If you want your healthcare content to be understood and effective, make it easy to read. Fascinating facts, great stories and persuasive copywriting mean nothing if your patients or business prospects can’t or won’t take the time to read them. Even in the best of times, it takes skill to capture the attention of a distracted audience. During a pandemic, it is even more challenging.

Don’t Overestimate the Health Literacy Level of Your Audience

It may come as no surprise that U.S. adults have a low health literacy rate — their ability to access, understand and process health information. In 2003, when health literacy was last assessed, only 12 percent of U.S. adults over the age of 16 performed at the highest literacy proficiency level. What is surprising is that only 24 percent with bachelor’s degrees and 33 percent of those with advanced degrees met that bar.

Meet your audience at their reading level

The average U.S. adult reads at or below the 8^th grade level. That means that if you write your patient education pamphlets, health and wellness websites, brochures, and even sales sheets at a high school or college reading level, you’re going to lose the majority of your readers. Keep your content between a 7th and 8th grader reading level to ensure the widest audience.

Don’t worry that your content won’t be sophisticated enough for scientists, specialists and corporate executives with advanced degrees. They also appreciate simplicity. With busy days and multiple deadlines, they often don’t have the mental energy to absorb lengthy, complex and abstract prose.

Keep your readers engaged

Writing content that is simple, interesting, and persuasive takes skill. It’s a constant exercise in paring down, shortening sentences, and replacing complex words with simpler ones. Writing to an elementary reading level does not mean your writing has to be elementary. It will not insult a professional’s intelligence or keep you from being able to cover everything you need to communicate. When you do it right, your copy isn’t boring. It pulls the reader in.

Take a lead from print journals like The New York Times to ensure you’re getting your message across to the professionals you want to address. They write to a 6th to 7th grade level. Even better, the New Yorker and Economist shoot for a 5th grade level.

To write content that gets read, understood and even shared, consider the following tips:

• Start with what you want to say and then pare it down by as much as 50%.
• Shoot for 20 to 25 words per sentence, varying sentence length for interest.
• Keep your average character per word count around 5.
• Make all verbs active, not passive. (i.e. change “Medication should be taken…” to “take this medication…”)
• Eliminate unnecessary adverbs.
• Use a readability rating tool to test your content.

Run your content through a readability rating tool

Happily there are many good online tools for measuring readability. Different tools use different measuring scales. Flesch-Kincaid is the most popular scale used, with a good readability score being 60 or over. The options I find the most useful are:

• Microsoft Office Word: If you use Word, you can set preferences to provide Readability scores after it finishes checking spelling and grammar. It provides average words per sentence, Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level and tells you the percentage of passive sentences in your copy.
• Readable: This page allows you to test the readability of your text and see where it can be improved. In addition to this free calculator, Readable offers different plans, starting at $4/month for a single user. Other plans offer additional editing features.
• WebFX:  This free readability test tool lets you test a block of text or text from a website url. It provides scores from several measuring scales, text statistics and visual indicator bars that indicate if your copy is good to go.
• Hemingway App: This $19.99 app not only gives you your scores but also helps improve readability by suggesting edits to words and phrases.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio.

If you feel like your content is getting ignored, it may be time to rework it for a broader audience. If you’d like help, I work with healthcare companies to develop content that builds awareness and generates leads. Contact me for a free 15 minute consultation.

The post When it Comes to Healthcare Content, Readability Matters appeared first on Lisa Stockwell.

How to Apply a Dog Trainer’s Tips to Gain Trust and Attention

The novel coronavirus hasn’t just affected the way we live our lives. It’s affected the way we communicate. With everyone’s nerves frayed and their hopes and dreams on hold, our audiences have changed. People may not be as receptive to the messages that once elicited enthusiasm. They may be skeptical of claims that promise to improve their lives. They may be too distracted to pay any attention at all.

As marketers and communicators, we can’t assume that the audiences we spoke to before March 2020 are the same today. We need to redefine our audiences and then reintroduce ourselves. For everyone but the most loyal followers, we need to re-earn respect and trust.   

So, how do we do that?

5 tips we can learn from dogs

To find some answers, I turned to my dogs. They are the ones who’ve seen me through this crisis, at my side through thick and thin, day and night for the past eight weeks. No matter what my mood or what mistakes I’ve made (like forgetting to fill the water bowl or take them on a morning walk), they continue to wag their tails and trust me to be here for them.

