4 Themes for Healthcare Marketers from MASHSMD22

We recently attended the Mid-Atlantic Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development’s (MASHSMD) Spring Conference. This conference brings healthcare strategists, marketers, and communications professionals together to learn and grow. We found the presentations insightful and the personal connections we made valuable; check out our key takeaways below: 

Key themes from MASHSMD ‘22

1. Listen.

A hot topic at MASHSMD was ethnography. What exactly is ethnography? Ethnography is the study of gaining insights into how people interact with things in their natural environment. You must first listen before understanding your target audiences. You can gather significant insight by paying attention to how your target audience interacts online in healthcare affinity groups, support groups, and online communities. It is essential not to interact with them in these spaces - the goal is truly to listen. If you can listen and learn why people make their decisions, you are much more equipped to advocate for them and provide what they need.  

2. Personalize. 

Consumers want personalization in their communications. However, in healthcare, many legal and compliance teams are nervous about it. Several conversations and presentations at MASHSMD focused on personalizing outreach to give consumers what they want without creating too much risk. We recommend sitting down with your legal and compliance teams and walking through the exact personalization plans you have in place, the benefits of that personalization (using the first name in the subject line significantly increases open rates!), and getting their buy-in proactively. Health systems should broaden their horizon and experiment with personalization to expand and improve their patient relationships. We’re incredibly proud of our partners at VCU Health, Beth Cronin and Elise Crockett, who are driving forward personalization to meet their consumer’s needs. 

3. Collaborate.

Effectively collaborating across IT, compliance, operations, and HR teams is pivotal for healthcare marketers to be successful. Building a stellar patient experience is truly a cross-functional effort. Co-creating a meaningful strategy and aligning leaders across different teams upfront ensures you can execute your plan with fewer challenges. It also means you can coordinate with strategy that others are implementing across the organization, resulting in a seamless and consistent patient experience.

4. Adapt.

The past few years have taught us that quickly adapting to change is pivotal. Patients' needs will continuously change and shift. Push your organization to think outside of the box to adjust to patient needs, lifestyles, and journeys. Be nimble in your tactics but stay aligned in your overall strategy and organizational goals. 

We enjoyed our time at MASHSMD so much that Cured will be back in the Washington DC area to attend SHSMD on September 11-14. We look forward to learning more from healthcare marketing experts and making new connections! 

Want to meet up at SHSMD or learn more about Cured? Reach out to a Cured expert.

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