Are you part of the conversation?

Are you part of the conversation?

That is one of the questions marketers need to ask themselves at this time of year: budget season for many organizations.  Whether a vendor in the behavioral healthcare market is selling software or offering treatment services, a company needs to be part of the conversation in order to attract new business.

There are multiple ways to be part of the conversation. On a national level, is your organization engaged in discussions of policy, trends, or other field-changing activities? This can be accomplished through multiple thought leadership and content marketing activities, such as Webinars, conference presentations, association meetings, and so on. Although marketers often are pushed to focus only on immediate ROI, being part of a national conversation develops trust and credibility for your brand in the marketplace. These characteristics are essential for companies with long sales cycles, such as software companies and treatment centers.

On an industry level, is your organization visible to prospects in the market? Branding is crucial as more and more options emerge, such as the proliferation of treatment centers in recent years. Although branding is often constrained by budget realities, companies in the behavioral healthcare and addiction treatment market need to maintain a consistent and memorable presence at industry events, in publications, and through other media and venues that interact with prospects. After all, when the time comes to make a referral or issue an RPF, you want to be at the top of that prospect’s mind. And remember that branding is not only for the benefit of prospects but for existing customers/referral sources as well, who look to your branding to not only to learn about new developments but to reassure themselves that they made the right choice by selecting your products and services.

On an individual level, is your organization part of the conversation at organizations looking to make a referral or purchase your product or service? Consistent lead generation – and lead nurturing – activities are essential to ensure you are feeding sales and admissions staff a consistent pipeline of prospects. National and industry-level conversation efforts will make this process easier, but marketers must make sure they are being considered in the organizations ready to purchase or refer.

All of this points to an integrated marketing campaign for generating new business in the addiction treatment and behavioral healthcare market. Being part of the conversation is just an early step to closing the deal, but if you’re not part of the conversation you certainly can’t be part of the solution the prospect is seeking.

E-newsletter best practices

I receive many e-newsletters from vendors and treatment centers in the addiction and behavioral healthcare markets--probably too many. Yet I subscribe to all that I find so that I can monitor how the vendor community is sharing information with prospects, customers, and referral sources. Over the years I’ve seen several missteps that are worth sharing.

Generic subject lines: An e-newsletter with a bland subject line such as “October E-newsletter” won’t generate interest, opens, or clicks—or at least not as many as possible with a more topic-focused subject line such as “Top 10 Reasons Why Parity Isn’t Working.”

No audience definition: Readers are looking for relevant content. In the addiction treatment market particularly, one must adhere to my ultimate marketing commandment: Know Thy Audience. Sending one e-newsletter to family members, alumni, and referral sources isn’t likely to be as successful as is a series of e-newsletters with content tailored to the unique needs of each audience segment. Thus, content development for e-newsletters, and your particular targets, must be a priority. (And personally I don’t think recipes make compelling e-newsletter content.)

No click-through options: Some organizations share all of their content in the body of the e-newsletter. Not only does this make the message unwieldy long, it prevents the sender from gathering useful data on who is clicking on which links. The e-newsletter is just the teaser vehicle—the content should live on your Web site. After all, the e-newsletter is a way to deliver content and learn about your audience.

Poor design: Some organizations have very slick Web sites, but their e-newsletters do not reflect that design. In fact, they are so poorly organized that they distract a reader away from the value of the content. If you are investing in a professional Web site, make sure one of your key delivery vehicles—your e-newsletter—reflects that look. Opting for a generic template is probably insufficient.

E-newsletters are an essential way to not only stay in touch with your referral and customer communities, but to also generate interest in new services and gather data on how your readers are consuming your content. All too often e-newsletters are an afterthought in a marketing strategy, but they need to be front and center in your audience engagement efforts.

Do you have an exceptional e-newsletter? I’d love to see it and feature it on my blog. Please send me a copy—and sign me up!—to edwards.douglas.j@gmail.com.

Conference swag: Going beyond pens and notepads

The fall conference season is upon us, and in exhibit halls across the country vendors of all stripes are handing out pens, mugs, books, clips, and other swag to leave a memorable impression on attendees. All marketers eventually ask themselves, does this stuff really make a difference?

I see swag as a way to start a conversation. Vendors who use swag that ties into their mission, strategic marketing message, or a conference theme are likely more successful. For example, at a recent lunch’n’learn I received the above “stress squeeze” horse from Hopewell, a therapeutic farm for people with serious mental illness outside of Cleveland. It certainly is more memorable than, say, a pen or sticky notes, and the horse clearly connects to Hopewell’s therapeutic philosophy. It's an ideal little handout to capture people's interest and share details about Hopewell's program.

