As a digital healthcare marketing agency, we are faced with the challenge of trying to keep up with two industries (healthcare and marketing) that evolve at an incredibly fast pace. In order to keep up, we are constantly evaluating the tools that we use. Our founder Casey O'Quinn likes to say "having the right tool for the job makes all the difference in the world." This is true whether you're fixing a car or trying to execute a content strategy. We've gone through periods as a company where we "got by" with mediocre software, but we have become more effecient and effective by focusing on finding and using the right tools.
This is a long post. Feel free to use the links below if you'd like to skip to a specific section.
Tools for Marketing and Project Management
by Marketing Director Matt Brannon
Tools for Prospecting & Sales
by Founder and Principal Casey O'Quinn
Tools for Video Production and Post Production
by Matt Dufilho
Tools for Design
by Casey O'Quinn
by Matt Brannon
The software is built to facilitate the Inbound Methodology which occurs in four phases:
To attract traffic, we use the blogging platform to write and optimize posts for search engines and we use the social media publishing and monitoring function to promote content. There is also an add-on for social ads, which we are likely going to switch to from our current solution.
To convert visitors into leads, we use Hubspot to create forms, landing pages, and calls-to-action that collect visitor info and feed it to the built-in CRM where contacts can be automatically segmented into as many lists as we can think of.
To close deals and delight customers, Hubspot has the capability to create intricate automated email workflows that we can use to nurture leads and send the right content to the right person at the right time. The marketing side obviously pairs very well with the Hubspot Sales tools which make everyone happier and more efficient. All efforts are tracked with built-in reporting tools so we can continue to improve and optimize.
And it has an app.
Jira takes some getting used to. In fact, we had completely missed one of the major functions of the software until we happened to catch a glimpse of another agency’s dashboard during a webinar. Now that we’ve spent a bit more time getting familiar with all the boards and tools, however, we’ve found it to be very powerful and a perfect fit for agile project management.
And it has an app.
Slack is simply a very robust, but straightforward, communication tool. Imagine if Instant Messenger and Skype had a baby and it became the most popular kid in school. It has integrations with dropbox and other tools so file sharing is easy. You can create different channels for different teams or topics. You’ll notice, however, that most communication on Slack will quickly turn from business to a stream of funny gifs and emojis.
One of my favorite features is a Hubspot integration called Growthbot. Growthbot is still somewhat young, but it can already do some pretty cool things… it can give you data on competitors like website traffic and ad spends… and it can give you personality profiles and tips for communicating with contacts. They are eerily accurate. Here’s an example of mine:
Personality profile for Matt Brannon:
This person is a decisive, creative influencer: Forward-thinking, ambitious, and spontaneous with a natural aversion to rigid structure.
Advice for communicating with them:
Bring lots of energy to the conversation
Speak with an informal tone
Use self-deprecating humor (don't act like you take yourself too seriously)
Interrupt them if the conversation is going too long
Use visual aids
I do love visual aids… and yes, Slack is an app.
by Casey O'Quinn
As the defacto salesperson at Gravity Digital, I’ve had to work hard at sales. Sales does not come naturally for me. In fact, I find it kind of “icky”. However, as we transitioned into healthcare marketing, I knew we would need a solid plan to grow insde the niche. I overcome this a couple of ways:
With that as our foundation, here are the tools I use for sales activities:
There are a host of features within the product, but my “go to” is definitely Sales Navigator. Because we work from an Ideal Company Profile and Buyer Personas, I have a very clear idea of who I am looking for. I need to maintain a narrow focus to protect my time and make sure I’m reaching out to “best fit” prospects.
The Lead Builder feature includes an Advanced Search tool that allows me to dive very deep in my quest for those “best fit” companies and individuals. Here’s a screenshot of the Advanced Search tool:
The filters are closely aligned with our Ideal Company Profile and Buyer Persona attributes. After getting the results of the advanced search, I move on to the research phase to better qualify prospects.
After finding prospects, I like to research the companies and individuals to further qualify them for our services and overall fit.
