In today’s fast-paced, information-forward environment, it can be challenging for healthcare organizations to stay relevant and competitive in the field. As a result, many brands are turning to thought leadership to connect with busy healthcare leaders and decision-makers.
Thought leadership involves developing and sharing innovative and informative insights that are uniquely valuable to a target audience. By investing in thought leadership, you can position your brand as innovative, well-researched experts in your industry. Investing in thought leadership can:
· Build your brand’s credibility among decision-makers and experts
· Create opportunities for new connections, deepened partnerships and strengthened collaboration
· Keep you informed of upcoming trends in the healthcare industry
· Differentiate your brand, increase brand awareness and identify leads to support new initiatives or product launches
Read on for strategies to effectively engage in thought leadership and to expand your brand’s reach to key decision-makers in the healthcare industry.
Know your audience to create compelling content
To begin building relationships and brand awareness, thought leaders must learn what kinds of information busy healthcare leaders are looking for and how they prefer to get it. For example, some decision-makers want their information packaged in short, easy-to-read cheat sheets, while others would rather discuss at a digital roundtable.
Creating a strategy tailored to healthcare leaders’ needs will ensure that all efforts are focused on achieving maximum impact.
Build credibility through thought leadership
To build credibility, you must create unique, valuable content that establishes your brand as an expert in your industry. Compelling thought leadership content must be tailored toward resolving common and pressing problems among healthcare decision-makers, rather than just endorsing an organization’s own company or product.
Overt self-promotion is likely to turn off prospective clients, whereas directed thought leadership will be received as genuine knowledge-sharing that entices healthcare leaders into the sales funnel. Consider the following strategies to build credibility, grow brand awareness and establish your brand as a thought leader:
Package and share valuable data. Decision-makers highly value data and analytics, which includes engagement metrics, improved patient outcomes, customer feedback, industry insights and more. Data should be shared in a way that provides valuable insights, contains messaging that resonates with the audience and helps healthcare leaders make decisions that benefit their organization.
Be a podcast guest. Podcasts are more popular than ever and a great way for organizations to showcase their thought leadership to new audiences. While advertising within the podcast can be a great option for brand awareness, being a guest and subject-matter expert on the podcast itself goes a long way toward gaining recognition with other experts in the field.
Host in-person or virtual events. Organizing an in-person or virtual event gives healthcare organizations an opportunity to communicate directly with prospective clients, grow brand awareness and establish a strong reputation — all while promoting their companies. For example, sponsoring a summit or roundtable can allow thought leaders to share ideas about healthcare’s most complex challenges.
Publish in industry journals and news sources. Sharing knowledge through select healthcare industry journals and news sources is another powerful way for thought leaders to gain visibility and increase brand awareness among healthcare decision-makers.
Broaden your reach by partnering with researchers
One of the most challenging parts of building credibility is making sure that content gets in front of the right decision-makers. Many thought leaders partner with established, reputable research organizations, such as Advisory Board, to further their reach.
For 40-plus years, Advisory Board has distilled complex healthcare challenges into research-backed, actionable insights that push the healthcare industry forward. As a key contributor to the healthcare ecosystem, Advisory Board keeps an ear to the ground for the complex challenges healthcare leaders face daily.
Now, organizations can partner with Advisory Board Sponsorship to create content and events that elevate their thought leadership to more than 4,500 healthcare leaders and decision-makers. Learn more.