That got me thinking about dog trainers and how they establish trust with anxious dogs. I wasn’t surprised to discover that the tactics they use for dogs work just as well when it comes to communicating with humans in a crisis.

So, with thanks to Cesar Milan, I have amended his training insights for my colleagues in marketing communications.  

1. Stay calm: You should never approach a new dog with excited energy. It can result in a flight or fight reaction or an unwelcome response. You don’t, for instance, want to be jumped on and knocked over. In today’s wary environment, people are just as likely to be unresponsive or hostile to an overly enthusiastic pitch. If your products or services are essential, they will almost sell themselves. (If not, this is a good time to take a break or reinvent your business for the current times.)  Your best action is to introduce or reintroduce your brand and regularly send gentle reminders that your services or products are available to meet their needs.
2. Respect their space: Cesar recommends “no touch, no talk, no eye contact” when it comes to working with anxious dogs. Well, this tip won’t be hard to enact, since we’re all practicing social distancing anyway. But this is also a reminder to keep your messages simple and brief, respecting the fact that everyone is already overwhelmed and can’t focus on complex messages. If you have a lengthier presentation or piece of content you want to share, start by presenting a brief overview and let your audience request more. (This gives you a great way to keep the conversation going.)
3. Get on their level: With dogs, you want to get on their level, making sure that your body language is non-confrontational. With people, you want to get on their level too. Do that by demonstrating empathy. Let them know you understand how they feel. Address their concerns or pain with communications that explain how your solutions are effective and reliable—showing more than telling how they work.
4. Let them come to you: According to Cesar, a dog will let you know if he or she trusts you by sniffing and/or licking your hands and staying calmly in place. You can assume that if the dog turns away, she isn’t interested. You’re not going to buy respect by running after her. It’s the same with anxious business prospects (or patients in the healthcare industry). For the immediate future, you’re unlikely to make a convert through aggressive pitches. Just keep sending those gentle reminders with valuable insights, articles or newsletters and wait for them to come to you.
5. Go for a walk: Walking a new dog helps you earn trust as your dog learns how well you direct and protect her. In the human world, when prospects demo your products or begin working with you, they quickly form opinions about the quality you provide. You earn trust and build your reputation when your message matches the quality and effectiveness of your products or services.

That final tip — walking — is as critical for our mental health right now as it is for marketing. I find that going for a walk in the middle or end of the day clears my head and opens space for creative ideas to start flowing. (It’s even better when you have a dog to walk with!) So, don’t just do it metaphorically. Get out and get some fresh air! And when you get home, please remember to wash your hands. 🙂

For some great examples of how healthcare organizations are creating connections and building trust with their audiences, download a free copy of:

 9 Examples of Empathy in Healthcare Content Marketing.

The post Communicating With an Anxious Audience appeared first on Lisa Stockwell.

Today, I woke up and thought how nice it would be to go to my local cafe, grab a latte and a pastry and chat with the folks who hang out there in the morning with their dogs. Truth is, I almost never go to that cafe. I don’t drink coffee and I try not to eat pastries. And I rarely walk my dogs in the morning. But now that I am told I can’t do it, I want something I didn’t want before.

Social distancing isn’t fun. One thing you can say about it, though, is that we’re all experiencing it together. In a country where we pride ourselves on individuality, it’s rare that we’re all coping with the same thing at the same time.

But just because we’re confronting the same limitations and uncertainties together, our emotional responses to the crisis may be quite different. Some feel optimistic, seeing new market opportunities for their health app or medical device. Others on the frontlines of medicine are too focused on their jobs to think about anything else. Many are dealing with grief or fear and can’t concentrate on the rest of the day, let alone the future. Others are upset by what they are missing and angry.

So, how do you communicate effectively with an audience that, until a few weeks ago, you thought you understood? Communicating in a time of crisis takes extreme empathy. Being human is probably the most important quality we can share.

You can still engage while social distancing

This crisis is going to teach us a lot about staying connected when we are apart. To keep the channels of communication open, leave the canned content and complex thoughts for another time. Start by asking questions instead of having a one-sided conversation: What do I have that you need? How can I make this situation better for you? How can I help? The answers you confidently provided a month ago may be different today.

Use the following tips to market your services or products with empathy. While not original, they bear repeating:

I hope it won’t be too long before the cafes reopen, workers return to the office, and we have a more predictable business climate. We have a bumpy road ahead of us, but there is some comfort in knowing, as we sit in our home offices alone, we’re in this together.

