful Content Marketing Plan: Q & A with Kirti Dewan

Kirti Dewan of Dewk Consulting knows that a successful content marketing plan starts with strategy. I talked to Kirti about the ins and outs of content marketing, from planning and strategy to content creation and measurement. Here are Kirti’s take-aways for success:

Understand your marketing goals and align your content marketing strategy to those goals
Define the different phases in your buyer’s journey
Outline which phases need the most attention
Determine the content pieces for those phases. For instance, for your audience, a webinar may be better suited at the start of the journey as opposed towards the evaluation phase
Don’t get carried away. Don’t make it complicated. Do what’s right for your business.

Read on for more details…

How do you develop a successful content marketing plan?

Content marketing has four key pillars: strategy, creation, distribution, and measurement. A successful content marketer understands her audience and creates different content plans based on how each audience engages with information. Content creation can include anything from bylined articles to case studies, blog posts to videos, podcasts, infographics, social media posts, and advertising on LinkedIn or Facebook. Each piece of content should contribute to brand awareness or lead generation.

What about content strategy?

When I look at content strategy I look at who the audience is, first and foremost. I research the content types that most resonate with them; do they like white papers; data sheets or will they listen to podcasts/or watch videos? I check with sales and speak with current customers to find out which pieces are most interesting. I also try to understand why certain pieces in the past performed well. Prospects want content that is educational, engaging, and relevant to their pain points.

What does the ideal content marketing plan look like?

The ideal plan isn’t about “having it all” right now or doing it all at once, but about taking steps to figure out “what is the right thing for us now?” The ideal plan figures out the form factors that each targeted audience prefers and then aims to meet the marketing goals by producing short form (e-mail), mid form (video), or long form (white paper) pieces to engage the audience. And make sure the content can be repurposed in multiple ways, such as turning a webinar or ebook into a series of blog posts or videos.

For example, If we have a budget for 6-8 pieces, I’ll create a list of 20 pieces and have the sales and marketing teams vote to distill it down. Then I dig deeper to make sure that content will be impactful and have high repurpose value. The biggest challenge is putting boundaries around content development when there are so many options: staying focused and not feeling that you are missing out are key.

What is the role of metrics in this process?

Metrics provide critical validation at each step in the content development process, showing how content performed in terms of how many dollars went into the piece and how many clicks it got, how many retweets, how many mentions, leads, etc. Metrics also help determine what we should do more of.

Remember Kirti’s advice – Don’t get carried away. Don’t make it complicated. Do what’s right for your business. Keep it simple.

Aug 02 2016

Where’s the Problem?

At WriteCulture we teach all kinds of tech PR workshops and seminars to corporate PR staff and PR agency account teams. When we teach the pitching class we run into the same roadblocks across the PR spectrum… too much jargon, wasted email intros with lifeless descriptions of company products, and no hooks to grab the reporter’s attention.

Many PR writers assemble a pitch and then pray for the reporter’s interest. They bank on the allure of their client’s n^th iteration of, say, anti-malware software. This leaves reporters wondering, “Why should I care?”

Why do we pitch this way?

Because we’re here to serve the executives on the corporate side and our clients on the agency side. We want to dazzle the journalist with the app’s new features and hope that makes the grade. Maybe we’re afraid to ask questions because we think we should know the answer. Or we’re shy to ask for what we need because we’re the new kid on the account team and we’re supposed to absorb all the information before we speak up.

Perhaps it’s none of these things.

Rather, perhaps it’s the glaring omission in the pitch – that is, the problem the solution fixes! … the people involved, their pain (and gain). Too often, PR writers describe the company’s side of the equation (the solution) without mentioning the customer’s side (the problem).

Journalists like to write stories about people solving problems in stories of transformation. The most important words in that statement? People, problems. Notice we didn’t say “companies, solutions.” Sure, the company and solution ends up in the final story, but that’s not what hooks journalists or their “readers (aka customers and prospective customers).”

A winning pitch is not a jargon-filled product description. But if you read the average technology pitch you’ll wonder what problem the technology solves. At WriteCulture, we know this because we read countless pitches across many agencies and companies. We know that this misguided omission of “the problem” is commonplace.

The problem might strike you as implicit in the company’s solution. But it must be spelled out, it must be demonstrated. It should strike a visceral cord in the journalist. Showing her the problem clearly shows you understand her audience’s needs and pain, and demonstrates your product’s relevance in the life of the reader.

In the WriteCulture Pitching Workshop we tell team members to put the solution on ice and focus only on the problem. That might sound harsh, or maybe even difficult or off-putting to your client. But we’ve seen the results. It works.

Not only should the problem be front and center, it should start the pitch. Introduce your client at the end. That’s right… if the reporter is sold on the problem, she’ll read further and contact your company.

To get more tips on pitching reporters, sign up for our mailing list. We share our best advice freely.

To explore the possibility of a workshop for your team, contact us at Info@WriteCulture.com.

May 25 2016

Finding Joy in Work that Resonates: Q&A with book publicist Helena Brantley

Helena Brantley is a book publicist who founded Red Pencil Publicity + Marketing in Oakland. Helena left the PR agency, marketing and advertising world and tripped into book publicity, first working as a publicity director for HarperCollins and Nolo Press before hanging out her own shingle. She has had the opportunity to work with world-renowned spiritual leaders like Deepak Chopra, as well as academics like Bart Ehrman and Stephen Prothero.

Helena finds special joy in promoting the compelling stories of memoirists. She has pitched guests who have appeared on Fresh Air, The Oprah Winfrey Show, CBS Sunday Morning, and the Daily Show. She has also managed the book campaigns for a string of New York Times best sellers.

It seems like everyone is writing a book these days, so I sat down with Helena to talk about what that means as a book publicist in the ever changing world of public relations.

