Brand Storytelling Strategies for Healthcare Technology

Leveraging Content to Cut Through the Noise

Crafting a compelling brand story has never been more important for companies looking to differentiate themselves and capture the attention in an increasingly crowded and noisy market. Effective brand storytelling can humanize your technology, build trust with prospects, and ultimately drive business growth. 

Recently, I sat down with Patty Enrado, Senior Director of Content at HIMSS Media, for an in-depth discussion on the art and science of brand storytelling in healthcare technology. Patty shared her wealth of experience and insider perspective on how HIMSS Media helps health tech companies cut through the noise with impactful content. 

Elements of a Powerful Health Tech Brand Story

At its core, a compelling brand story goes beyond simply touting your technology’s features and benefits. Patty emphasized the importance of understanding and speaking to your target audience’s needs, pain points, and goals – namely, healthcare providers and decision-makers. 

“You want to not just say it’s all about our solutions, but the whole process, the people, that you have to go through, because a lot of times it’s culture change,” Patty explained. “If you come at it from there, you’re going to have more eyeballs. You’re going to have more healthcare providers saying, hey, they understand the issues and the greater ecosystem beyond just the technology.”

Key elements of a powerful brand story include demonstrating empathy for your customers’ challenges, showcasing your company’s unique journey and purpose, highlighting real-world results and partnerships, and tapping internal subject matter experts as relatable faces of the brand. Your messaging should avoid industry jargon and “captain obvious” statements in favor of accessible, authentic storytelling.

How HIMSS Media Helps Build Healthtech Brands

As the most influential media brand in healthcare technology, HIMSS is uniquely positioned to help companies make their brand stories resonate with the right audiences more broadly. Patty walked me through some of the many ways HIMSS Media supports health tech brand building through its comprehensive content capabilities.

One key offering is the content review and audit, which is complimentary for HIMSS corporate members.

“I’ll review those assets, put them in a buyer’s journey, figure out where the gaps are in your messaging,” Patty said. “We look for those gaps and create a comprehensive report – here’s what you’re missing, areas where you might need more content. It’s a great starting point to understand what they’re trying to do with their marketing message.”

HIMSS Media also serves as an end-to-end content partner, helping to plan and execute integrated brand campaigns across multiple formats and channels. This includes everything from developing abstracts and interview questions to recruiting expert speakers, coordinating video and podcast production, and amplifying brand stories through HIMSS’ engaged communities.

Successful HIMSS Brand Campaigns

Patty shared a recent success story of a comprehensive program HIMSS Media developed for health tech firm Arcadia. The integrated campaign centered around a five-part HIMSS TV series on data analytics, incorporating a custom survey, expert interviews, companion podcast episodes, and robust digital promotion.

“We had a great foundation to begin with, good data from the research that enabled thoughtful questions and rich conversations,” Patty said. “It wasn’t just a data dump. We really wanted to present the why and the how, to make it relevant and actionable for our audience.”

Patty credits the campaign’s success to close collaboration with the client, a solid editorial premise and research inputs, high-quality experts on the HIMSS and client side, and seamless coordination among HIMSS’ content, production, and marketing teams. The multi-format, multi-channel approach ensured the brand story reached decision-makers wherever they were.

Content Repurposing for Efficient Brand Building

Not every health tech firm has the resources to invest in large-scale integrated campaigns – but that doesn’t mean they can’t achieve strong results by being smart and efficient with their content. Patty emphasized the value of repurposing foundational brand assets, like customer stories and primary research, into multiple derivatives to maximize mileage. 

“If you’ve developed a relationship with a customer for a case study, deploy the ‘one to many’ strategy,” she advised. “Could you also do a webinar, a podcast, create an executive brief or infographic? Slice and dice that narrative into different formats.”

The same principles apply to leveraging proprietary data and thought leadership.

“If you have really great data, you can parse that out into a research summary, webinar, podcast, Q&A, or even snackable social content. The key is to have a strong research instrument and distribution plan going in.”