If you have questions about healthcare communications in a crisis, please reach out to me. I’m a captive audience for the duration.

Photo by Fabien Maurin

The post Communicate with Empathy Through this Crisis — Use a Human Voice appeared first on Lisa Stockwell.

Consider your audience’s perspective

How much of your healthcare marketing content starts with the words “we” or “I”?

If you’re not getting the results you want from the content you create, it may be time to change your perspective. As long as you put the spotlight on your organization and not your audience, you miss the opportunity to demonstrate empathy in your healthcare communications. And empathy is an essential ingredient for effective content marketing, especially when you’re marketing a healthcare service or product.

Start with listening.

As a marketer, it’s your job to know your audience. It can be tempting to use your own experience to make assumptions about their problems and what they need. But cognitive empathy—the ability to understand how another person is feeling and might be thinking—requires both imagination and research. Spend some time finding out what your prospective customers or patients are going through and what critical problems they want solved before you begin providing your solutions. You can use one or more of the following tools to listen in:

• Conduct qualitative surveys with existing customers. (If possible, set up some informational interviews so you can get feedback firsthand.)
• Talk to your salespeople about their interactions with your customers (or talk to providers, if you are marketing healthcare services to patients).
• Read online healthcare forums or use social listening software to learn what questions your audience is asking, what problems they’re having, and what topics are trending.
• Read case studies, white papers, and industry reports done by marketers in similar businesses.
• Evaluate what your competition is communicating to their potential customers.

Put your focus on your audience’s story.

You probably have a great story to tell. But telling your story without
establishing context can be as unwelcome as unsolicited advice. Your link to
your audience, whether they are patients, healthcare professionals or
healthcare business executives, is through their frame of reference.

Demonstrate empathy in your healthcare communications by painting a picture of where your audience is now. Confirm what’s important to them, what issues they’re struggling with, and what they want their future to look like. When people feel heard, they become more receptive to whatever solutions you can provide.

Develop an emotional connection.

Harvard professor, Gerald Zaltman, concluded that 95% of the purchase decisions people make take place in their subconscious minds. In other words, these decisions are most often made based on how you make someone feel. If you can help them feel good about you, it’s more likely they will pay attention to the various attributes of your services and/or products.

Consider, for a second, a hawker at a county fair, shouting out all the features of his wares. Being loud doesn’t build him an audience. But if he catches your eye when you’re walking by and says something personal to you or manages to get you to laugh, he increases his chances of getting you to stop and listen (if only for the entertainment value).

So, how do you nurture positive emotions and increase the likelihood your
target market will be receptive to your communications? Consider using one or more
of the following tactics:

Continue the conversation

In the healthcare industry, few decisions are made on impulse. It often
takes multiple interactions before a customer or patient is ready to act. When
you take the time to make an emotional connection, your prospects are more
likely to trust you to meet their needs and reach out for the additional
content you create to move them through the proverbial marketing funnel.

For some great examples of how other healthcare organizations are creating connections with their audiences, download a free copy of my 9 Examples of Empathy in Healthcare Content Marketing.

Photo by Josh Calabrese

The post Empathy in Healthcare Communications appeared first on Lisa Stockwell.

Why I’m Grateful for My Career

On Thursday, I’ll gather with my family and give thanks for the blessings we’ve enjoyed over the past year, the bounty we share, and the support we provide each other as siblings, parents and grandparents. 

But today, before I close my computer, I want to express gratitude for my freelance life and the content marketing business it allowed me to create. Freelancing has fulfilled me in ways I could never have imagined when I started out a few decades ago. 

I’m thankful for the people who helped me get my business off the ground and keep it growing. 

To Iain, who gave me the opportunity to write my first piece of collateral while I was a young account executive at an ad agency. My copy was approved on the first pass and emboldened me to shift my career from account exec to copywriter.

To Susan, who responded to my first direct marketing letter and hired me to write a campaign to promote the winery she worked for. I thank her for continuing to retain me as she moved to a large PR firm and then on to a biotech company, giving me challenging projects that broadened my portfolio and my credentials.

To Pat, who became my graphic design partner and showed me the joys of working in partnership with another creative freelancer. The work we did together is still among the best in my portfolio, as she put beauty and order to words on the page. 

To Linda, who was my best cheerleader when I started out and became my writing partner and co-publisher of a magazine we founded and ran for five years. 

