putting people first · 2020. 7. 15. · 2 cre˝ting genuine connections through content. contents...

How audience-led content creates healthcare marketing that sticks

Putting people first

2

Creating genuine connections through content.

Contents

Putting people first

03Introduction

04Putting the audience first to connect with new personas

12Putting the audience first to build credibility and trust

20Putting the audience first to deepen connections with young professionals

3 Audience-first, always

Marketing in the health industry has never been simple. It is regulation and competition-heavy – a mixture that makes it difficult to craft messaging that survives edits from the legal department and cuts through the noise.

Currently, in an era of trust issues, changing technology, health information (and disinformation) overload and a time-poor consumer, health industry marketing needs to find new ways to connect with its diverse audiences.

Integrated communications – methods of providing information and telling your story across owned, earned and paid channels to reinforce an overarching message – can play a key role in building connections with these audiences. Internationally, healthcare organisations are taking note. This year a North American study found 83% of healthcare organisations are engaging in content marketing, with an additional 14% planning to start soon.

To get the full benefits of integrated content marketing, healthcare organisations need to put their audiences’ needs first. This means

providing value by using content to solve your audience’s challenges – providing evidence-backed advice instead of self-promotion.

The results, as dictated by your business goals, are wide-ranging - from establishing brand awareness with a new demographic to building your brand’s credibility from scratch to deepening your relationship with existing communities.

Here, we demonstrate what we have learned from content marketing projects in the health industry and why your audience should lead your content marketing.

Audience-first, always

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were 10.1 million adult Australians with private health insurance in 2014-15. That’s 57.1% of all people 18 years and over.

Putting the audience first to connect with new personas

4

Case study one: New personas

5

6

HBF is Western Australia’s largest health insurance provider, with one million customers across Australia and more than 75 years in operation.

The reasons behind taking up private health insurance or switching providers are broad and the marketplace is highly competitive, but HBF’s data showed that one high-value trigger is starting or expanding a family. By focusing our attention on an audience ignored in other content addressing young families, HBF and Mahlab were able to establish a new, highly engaged community.


How HBF built a community of 73k new dads

Background

Pregnancy is a milestone moment when couples reconsider

their health cover. Australian private health insurer HBF

wanted to differentiate itself and be top of mind for

couples were considering the switch.

Almost all information was targeted at mums. But for dads

information for them was hard to find and unreliable.

So HBF set out to create the definitive guide for dads – its

first foray into content marketing. We developed Direct

Advice for Dads (DAD), an information portal of genuine,

valuable content created for dads, by dads.

Objectives

• Attract and engage a national audience of young

families, through content targeted at new dads.

• Grow a loyal and engaged community of members and

prospective customers.

• Raise brand awareness and differentiate HBF as the

ideal health partner for young families.

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HBFDIRECT ADVICE FOR DADS


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Our approachAfter extensive interviews and focus groups with new

and expectant dads, we developed a robust content

strategy. This research, along with HBF’s own qualitative

and quantitative data, gave us an in-depth look at the

audience’s challenges. We uncovered the areas where

dads felt they needed help, and enlisted journalist dads

who’d been there, done that - with the vomit-covered

t-shirt to prove it - to bring dads relevant and compelling,

when they needed it most.

On Father’s Day 2016, our DAD website was launched,

offering in-depth written and video content, amplified

through social channels.

Content ranged from the helpful (how to swaddle,

prepare formula, change a nappy) to the heartfelt (“My

story of miscarriage”).

We added content segmentation so that dads are served up

personalised information based on where they are on their

fatherhood journey – from planning children to

raising toddlers.



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10



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Results

• Monthly user targets more than 1600% above target

• Thousands of Facebook reactions and shares

• More than a million site visits

• Articles syndicated and referenced across multiple mainstream media

channels

• International multi award-winning content campaign

• Helped cement HBF in the hearts and minds of young Australian families

• Built a community of more than 73,000 followers on Facebook

Monthly users

1600% above target

More than

1 millionsite visits

73,279 Facebook followers



12


AwardsMost Innovative Content Solution. The Pearl Awards – The Content

Council (US). Gold.

Best Content-driven Website. 2017 Content Marketing Awards (US).

Winner.

Content Marketing Launch of the Year. 2017 Content Marketing Awards (US).

Winner.

Best branded publication. BEFest Awards (Au). Gold.

Best Non-Retail Consumer. The CMA International Content

Marketing Awards (UK). Gold.

“The overwhelming success of this project to date can be largely attributed to the unique partnership between the Media and Communications team at HBF, and our content marketing agency partner Mahlab.”

Andrew WaltonMedia and Communications Manager at HBF.


If your organisation is aiming to talk to an audience of health industry heavy-hitters with a depth of knowledge that goes deeper than the average patient, it is vitally important to win their trust.

Putting the audience first to build credibility and trust

13

Case study two:Build credibility and trust

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15

When building Healthcare Information

and Management Systems Society’s

(HIMSS) content from scratch in Australia,

we were chasing an audience healthcare

IT professionals. We took care to focus on

our audience to provide relevance and,

importantly, an authoritative voice in the

landscape.

Headquartered in Chicago, HIMSS is a global not-for-profit supporting the transformation of health through the application of information and technology. The organisation encompassess more than 70,000 individual members, 630 corporate members and 450 non-profit organisations working in health and IT across North America, Europe, United Kingdom, Middle East and Asia Pacific.


16

How we introduced HIMSS to Australia and smashed audience growth targets

HIMSSHealthcare IT News Australia

Background

HIMSS is a global, non-for-profit organisation focused

on better health engagements and outcomes through

information technology.

Healthcare IT News Australia is HIMSS media’s local arm.

It is an authoritative source on the people, policies and

technologies driving next-generation healthcare in Australia.