Tchotchkes like this can serve as a good conversation starter at a booth, but savvy marketers have even better swag hidden for particularly hot prospects or current customers/referral sources who stop by. For example, a coffee mug might be a treatment center’s standard (albeit not too inspired) booth fare, but representatives may have cookbooks written by the facility’s executive chef available for those who are truly interested in the program’s nutritional elements. (Leave out the "good" stuff on any show floor and expect unscrupulous attendees to take them--by the handful.)

I believe the best swag, or rather what should really be seen as small thank-you gestures, is saved and sent to prospects post-show, when it’s not only unexpected but a tangible reminder of the conversation and much more effective than a post-event e-blast. For instance, an electronic health records company could send hot prospects a crystal paperweight with the message “This will hold down your paper until your system is up and running," or a treatment center might send a potentially good referral source a gourmet coffee blend to be used in the mug the attendee picked up.

I see a lot of swag in my travels. I suspect in many cases a junior marketer has selected the booth giveaways under tight budget constraints. Yet swag is a visible take-home message about an organization, and wise marketers give swag as much consideration as the other materials they prepare for their booth.  

What do you get when you cross a zebra and an elephant?

Recently I came across one of the strangest conference logos I've ever seen. The logo, for a substance abuse prevention summit, features an elephant with zebra stripes with its tusk harpooning a neon green apple. A quick review of the site doesn't provide much insight into the design, although it certainly plays into the conference's tag line to "Stand up stand out." As much as I find the logo puzzling, I admit that it does have a "viral" quality to it--I'm talking about it and sharing it with you, after all. In fact, the logo is so memorable, albeit odd, that the design just might be a stroke of genius. I wouldn't recommend most organizations take a similar approach, but I am very curious if the buzz surrounding the design just might pay off. 

Sponsored content: Ethical considerations

NPR's On the Media recently had a fascinating discussion on ethical considerations for sponsored content.


My key takeaways:

• Sponsored content can provide valuable information to readers/listeners/viewers
• Publishers and vendors must clearly identify, upfront, that content is sponsored
• A clear line between editorial and marketing is key
• The wisest, and most successful, vendors understand the importance of properly placed and vendor-neutral sponsored content

Content curation--you don't have to reinvent the wheel

Lead generation must be a component of an integrated marketing program. Yet once those leads are in-house they must be nurtured. After all, information technology systems are not bought after a phone call. Referral decisions are not made immediately after a clinician requests information. The sales cycle in the behavioral healthcare market is long, and engaging prospects with relevant and timely information builds trust, establishes credibility, and eventually leads to conversions.

Generating hyper-relevant content is time consuming. Original content is preferable, as it allows your organization to directly demonstrate its thought leadership. Lead nurturing, however, should not be limited to just in-house content. Content curation is another avenue for grooming your prospects.

Content curation involves sharing information that other sources have produced. Jon Miller at Marketo has an excellent blog post on this concept. Although you should periodically demonstrate your team’s expertise through, for example, issuing a white paper addressing hot pain points in the industry, plenty of content creators do this on a daily basis. Addiction Professional and Behavioral Healthcare produce content that you should be sharing with your prospects.

Say you are trying to attract referrals from eating disorder professionals. When Addiction Professional publishes an article on this topic, you could send a message to your prospects sharing this content. The information is relevant, and the e-mail demonstrates that you are interested in more than just “selling” your program. You are a helpful and useful resource for your clients and their patients.  

Stand out at your next conference

Standing out at a conference is a challenge. Most exhibitors opt for a standard size booth, a couple banner stands, a literature table, and a (hopefully) friendly rep at attention to answer attendees’ questions. Yet with many shows in this field having more than 100 booths, a wise conference planner will use other techniques to capture weary and hungry attendees’ interest.

Some solutions are quite simple. For example, have a noticeable prop at your booth. If you are marketing a cloud-based information technology solution, having a server rack with a sign that says “Are these taking up too much space in your office?” will likely grab attention, particularly since server racks are large.

Most conferences provide multiple opportunities to stand out in the hall. Floor clings provide visual cues leading to your booth. “Island” booths, which surprisingly are extremely uncommon at addiction treatment shows, create destination and gathering centers at aisle crossroads. Adjacent power or massage stations usually lead to lines, giving you an opportunity to interact with attendees as they await their turn.

The Qualifacts Blue Guy created a buzz at the National Council conference in Vegas in April 2013. Photo courtesy of Kimberly Lexow

The point of all of this is to give a hesitant attendee an incentive or cue to stop and begin a conversation. The good news is that exhibits in our field are quite pedestrian. In other areas of healthcare, two- or three-story booths with large data displays and cars being raffled are the norm. Thankfully, it doesn’t take much to stand out at a behavioral healthcare conference. And, if in doubt, find a way to simply stand above the competition, as Qualifacts demonstrated at the National Council conference in April.