Takeaways
- Healthcare marketers must explain complex medical innovations in language patients understand while also making clear why those innovations matter to their lives.
- The strongest healthcare stories combine the experience of a patient whose life improved with the perspective of the physician who helped make that outcome possible.
- UConn Health strengthened its relevance during the pandemic by becoming a trusted source of practical information and creating accessible testing and vaccination experiences.
- Healthcare organizations should resist rushing to promote a medical first and wait until an innovation has produced consistent, meaningful outcomes for multiple patients.
- Academic medicine creates powerful stories because its research and clinical innovation can restore function, provide hope, and improve lives in ways patients may not realize are possible.
- Small healthcare marketing teams can make an outsized impact when their members wear multiple hats and coordinate earned, owned, social, and paid storytelling.
- Brand building influences patient growth even when the patient’s eventual decision cannot be attributed to a single campaign or channel.
- Unlike consumer marketers who create demand, healthcare marketers anticipate demand by building awareness and trust before a patient needs care.
