Seven years ago, Hackensack Meridian Health had a disjointed content strategy. They published a print magazine and sent newsletters with syndicated content that had no connection to their brand. There was no brand voice and no cohesive strategy. In 2018, I was tasked with developing an online content hub for the organization. Since then, we have transformed Hackensack Meridian Health’s content into the HealthU brand, which includes a digital content hub, a quarterly print magazine and newsletter, social media, and a podcast. Our program was awarded Best Content Marketing Program in Health Care in the 2023 Content Marketing Awards. In a recent CMI webinar, I shared the behind-the-scenes story of how we established the voice and content strategy for Hackensack Meridian Health. Here are the four elements that contributed to our success:
1. Plan content first, then choose channel and format: Instead of planning content for specific channels like magazines or blogs, we now focus on planning the content itself. We identify search trends, plan the content accordingly, choose the appropriate channels, and repurpose the content for different formats.
2. Work across teams for content strategy success: With a large organization like Hackensack Meridian Health, collaboration is key. We regularly meet with marketers from different sites and service lines to understand their priorities and align our content strategy accordingly. We listen to their needs and develop content that supports their goals.
3. Offer a pitch form: We created a pitch form for marketing communications team members to submit content ideas. This helps us gather ideas from different sources and review them. If an idea doesn’t fit our content strategy, we provide alternative suggestions. The pitch form also helps us identify recurring themes and trends for future content planning.
4. Show the impact: Measuring the success of our content is crucial. We track metrics such as calls to our call center, use of shortened URLs and QR codes, and reader survey responses. These metrics inform changes to our content strategy and help us improve our results.
By incorporating these four elements into our content marketing program, we have grown beyond a tactical approach. Our magazine and newsletter now align with our digital content hub and other channels, projecting a consistent voice and mission for Hackensack Meridian Health. Despite being a small team, we collaborate with other marketing teams and deliver significant results for the brand.
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