I always view the prospect’s LinkedIn profile, and I make sure to check out these specific areas:
No brainer, right? Visit the website, read about their company, products, services, etc. Also be sure to read the company blog and read any downloadable resources like eBooks and case studies. If they have an upcoming webinar, I might tune in to learn more about the company and my prospect.
After my research has led me to a prospect that matches one of our Buyer Personas, and their company fits our Ideal Company Profile, it’s time to reach out. But where do you start, and how do you manage it?
The phone number is usually listed on their website, and many companies have a dial by name directory. It can sometime be tough getting past the gatekeeper, but that’s a post for another day.
Once I have the prospect’s name, company, phone number, email address, title and other important information, I load it into HubSpot’s CRM. We use the full stack available from HubSpot: CRM, Marketing Automation, and Sales Professional.
Without the CRM, I would be lost. With a couple of clicks, I can see everything I need to know about a contact, see my previous emails, and read any notes I’ve made. For more on CRM’s check out my article on 3 Signs You Need a Healthcare CRM.
by Matt Dufilho
I’m going to speak generally here because there are just so many options when it comes to gear. The important thing is that you have a solution in place and consider each of camera, lighting, and audio:
For the camera, the primary consideration is that you are using something digital. Please don’t use anything that still uses a tape - I believe it’s morally wrong at this point. The price range on cameras is so vast: starting from your phone, which probably has a pretty decent camera, all the way up to studio-type cameras that cost tens of thousands of dollars. A solid DSLR is the standard for most corporate type video, but use the best available.
It’s great to have a set of lights, but you can often find production scenarios where you can use the light available. Just be aware of placement. Give the subject nice, even light and avoid harsh shadows. Always be aware of any natural light available.
Audio is possibly the most important and often the most overlooked of the three. I always say that you’d rather have a bad looking video with good audio than the other way around. Don’t count on your camera’s built-in microphone. Zoom makes good recorders that are $100 or less, pair them with a lapel mic and you’re in good shape. If you have a bigger budget and an extra set of hands (or a stand), go for a larger mic that hangs in from above.
If you are going to have video as part of your strategy long term and you need buy equipment, I’d recommend looking at bhphotovideo.com. In my 20+ years of experience, I’ve yet to find anyone who can beat their prices or service. If you’re just looking at doing a few projects or test the waters, lensprotogo.com is good for rentals (or look for a local option).
Video production has become so democratized and there are so many great resources out there for learning. YouTube is a great start for just about anything you want to learn. If you have a specific technical question about video, chances are the answer can be found on YouTube. I’m also a huge fan of Lynda.com. The site has some outstanding courses over a large variety of topics, including video. In fact, I’ve been to some major conferences and found that they were teaching Lynda courses. It’s only about $25.
Wipster
by Casey O'Quinn
While I have generally stepped away from most of my design duties, I was an active designer here at Gravity Digital in the early days. I’m still involved in the creative process for most projects, and fire up most of these programs on a regular basis.
Here are the tools and software we use when designing websites, eBooks, graphics and anything else that needs a creative touch.
Illustrator, and other vector programs, can be frustrating for those coming from a program like Photoshop. However, if you are creating a logo or graphic that is important, it really needs to be created in a vector program free of the pixels that can limit raster-based images.
It’s simple to save PDF’s for digital downloads for our clients’ websites, and it’s become a standard for the printing industry and we have everything we need to output files based on each of our client’s preferred printing companies.
Spark is a web-based graphic design app, that is very easy to use – even for non-designers. Quickly design an image and output all of the sizes needed for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and blogs.
I referenced using Photoshop for designing website interfaces, but before we move into that design phase we start with wireframes. A wireframe is a simple black and white sketch of a website or application interface. It’s a great place to start to make sure you’ve focused on usability and elements of UX (user experience) before looking at colors, photos, copy, etc.
Balsamiq is a quick and easy way to create these wireframes and has pre-built elements for just about application.
There you have it! As I said at the top of the post, we are constantly evaluating and looking for new tools and software that works for healthcare marketing. If you have any recommendations, please let us know in the comments!