What gets you up in the morning?

I don’t sleep well so usually it’s a mix of things I worry about related to being a wife, parent, daughter, sister and running a business. More enjoyably, I often awake to pithy one-liners, ideas for an email subject line, a pitch, or most recently, I awake to Twitter and Instagram post ideas! I love what I do, and I’m excited to get up in the morning on most days. I help people who have spent years researching and crafting something important to say. I take seriously the responsibility of helping to carry out their work into the world and trying to engage people—media and readers directly. Even if I won the lottery I’d still promote books and book festivals.

How do you select projects?

I have to in some way be interested in the promise of a book. Even if I don’t agree with the premise or thesis, it still has to resonate. Otherwise I could work in-house somewhere. I can do it. I have done it. But I find it very hard to get excited about something that doesn’t interest me. I also only work on nonfiction titles and most enjoy working with academics who write accessibly.

What does a successful publicity project look like?

It starts with a written plan: book publicity is to me like running a campaign with a beginning, middle, and end. Without a plan the people perish; book publicists too! Success to me is when even if the campaign didn’t sell the number of books desired, or result in all of the desired media coverage, the publisher and author feels like their time and money was used well. Like many publicists across industry, I acknowledge that it’s harder to secure national print, which is in my opinion what drives all else. What is also true is that there are a lot of new tools and tactics to apply the fundamentals of publicity. That’s exciting. It also takes time to learn these new tools.

I’m working on a campaign for BIPOLAR FAITH by Dr. Monica A Coleman, publishing in July. I’m setting up a 5-7 city book tour, promoting the tour in each regional market where we’ll contact local media and schedule readings at book venues and churches. I’m also pitching national media across mediums and helping to secure the endorsements. And we’re working on social media: I will tweet excerpts from the book, and engage with the author and others relevant to this topic. The author is also live blogging using Periscope, a Twitter app.

What are your views on self-publishing? What advice do you have for lesser known authors looking for a book publicist?

There are a lot of people who see value in self-publishing a book, and it’s great for people who find readers for their books. In my experience it is very hard to get a book deal with publishers.

In my experience, people who self-publish their books with very few exceptions need marketers, not book publicists. Unless you’re someone who is well known and has a platform, the majority of news outlets are less likely to run stories. I also think self-publishers see more value creating well-produced events and working with relevant associations and organizations on speaking engagements. If you don’t have a plan on paper for how you will market and promote the book, the project probably won’t succeed in the ways desired.

What’s your perspective on social media?

It’s a kiss and a curse. The challenge for me is understanding what is worth the investment of time and what is not. For me, Twitter is. Facebook ads are worth it – I also selectively promote my projects on my Facebook page. My personal feeling is that with few exceptions it is a waste of time and money for an author to pay someone to manage their social media presence. I think it’s a missed opportunity to learn how to stumble and fail at first, as we all do in learning social media.

If only to learn that it doesn’t work, it’s worth the pain of learning something new and especially if you are someone trying to engage people in new thoughts and ideas. In my experience the principles of publicity haven’t change: we just have more tools and tactics.

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Helena is the publicist for the Bay Area Book Festival, June 4-5 in downtown Berkeley. If you’re a reader, this is a personal invitation from Helena to attend the festival featuring nearly 300 authors from around the region and the world. Details at baybookfest.org or follow #baybookfest.

Apr 25 2016

“My favorite stories are about people, not things”: Q&A With Leslie Mladinich

Leslie Mladinich followed her passion into journalism and built an impressive career across Bay Area newspapers and magazines, from her first assignments at The Montclarion and the Oakland Tribune, to her days covering transportation at the Tri-Valley Herald. In her first job as a journalism undergrad Leslie got embroiled in the Oakland School District’s controversial resolution recognizing Ebonics.

So why did she choose to pivot her career from journalism to marketing? Mladinich is now using her storytelling skills at Rodrigue Molyneaux Estate Winery and Vineyard, as head of marketing. I asked Leslie to discuss the decline of newspapers, the future of journalism, and how to make your pitch about people, not tech.

How do you see changes in journalism over the last 10 years?

On the one hand, it’s great because journalists, publications, and people’s voices are more accessible. On the other hand, long form writing is no longer in demand. The ability to have longevity with one audience for one publication–to build trust with readers and sources–has diminished.

With electronic media, people graze and scan. They may only read the first paragraph before they shut their laptop. As a result, real writing and news gathering skills are less of a priority, and blogs and memoir style pieces have been elevated.

The decline of long-form writing and newspapers has pushed journalists out, and they’ve turned to corporate communications and marketing. Anyone’s voice can be out there now, but news that makes a difference in people’s lives is declining.

What should PR pros keep in mind when pitching reporters?

All my favorite stories are about people, not things. I’m interested in how any story, event, or phenomena changes and challenges people. If a company is trying to tell its story, I want to know about the people involved.

You don’t have to focus only on the consumer. Who are the people who make your product, and why do they make it? What challenges have they faced? If it’s tangible and evokes the senses, it makes good copy.

What do you look for in a good source?

A good source kept me in the loop and wanted to have a partnership with me. They understood my job and what it takes to make readers read the whole piece.

During my stint as a biotech reporter at the East Bay Business Times, I would get press releases stating that a company had gotten funding for a new medical device. But I wanted to talk to the scientists, not the CEO. And scientists who came up with great metaphors would get quoted because they helped me convey the concept behind the device or drug.

It goes back to why I chose journalism: because I love learning about people’s passions and putting it into writing. For a day or a couple of hours you’re in someone’s profession, problem, or passion, and you get to learn about a subject you might not get to otherwise.

Check out our ebook. We interviewed 10 journalists who advise PR professionals on how to build lasting relationships where both parties benefit. Visit www.g2comm.com.