To Dan, who assigned me articles to write for Sunset Magazine and then referred me to their book division, where I had the chance to write nine books over the next seven years.

To Stewart, who helped me develop expertise in healthcare marketing and fine tune my content strategy, web writing and SEO skills after a career spent in print.

And to all my clients who have put their trust in me over the years and made it a joy to start work every day. The collaboration is every bit as edifying as the work itself. 

I’m thankful for the ongoing education my freelance business provides.

I can’t imagine another career that would let me jump between industries, functions and types of writing—all in the same month. Freelancing means I can choose to be a generalist or an expert in the area that fascinates me most. Since every freelance project is new, I get to meet and interview a wide variety of experts and continuously learn new things. There is no chance to get bored or become stale in the work I do, as long as I keep reaching for new challenges.

I’m thankful for the opportunity to maintain my relevance.

You can’t remain in business as an independent contractor unless you offer the skills clients are looking for today. As technology changes the way we communicate, I need to keep pace and know as much or more than the generations coming up behind me. It feels great to stay relevant and not be afraid that progress will run me over.

I’m thankful that I can work from anywhere with an internet connection.

While I spend most of my workday in front of a computer, it doesn’t matter where that computer is located. It can be in my home office, in a coffee shop, in a park or even—as it was for six months recently and will be again—in a rental home in Mexico. 

I’m thankful for the work-life balance I have created.

I am grateful for the flexibility I had to make my three children my priority without interrupting my career. There were months and even years when I sacrificed income and advancement to give my kids more attention. But I never had to choose between all or nothing. I was in command of the hours I worked and the jobs I took on. I could design my workdays around my children’s schedules. And today, I can still take off time to help with my grandchildren’s care. 

I’m thankful for the ability to support myself doing the work I love.

I wasn’t sure I could make a living writing when I began freelancing. I started my business out of frustration, believing I wouldn’t be taken seriously as a woman at a time when I knew no other female copywriters. I imagined I’d give myself a year and see what happened. I’ve never looked back.  

And finally, I’m thankful for the people who continue to have my back.

Freelancing isn’t for everyone. At times, it can feel insecure and frightening. I had the benefit of growing up with a father who ran his own architecture firm. I often watched the boats coming into the San Francisco Bay, wondering if one might be my father’s ship—the one my mother said we were waiting to come in. We never went without a meal, but I did get used to instability tempered by the promise of much better things to come. I am grateful that my mother believed in me too, and always had my back. 

Today, I rely on the encouragement of friends and family, a great marketing coach, and a group of fellow freelancers who are generous with their advice and support. Even though I work alone, I never feel alone. I have so much to be thankful for that no matter what my bank account looks like on any given day, I feel very rich. And with a new challenge from every new project, I’m excited for the year ahead.

Photo by Jakob Owens

The post A Freelancer’s Thanksgiving appeared first on Lisa Stockwell.

It’s the details people don’t expect that make your health care story worth reading.

Too much of the marketing content written today—for blog posts, websites, brochures and even for video—is all the same. Worse, it’s completely predictable. It provides no insight into the uniqueness of a business, an individual or a product. It doesn’t address patients’ or doctors’ questions with a new perspective. It certainly doesn’t establish you as a thought leader. It simply reiterates what the competition is saying in slightly different words. It’s easily forgotten and often a waste of time to both write and read.

People react to information or experiences that are novel. When a thought or idea catches us by surprise and touches our emotions, it forces us to stop and think about it. Then, we are more likely to remember it and share it with other people. As our story is shared, our visibility grows.

When you write promotional materials or even leave comments on other people’s posts, think about the details your customers or patients may not expect. Disrupt their notion of what they think you offer and give them a reason to take a closer look.

The post Make Your Health Care Story Stand Out appeared first on Lisa Stockwell.

To build your online reputation through content marketing you need content, content and more content. But not just any content. Unless you produce well-written articles and posts that address and solve your audience’s problems and concerns, you’re wasting time and money.

