Idea Email: Just Listen
Posted in Idea Email, by Rex Hammock
April 22, 2021

By Rex Hammock, CEO

For as long as there has been a Hammock Inc. (which is 30 years), we’ve had an unofficial rule that goes something like this: “When it comes to creating and managing media that helps our clients grow deep and loyal relationships with their customers and members, we are agnostic about one form of media over another. We are in the business of using content to solve problems and find opportunities.”
The following is based on a true story. Actually, several true stories.
A potential client sees a multimedia campaign that a content agency has created and managed with an existing client. The potential client says they want something just like the existing client’s.
When we meet with a client, it becomes clear that a different approach might be more effective—and even less expensive.
Many years of working with clients has reinforced the lesson that the best solutions are what you find from listening to the client, customer or buyer.
Suggestion: Be open-minded and avid miners of what you see and hear. It’s amazing what you’ll see when you listen more—and what you’ll hear when you look more.

Image: Getty



About Hammock Healthcare Idea Email |
This post is part of Hammock’s award-winning Idea Email series. Idea Emails are sent every other week and share one insightful marketing idea. Idea Email comes in two flavors: Original and Healthcare. To subscribe to the original Idea Email (general marketing ideas), click here . To subscribe to the Healthcare Idea Email (healthcare marketing ideas), click here.

 

By Rex Hammock, CEO

As I’ve shared before, using content in marketing is like a golfer and their bag of clubs. Each situation a golfer encounters calls for a unique club—but knowing which club to use is just as important as knowing how to use it.

One of the most challenging and rewarding things about using content tools in marketing is learning when to use new tools, as well as learning how an old tool can work in new situations.

 

By Rex Hammock, CEO

As of this morning, September 24, 2020, Wikipedia contained 6,163,272 articles in English.

Sometime today, perhaps more than once, I will refer to one of those Wikipedia articles—and to other online resources that help me fill in the blanks of my knowledge.

 

By Rex Hammock, CEO

According to the internet, much of the way we live and work will never be the same because of the coronavirus. Here’s what I mean:

 

By: John Lavey | Hammock President/COO

One of the big issues in healthcare “getting back to a new normal” is the resumption of elective procedures. On March 19, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a recommendation to postpone most elective procedures. In effect, the spigot for a hospital’s revenue has been turned off for two months.

From an economic point of view, elective procedures are the lifeblood of a healthcare system’s revenue stream and profitability, and the loss of elective procedures is gashing hospitals’ margins.

 

By: John Lavey | Hammock President/COO

In uncertain times, you work in a certain way.

So said Vanderbilt baseball coach Tim Corbin on a Zoom chat from his empty office earlier this week. Corbin’s two NCAA baseball national championships with Vanderbilt could pigeonhole him as a school and sports legend, but anyone who has heard him speak knows his leadership style and wisdom transcend sports.

By: John Lavey | Hammock President/COO

On Sunday, March 29, President Trump extended social distancing guidelines until the end of April. Two days later, he warned of a “painful two weeks ahead.” The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases continues to rise rapidly, and our healthcare system and nation are heading into a critical few weeks where the death toll is estimated to soar. 

We’re in awe of the frontline healthcare workers who are making sacrifices to care for the critically ill, especially as there continue to be shortages of personal protective equipment and ventilators that are needed to treat the most acute cases. We see you, and we thank you. 

By Rex Hammock, CEO

Look at the screen you are using to read these words. Never before has such technology, ingenuity and creativity made it possible to spread your message to more people.

But, in reality, the most powerful forms of communication are not powered by technology—they are powered by the stories told through technology. Marketplaces are powered by two people looking at one another, face to face. Marketplaces are created when those two people grow into communities, conferences and forums.

By: John Lavey | Hammock President/COO

Google reports that 7% of its searches are health-related. This adds up to 70,000 searches a minute. That’s a lot of time consumers are spending looking for help before taking action. 

We know providers and payers also have a voracious appetite for helpful content. Those companies typically have nine people involved in a purchasing decision of any healthcare IT solution, and they report spending much of a yearlong sales cycle doing research before ever entertaining a sales professional (2018 HIMSS and Content Marketing Institute survey).