It publishes news and analysis on innovations and their

implications in a fast-changing, high-stakes industry.

Objectives

• Build and engage an audience of Australian healthcare IT

professionals.

• Grow Healthcare IT News Australia’s industry profile and

brand, establishing the publisher as an authoritative

source of news and information.


17

Our approach

Healthcare IT News Australia launched in May 2017. On

average, seven original stories are published on the site each

week.

All stories are distributed in a weekly EDM, and shared

across Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn through a strategic

paid amplification strategy.

Personas were developed based on research and insights

offered by the US and EU editions of Healthcare IT News, as

well as Australian HIMSS membership demographics. The

content resonated with audiences and elevated the profile

of Healthcare IT News Australia.

Connecting with audiences in providing engaging, varied,

accurate and timely content, the Healthcare IT News

Australia brand has managed to outstrip growth targets

early in the game and has received a warm welcome from

readers as an alternative to existing information sources.



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Putting the audience first to build credibility and trust19

2020

Monthly users

159% above target

Zero to

10,000 EDM subs


Zero to

4,000 Facebook page likes

Results

• One year after launch, monthly user volume is 159% above target.

• From an audience of nought, the Healthcare IT News Facebook page has

gained 4000 likes (and climbing).

• The Healthcare IT News editor has been invited to an increasing number

of roundtables and conferences – a testament to the publication’s rising

reputation for providing accurate and objective coverage.

• Won multiple international awards and was shortlisted for project of the

year at the Content Marketing Awards in 2018.


Putting the audience first to build credibility and trust21

“The launch of Healthcare IT News in Australia is key to our growth in Asia. Mahlab did a wonderful job with the launch and continues to exceed audience growth targets across all platforms. We are excited and encouraged by our partnership with Mahlab. We couldn’t ask for a better content partner.”

John WhelanExecutive VP, HIMSS Media.

Awards

Project of the Year. 2018 Content Marketing Awards (US).

Finalist - to be announced in September.

Best New Digital Publication (Editorial). 2018 Content Marketing Awards (US).

Winner.

Best Overall Editorial - Digital. 2018 Content Marketing Awards (US).

Winner.

Healthcare/Medical Publication. 2018 Content Marketing Awards (US).

Finalist.


For well-established professional associations, a quickly shifting landscape can easily make connecting with younger professionals difficult. Organisations need to understand young professionals’ preferred methods of communication and create content that serves their needs ... without alienating their older colleagues.

Putting the audience first to deepen connections with young professionals

22

Case study three:Deepen connections with young professionals

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24 Putting the audience first to deepen connections with young professionals

Mahlab created a content strategy that aligned with PSA’s strategy to move from a print publisher to a cross-channel publisher. The strategy was based on the results of readership and advertising research.

Young pharmacists indicated they would like to engage with the publication digitally and on social media. Two-thirds of members and non-members aged between 18 and 29 agreed that they would like Australian Pharmacist to be more accessible online.

The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) has been working to improve its industry by providing continuing professional development. Its monthly journal, Australian Pharmacist, has been a key part of this work and has been a trusted source of information for more than 30 years.

But with with almost three-quarters of pharmacists aged under 44, the journal risked losing relevance. PSA data showed that engagement with Australian Pharmacist‘s educational content had almost halved since 2012.

25

Guiding an association’s leap into the digital-first world


Background

For decades, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia

(PSA) has strived to improve its industry by providing

continuing professional development. Its monthly

journal, Australian Pharmacist, has been a trusted source

of information for pharmacists for more than 30 years.

But with almost three-quarters of pharmacists aged under

44, the journal risked losing relevance. In fact, PSA data

showed that engagement with Australian Pharmacist‘s

educational content had almost halved since 2012.

Objectives

• Increase engagement with early career pharmacists and

non-members while retaining members.

• Boost advertising revenue.

PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA

26

Our approachMahlab created a content strategy that aligned with PSA’s

digital strategy to move from a print publisher to a cross-

channel publisher, providing content to members anytime,

anywhere, on any device. The strategy was based on the

results of readership and advertising research.

Young pharmacists said they would like to engage with

the publication digitally and on social media. Two-thirds of

members and non-members aged between 18 and 29 said

they would like Australian Pharmacist to be more accessible

online.

The theme of value recurred again and again during our

research. We developed audience personas that would

ensure content remained relevant to the industry, while

offering strong relevance to young pharmacists, as well as

introducing new content pillars to shape future content.

We also developed cross-channel advertising packages to

maximise revenue and reach more people.



Putting the audience first to deepen connections with young professionalsPutting the audience first to deepen connections with young professionals27


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Putting the audience first to deepen connections with young professionals29


Putting the audience first to deepen connections with young professionals30


3131

Email Newsletter has collected

4410 subscribers

Average time on page per article is

3:15 Audience engagement

Content Hub has attracted

41,000 unique visits


Results

• Pharmacists can now access up-to-date and relevant content year-round

anywhere, any time and on any device.

• Less than six months after our launch, the content hub has attracted over

41,000 unique visitors.

• The average time on page per article is 3:15 – a testament to the audience

being engaged with our content.

• Since launching, the email newsletter has collected 4410 subscribers,

with an average open rate of 31.8%. According to MailChimp, the industry

average is 16.28%.

• PSA’s large social audience means that we can test and optimise content

on social media to better understand their audience.


If you would like to discuss how to get more out of your content, we’d love to hear from you.

mahlab.co/contact/Lily Carlyon, Head of Communications and PRT: +61 2 9556 9119E: [email protected]

How can we help you?

http://facebook.com/mahlabagency

https://www.linkedin.com/company/mahlab-media/

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putting people first · 2020. 7. 15. · 2 cre˝ting genuine connections through content. contents...

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