touch point podcast

As healthcare marketers, we’re often asked to rely on our expertise to help develop effective strategies. However, this knowledge can also lead us down a path to bias that can influence how we think, measure and determine success. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss common bias “traps” that health system marketers commonly fall into. They are then joined by Christopher Penn,...

For all organizations, an effective digital marketing strategy is important. For those of us practicing digital marketing for hospitals and health systems, the stakes are much higher. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the important role digital marketing has in a purpose-driven industry, and digital tools are not only smart for business but also help us better understand ou...

When adopting a digital-first approach to your marketing and communications, creating content consistently and effectively is critical. So why do the majority of health systems struggle with assembling an effective content team? In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the real reason why it’s hard to do content marketing (hint: it’s NOT lack of resources) and share the roles that...

Broadcasting live from the 2019 Healthcare Marketing and Physician Strategies Summit in Chicago, IL, this week’s episode brings together a panel of experts across the healthcare marketing industry discussing some of the latest topics in the healthcare space including the rise of consumerism, regarding physicians as part of your audience strategy, the role of data and data-driven systems in healthc...

For health systems, artificial intelligence is more than a buzz-term spoken at conferences: there are numerous  opportunities for machine learning systems to support clinical efforts, marketing and operations. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss how AI can play an important role in healthcare and how to build a business case for AI. They are joined by Julia Steed, VP of Marke...

In hospitals and health systems, as digital tools, content and strategies continue to expand, the need to structure and relate information together becomes increasingly important. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the importance of taxonomy and hashtags, and how developing a consistent, prioritized approach will help define the semantics of our digital ecosystem. They are j...

In healthcare, the consumer journey in pursuing care is far from a linear funnel. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the factors modern hospital and health system professionals need to consider when mapping out customer journeys. They share essential components to consider when evaluating a customer’s journey and are joined by Tom Hileman, president of The Hileman Group, in...

Within a health system, the application of digital strategies not only support marketing and patient experience efforts, they also extend to supporting internal communication efforts. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the way internal communications can extend past emails and the intranet to embrace mobile, video, persona development and KPI/measurement strategies. They are...

Hospitals and health systems realize that their website is the most important touchpoint in their digital tech stack - but many elements of the modern website are changing and shifting. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss a number of factors that are changing the modern website, including how search engines, personalization and the Internet of Things. They are joined by Carri...

For health systems, adopting a content strategy involves understanding their audiences and aligning content to a specific business purpose. With the advancement of digital tools and strategies, many organizations are adopting advanced ways to measure and determine the effectiveness of their content marketing. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss ways to measure content efforts...

For many health systems, managing social media can be a challenging task - and the need for a social media management system (SMMS) is critical. However for many professionals, they see SMMS as a technology solution and not a shift in the overall social media process. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the different types of social media software, the elements of a social me...

This second part of the series on measurement and KPIs explores how organizations can measure financial ROI of their efforts. Hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss the two ways to measure ROI, and the essential pillars need to build an ROI measurement strategy (hint: it’s not necessarily a CRM...but it helps). They are joined by Jackie Martin, principal of Branch Strategy, in which she shares h...

In the first of two shows focusing on how our industry measures their efforts, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer share tips on how to understand the differences between metrics and KPIs, how healthcare marketers compare to other industries in proving the value of their digital marketing and the right types of KPIs we should use to align with our strategies. Mentions from the Show: Xasis Survey: Mea...

This week, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer share, via a series of interviews, experiences and ideas from this year’s SXSW. From the history of how the health track was formed, to thoughtful insights on data privacy, AI, ethics, healthcare equality and data, this episode features interviews with other Touchpoint Media co-hosts and friends of the show: Aaron Clifford, Dr. Byan Vartabedian, John Ber...

Email marketing is one of the oldest tactics in a digital marketer’s toolkit - but is it still relevant and effective? In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the state of email marketing and illustrate some important statistics that highlight how important emails are to a health systems’ communications and marketing efforts. They are joined by Jessica Troccoli, former email stra...

It’s commonly understood that online reviews are an important component of hospitals’ and health systems’ online reputation management efforts. But are all online reviews the same? In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer explore the various elements of an online review - from open vs. closed review systems, the benefits of a five star rating system to how organizations can benchmark thei...

In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer dive into the the latest study from Greystone/Klein Partners:”The 4th Annual State of Digital Marketing for Hospitals,” an annual survey or more than 200 healthcare marketers and digital professionals from various healthcare organizations. From websites, social media and CRM, the hosts discuss their perspective on how digital has evolved over the y...

Hospital and health system digital marketers focus much of their attention on ensuring their website is the authoritative source of information about their organization. However in the new digital environment, the information on third-party websites often has a bigger impact on the online customer journey. In this episode, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith discuss how organizations can begin consid...

Building trust with customers online is difficult, particularly when customer expectations are continually changing and competition for trust is growing. But for hospitals and health systems, gaining trust is critical to branding and patient loyalty. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss methods in which health systems can use digital to build brand trust. They are joined by gu...

User experience (UX) refers to a person's emotions and attitudes when they interact with and experiences a product, service or solution. As UX continues to grow in importance for healthcare digital marketers, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the four U’s of online experience: User Experience, Usability, Utility and Usefulness. In addition, they discuss how these factors (along with Desirab...

Whether you are creating your content calendar or planning your content production, it’s important to determine if you have all the elements of a robust content strategy. In this episode, Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss the concepts of front-end and back-end content strategy and share their experiences working with hospitals and health systems on their content development efforts. They are join...

With the increasing impact consumerism is having on health systems, hosts Chris Boyer and Reed Smith weigh in on the potential influence “digital natives” can have on new online strategies - both from a consumer and employment perspective. From virtual care offerings to social media training, they even attempt to bust myths about digital natives. They are joined by Dr. Farris Timimi, the Medical D...

For hospital and healthcare marketers, the challenge of determining the right balance of online advertising spend is challenging. Paid search, display ads, social media advertising, native and video advertising - the options are numerous and confusing. In this episode, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer discuss various techniques they have found to help budget and plan SEM efforts to effectively sup...

In this annual “Best-of” 2018 show, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer reflect back on 2018, sharing some of their most favorite topics, guests and episodes from the Touchpoint podcast and countdown listener’s top voted categories, including: best cold-open, best episode topic, best guest expert and the coveted Top Fan of 2018. Congratulations to Bridget Thomas (best guest), Mitch Holdwick (biggest...

In the final episode of 2018, hosts Reed Smith and Chris Boyer offer a “sampler platter” of all the great shows available on the TouchPoint Network. They begin with an episode on interoperability from the Connected Hospital (hosted by John Mason). Then they feature a clip from the Intersection Podcast in which Bobby Rettew interviews a humanitarian working at the Texas Border. Dr. Bryan Vartabedia...