Seven years in the past, Hackensack Meridian Well being operated on content material autopilot.

It’s a narrative acquainted to many entrepreneurs.

Some with the model revealed a print journal. Others despatched newsletters with syndicated content material that used medical sources unaffiliated with the biggest well being system in New Jersey. That they had completely different names and aesthetics. No model voice existed.

And so they wished to develop a web-based content material hub — that’s what I used to be charged with after I began on this function in 2018.

Since then, Hackensack Meridian Well being has united its content material into the HealthU model, which features a digital content material hub, a quarterly print journal and e-newsletter, social media, and a podcast launched just a few years in the past. This system received Greatest Content material Advertising and marketing Program in Well being Care within the 2023 Content material Advertising and marketing Awards.

Just lately, I shared the behind-the-scenes story within the CMI webinar Develop Up! How you can Improve Your Content material Maturity Stage and Show ROI (registration required). Michelle Jackson, vice chairman of content material technique at GLC, our company associate, joined me.

Right here’s a take a look at the elements that helped the content material workforce set up the voice and content material technique for Hackensack Meridian Well being.

4 parts of a profitable content material advertising program

In reworking Hackensack Meridian Well being from a content material creation program to completely realized strategic content material advertising, we integrated 4 vital parts:

These parts enabled us to go from order takers (i.e., put this within the e-newsletter) to strategic operators who make sure the revealed content material connects strongly to the model’s advertising priorities, serving to get folks to our services.

Plan content material first, then select channel and format

Our content material technique entails a content-first, channel-second method. We stopped doing journal planning, weblog planning, and so on. We now do content material planning.

Right here’s the way it works. The content material workforce:

• Identifies a search pattern, corresponding to curiosity in marathons.
• Plans the content material — on this case, a chunk on suggestions for marathon rookies.
• Identifies the suitable channels.
• Interviews a topic skilled (a health care provider in our system).
• Crafts an article for the content material hub and produces a podcast episode from that data.
• Repurposes the content material into different belongings (i.e., a graphic for social media).

Typically, we predict a subject would work properly only for social media or solely on the content material hub. Steadily, we use the viewers’s response to the digital content material as a thermometer for the print journal.

Let’s say an article about how a lot weight somebody must lose for weight reduction surgical procedure receives a big response on-line. We’ll plug it into the print journal and embody a QR code for a weight-loss well being threat evaluation that returns the reader to our digital content material.

However HealthU content material goes past these channels. Different advertising groups within the group can use it of their campaigns, whether or not a sponsored content material alternative in a neighborhood digital publication or an airplane-pulled banner with a CTA for HealthU solar security suggestions over a crowded seaside in New Jersey (sure, that occurred.)

Work throughout groups for content material technique success

Listening and collaboration are the important elements for the content material program’s success.

With 36,000 workers throughout 18 hospitals and 500 affected person care areas, you may count on plenty of competing priorities. The content material workforce helps the complete group in Hackensack Meridian Well being’s community workplace.

We meet repeatedly with entrepreneurs who assist particular person websites and repair strains. We meet with them month-to-month to debate their major, secondary, and tertiary priorities for the subsequent three months. They don’t include content material requests; they arrive with strategic priorities, and we decide easy methods to assist them assist these objectives.

Each two weeks, we additionally meet to look extra intently on the anticipated and crucial actions within the coming weeks. Are new docs onboarding? Do new packages want a quantity enhance? Will new tech be launched that we may assist?

At these conferences, we actually pay attention to grasp what they’re saying. Then, we take that data, analysis the associated concepts, and develop acceptable angles and distribution channels to assist these priorities.

For instance, sleep medication is a precedence for our pediatrics service line. Armed with that data, we researched trending matters round sleep to grasp what folks wished to know. We wished the content material to reply their questions, not simply discuss what we predict is vital. There was a excessive search quantity surrounding the usage of sleep gummies to advertise higher sleep in youngsters, in order that’s the subject we tackled.

Provide a pitch type

However content material concepts aren’t restricted to these conferences. We created a pitch type for advertising communications workforce members. They share the main points of their thought, the sources, and even media consent types and images, if obtainable.

Each pitch is reviewed. If we don’t plan to pursue an thought,  an auto-generated e-mail goes out, which features a observe about why the subject was declined. For instance, a pitch to advertise a extremely technical part of scientific analysis was submitted. We replied by noting, “The subject doesn’t slot in HealthU’s consumer-friendly content material technique, however listed below are another communications channels inside the division which may allow you to attain your objectives.”

The pitch types additionally assist the content material workforce determine recurring themes — inner topical developments — that may inform future content material planning. (To grasp exterior developments, we use instruments corresponding to  Google Traits and Reply The Public, which now incorporates information from Bing and YouTube engines like google along with Google.)

To handle all this content material, requests, and manufacturing, we’ve moved from huge spreadsheets to Airtable. It’s been a game-changer for us, letting us observe all of the concepts and content material in a single database and automating steps, corresponding to the person responses to pitches. The digital dashboard can be accessible to all advertising communications workforce members to allow them to advise their stakeholders on content material standing at any time.

Present the affect

The fourth component of our profitable content material advertising program revolves round outcomes. In any case, driving folks to make use of Hackensack Meridian Well being companies and go to docs in our community is the final word goal.

In planning the content material, we additionally plan to measure its success. All the outcomes are compiled in a single, templated report. Division leaders obtain that report month-to-month. (We report back to the C-suite quarterly.)

To evaluate the affect of the content material, we secured our personal name middle quantity. Each CTA contains the identical telephone quantity. That line receives about 3,000 calls yearly.

Within the journal, we publish branded shortened URLs and QR codes. We additionally did a reader survey and located one-third took motion in response to HealthU content material — scheduling an appointment, utilizing a service, registering for a category, subscribing to the e-newsletter, and so on.

The metrics additionally inform modifications to the content material technique. Over a yr in the past, the digital metrics indicated our long-form affected person tales and workforce member spotlights didn’t carry out as strongly as different academic content material. We deprioritized affected person tales and gave larger precedence and visibility to academic items round trending matters and human curiosity tales selling our docs.

After these content material modifications, calls elevated by 97%, referrals to docs jumped 169%, and repair referrals grew by 61%.

Rising past a tactical method

Seven years after the tactical evolution, we nonetheless publish {a magazine} and a e-newsletter. However now, they’re built-in elements of the HealthU technique, projecting the identical voice and mission because the digital content material hub, podcast, and different Hackensack Meridian Well being content material.

We’re a small workforce that additionally oversees social media and internet content material  — 5 full-time workers at Hackensack Meridian Well being and  GLC as our company associate. However by collaborating with the opposite advertising communications groups and actually listening to — and addressing — their priorities, HealthU delivers massive outcomes for the model.

Please observe: All instruments talked about on this article had been steered by the creator. Should you’d wish to counsel a instrument, share the article on social media with a remark.

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Cowl picture by Joseph Kalinowski/Content material Advertising and marketing Institute