These Two Strategies will Transform Your HIT Marketing Game: Tales from a Badass CMO

Healthcare IT marketing has undergone a transformation and for reasons more profound than just the digitization of healthcare. At the intersection of technology and patient care lies a narrative waiting to be told and opportunities ripe for the taking. It's in this nuanced world that a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) must navigate, blending strategy with storytelling, to resonate deeply with their audience.

The Art and Science of Narrative Marketing

Let's face it, we're all suckers for a good story. From campfire tales to blockbuster movies, stories shape our understanding of the world. But when it comes to healthcare IT, the story becomes more than entertainment—it's a lifeline that connects technology with humanity.

1. The Personal Epic: Every client has a saga, an odyssey of trials, triumphs, and transformations. This isn’t about just what your clients do but who they are. Their journey to your doorstep is paved with experiences that shape their needs and desires. Dive deep. What sparked their quest for your health IT solutions? Was it a midnight epiphany or a gradual awakening? Or perhaps it was a crippling data breach or gap in interoperability. Whatever the story, there's a narrative, personal to that brand that needs to be understood. These narratives are gold dust for creating relatable and compelling marketing content.

Each morning, I do three things in this order: Pray, get some caffeine in me, and spend an hour studying the desires, frustrations, and needs of brands I want as clients. That Is my difference." SMT

2. The Current Crossroads: Now, gaze into the here and now. How did your clients’ paths lead them to this moment? This isn’t just about their geographic or economic position but their mental and emotional state. Are they trailblazers in uncharted territory or cautious travelers on a well-trodden path? Understanding their present circumstances gives you the power to craft messages that resonate deeply and drive engagement.

3. The Quest for Meaning: Why the call to adventure? Why your solution? Here lies the crux of Narrative Marketing. It's about connecting the dots between an organization’s journey and your product in a way that feels destined and inevitable. This narrative thread doesn’t just attract clients; it binds them to your brand, creating a story where your solution becomes the hero they’ve been searching for.

Opportunity Engineering: Crafting the Why into the Buy

If Narrative Marketing is the heart, Opportunity Engineering is the brain. It’s where strategy meets psychology, where data dances with desire.

Opportunity Engineering 101: It starts with the ‘why.’ But here’s the twist: it’s not just your client’s why; it’s your why, too. What drives your organization? What’s the mission that makes your clock tick and your heart race? Marrying your why with your client’s why creates a partnership that’s both logical and emotional.

The Motivated Buyer Blueprint: Not all buyers are created equal. Some are just browsing; others are ready to leap. Opportunity Engineering is about identifying and appealing to the latter. It’s a targeted approach, a sniper’s aim at the heart of the market. By understanding the nuanced needs and triggers of motivated buyers, you can tailor your marketing efforts to be more effective and efficient.

Optimizing the Why Strategy: This is where the rubber meets the road. Using data analytics, market research, and a healthy dose of empathy, you can refine your messaging to align perfectly with the buyer's journey. It’s about being in the right place at the right time with the right message. In a world cluttered with noise, this strategic precision is what makes your voice heard and your brand chosen.

Let's get these guys in a room!

So, how do we fuse Narrative Marketing and Opportunity Engineering into a cohesive strategy? Think of it as a dance. Narrative Marketing leads, setting the rhythm and emotion, while Opportunity Engineering follows with precision and technique. Together, they create a performance that is both artful and effective.

These strategies are particularly potent in healthcare IT, where technology and humanity intersect to inform outcomes. They allow us to transcend the cold mechanics of software and hardware and touch the lives of real people with stories and solutions that matter.

Here's the thing:

Embracing Narrative Marketing and Opportunity Engineering is not just about selling a product; it’s about championing a cause, telling a story, and creating opportunities that resonate on a deeply human level. As CMOs in the business we call healthcare, we have the power to make a difference, not just in the bottom line but in the lives of those we serve.

So, wear your badass badge with pride. Unleash the power of storytelling and strategic insight in your marketing. And remember, in this narrative, you're not just a character; you're the author.

If your marketing team isn't inspired or performing to your expectations, let's collaborate on how to change that. Reach out to me at [email protected]