The 4th Annual Healthcare IT Marketing & PR Conference (HITMC) took place in Las Vegas and had the best attendance to date!
About half of the attendees were first-timers who were warmly welcomed into the Health IT community. Attending the conference was a great way to share both advice and challenges with peers in the marketing industry.
There was plenty of networking, fun, and learning going on throughout the event. Here are my top 7 takeaways from the HITMC conference.
Top 7 takeaways from the #HITMC conference. Click To Tweet1) Everyone is in the inspiration business.
Dr. Gary Rhoads, the Stephen Mack Covey Professor of Marketing & Entrepreneurship at BYU, kicked off the conference with an engaging keynote entitled “Creating Customer and Employee Engagement.” Dr. Rhoads showed by example that businesses have the ability to create an engaging employee experience and inspire customers simultaneously. One example he used was a “Going Green” campaign Walmart launched in 2008. Being environmentally friendly is emotionally appealing, which has the potential to attract both customers and employees.
(Image courtesy of Dr. Gary Rhoads, HITMC)
2) Momentum is best understood through the eyes of those that love you.
Dr. Gary Rhoads also shared this counterintuitive topic. Companies spend too much time with the customers that dislike them and disgruntled employees. Instead, first talk to the clients and employees that think you are fantastic. Implement their ideas and make them brand champions.
3) Figure out what the world needs and what makes you unique.
It’s important to convey your purpose as part of your brand. Communicate this not only to customers but also to prospects, partners, and investors. For example, look at Tesla and how its market cap recently surpassed GM and Ford.
4) Think of what’s NOT going to change in 10 years.
In 2015, Jeff Bezos shared valuable advice for building an enduring business strategy:
“I very frequently get the question: ‘What’s going to change in the next 10 years?’ And that is a very interesting question; it’s a very common one. I almost never get the question: ‘What’s not going to change in the next 10 years?’ And I submit to you that that second question is actually the more important of the two — because you can build a business strategy around the things that are stable in time.”
5) You’ll only have a successful outsource experience if you view your agency as part of your team.
If you don’t open up and share everything (the good, the bad, and the ugly), then we won’t be able to do our best work. Hiding issues or being paranoid also does not inspire emotional attachment (see #1). There are clients for which we have worked until 2 a.m. on Saturday because we’ve been in the trenches together and wanted to do everything in our power to help them succeed.
To have a successful #outsource #marketing experience, view your agency as part of your team. Click To Tweet6) Look for ways to apply agile development methodologies to marketing.
A “small chunk” phased approach to marketing, web design, and PR will save time and produce better results over the long haul.
7) Relationships are what matters the most.
Time and time again new attendees came up to me at the conference and expressed astonishment about how nice everyone is and how open everyone is to sharing. The positive environment is probably due in no small part to the type of people HITMC first chose to invite to the conference and the fact we’re marketers, not salespeople.
Manipulation and smarmy sales tactics can often get you the deal, but those customers don’t stick around for long. Trust, a close bond, and emotional connection are what keeps clients and gets them to refer you to their peers.
Watch Chris Slocumb’s HITMC Presentation
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