Lessons from HIMSS’ Buyer Journey Research

The foundation of an effective brand storytelling strategy is a keen understanding of your audience’s informational needs and preferences. Patty shared top insights from HIMSS’ recent survey delving into the health tech buyer’s journey and how these have shaped her team’s approach to content.

One standout finding was the outsized importance of product demos in a prospect’s evaluation process.

“86% reported that product demos are important when researching a potential vendor, trumping videos, webinars, thought leadership and even research,” Patty said. “Demos need to be high-quality, comprehensive, and delivered by engaged, camera-ready experts, not folks in a lab reading scripts.”

Also notable was the resurgence of in-person events as the top information source (tied with vendor websites) for health tech decision-makers. HIMSS 2023 attendees told Patty they craved authentic human connection and the ability to have meaningful conversations about their challenges. Vendors shouldn’t overlook the power of face-to-face engagement in building brand affinity, whether via conferences or intimate roundtables and dinners.

The Impact of AI on Brand Storytelling

No discussion of the future of brand storytelling would be complete without touching on the potentially transformative role of artificial intelligence. From generative text and visuals to predictive analytics and personalization, AI is poised to upend traditional content practices and enable entirely new modes of audience engagement.

Health tech brands and storytellers are still grappling with exactly how AI will shape their world. Patty’s key advice?

“We have to demystify it, first and foremost. Be transparent, responsible, thoughtful, and careful in how we discuss, write, and present it. Contribute to the conversation about the myths and realities people need to understand.”

While acknowledging the exciting creative potential of AI, Patty was also quick to point out its limitations and the enduring need for human judgment, empathy, and ethics in brand storytelling. Health tech companies that can balance AI-assisted efficiency and authentic audience connection will be well-positioned to thrive.

The Way Forward

As the health tech landscape continues to evolve at breakneck speed, the brand storytelling strategies that worked in the past will no longer suffice. Cutting through the noise and capturing the hearts and minds of decision-makers will require a thoughtful, data-driven, and customer-centric approach to content.

The expert insights Patty Enrado shared, drawn from her years at the forefront of health tech media, provide an illuminating roadmap for brand marketers looking to up their game. Health tech firms of all sizes can build lasting brand affinity and business impact by focusing on powerful storytelling, meeting audiences where they are, repurposing content efficiently, and being willing to experiment with new formats and technologies.

Actions You Can Take

1. Conduct a content audit: Review your existing assets through the lens of the buyer’s journey to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement. Consider engaging HIMSS Media or another expert partner to provide an objective assessment and recommendations.
2. Develop a customer-centric messaging framework: Invest time upfront to understand your target audience’s pain points, goals, and informational needs. Craft messaging that speaks directly to their challenges and aspirations, using relatable language rather than technical jargon. 
3. Identify your brand’s unique story angles: Move beyond generic product pitches to hone in on your company’s differentiated purpose, partnerships, and people. Showcase customer successes, lessons learned, and the human impact of your solutions.
4. Implement a “one to many” content repurposing strategy: Maximize the value of your foundational content assets, like research reports, customer interviews, and event presentations. Slice and dice them into multiple formats (e.g., blog posts, infographics, podcasts) to reach audiences across channels.
5. Invest in high-quality product demos and expert storytellers: With demos playing an outsized role in buyer evaluations, ensure yours are engaging, informative, and delivered by charismatic subject matter experts. Cultivate a bench of internal and external thought leaders who can bring your brand story to life.
6. Experiment with new content formats and technologies: Stay ahead of evolving audience preferences by testing emerging formats like interactive video, data visualization, and personalized content hubs. Explore how AI tools like natural language generation and content analysis can enhance your storytelling efficiency and impact.
7. Prioritize authentic human connections: Even as digital channels proliferate, in-person events and conversations remain critical to building brand affinity. Participate actively in industry conferences, roundtables, and other forums to showcase your thought leadership and forge meaningful relationships with customers and peers.=

By implementing these insights, health tech marketers can build more resonant brand stories, connect with key decision-makers, and ultimately drive business growth. The key is to stay customer-focused, data-driven, and open to new possibilities in an ever-changing landscape.

Photo by Mike Erskine on Unsplash