There are several ways to keep your content fresh and promote it both online and offline:

• White papers/E-booklets/Special reports: What are the key problems your clients/patients want solved? The answer to that question can provide a direction for a five to ten page free white paper, report or e-booklet that takes either a narrative or workbook approach. Whether you are marketing to healthcare practices or facilities or to patients directly, this tool shows your audience your unique insights and understanding of their issues with well-researched information that addresses common complaints or concerns. It is a great opportunity for building an online audience as well as your mailing list (offer it for free and request their email address in return.) Once you’ve created this type of lead magnet, you can get leverage from it by using sections of it to create blog posts, data sheets, newsletters, and articles.
• A blog: Publishing a blog is like having your own column in a newspaper or magazine, only that magazine lives on your own website. Blog posts can be as simple as a health tip of the day/week or as complex as an in-depth review of an innovative medical technique or technology. Blogging requires frequency and should only be started if you can commit to producing a new post at least once a month. It is a great way to ensure you have new content on your website. It also gives you material that can be repurposed for use on other social media pages, such as LinkedIn and Facebook. Each time you post a new article to your blog, you can promote it—and encourage staff and friends to share it—online.
• Guest blogging: Sometimes a more effective way to build authority and reputation is to write articles for an online publication that serves the audience you want to reach. There are many healthcare and health IT publications and blogs online that would be happy to have your expert perspective on the healthcare topics most important to you. Many will give you a byline that leads back to your website. This requires research to discover the best venues to publish in and the best time year to submit articles. Or, you can work with a ghost writer, such as me, who can capture your thoughts in words.
• Pages on your website: Rather than publish a blog, you can periodically add new pages or content to your website in the form of case studies, testimonials, reports, and patient education articles. This content can also be shared on social media to link visitors back to your site.
• E-Newsletters: Once you have a sizable mailing list (which you can create by asking patients to sign up for it and/or by offering a special report or article on your website in return for email addresses), you can keep in touch with your audience through periodic e-newsletters. These can feature updates about your business, industry news, thought leadership articles, patient education and general news.
• Videos: YouTube is one of the major search engines patients and other healthcare clients use to get health and industry information. Creating your own videos and posting them to your own YouTube channel and your website can be an effective way to build audience and SEO for your website.

The post Build Your Online Reputation with Content Marketing appeared first on Lisa Stockwell.

Create value

There is content. And then there is quality content. While it’s a treat to read a well written piece, when it comes to marketing, the difference is in the value the content provides its intended audience.

You don’t have to be a great writer to create effective communications. But you do have to be strategic. When evaluating or creating new healthcare content for your website or other media, consider the following guidelines:

1. Focus on your target market

• Who do you want to attract?
• What is their age group?
• What is their education level?
• What are their concerns and problems?
• What questions do they ask most frequently that you have the knowledge or experience to answer?

When you’re clear about your market, you can address them efficiently with information they want, in a way they can understand it.

2. Put the care in health care

Your goal on the Internet is to build connections with your target audience in a way that encourages them to talk with you and about you.

Let your personality come through your writing and demonstrate compassion so people know you care about their health and want to help them manage it.

3. Align your story with what you do

Relate your content to your area of expertise so that your name is associated with the services or products you provide. Don’t spend your time promoting someone else’s specialty, even if it may be interesting to your target audience.

4. Think like a journalist

Transparency and accuracy is critical to establishing a reputation for credibility and professionalism. When you use someone else’s research or data, be skeptical and make sure it is factual. Whenever you have a bias, acknowledge it and include other points of view.

5. Create an attention-getting headline

8 out of 10 people read headlines and subheads. Use your headlines to tell an abbreviated version of the story so the reader can quickly tell what value they will get when they read on.

6. Be controversial

No one wants to spend a lot of time reading something they already know or believe. If you want to present a common topic and make an impact, offer up a new way of thinking about it.

7. Understand what makes people talk

When you disrupt people’s natural patterns of thinking with information that is new and surprising, they feel compelled to pass that information on. And if you’re going to spend time and money creating content, you want to make sure it gets shared.

Of course, if you hate writing or simply don’t have the time to do it, hire an editor or professional copywriter to ensure your communications match the quality of your services. If you’re looking for one, if I can’t help you, I can put you in touch with another writer who can.

The post 7 Rules For Creating Quality Content for Healthcare Marketing appeared first on Lisa Stockwell.

In recent years, brand storytelling has become the shiny new object in marketing. Every agency touts their expertise in telling stories, and companies are hiring storytellers to join their marketing teams.

There is nothing new about the concept. For decades, advertisers have used stories to sell products and services in an image or two and a few words of copy—often very effectively. The difference today is that, because of the Internet, we can create longer stories in multiple formats—blogs, video, and podcasts.

I’ve been impressed with just how entertaining and engaging some brand stories are. But I also see risks to jumping on the brand storytelling bandwagon. Stories only have the power to build stronger emotional connections and memorability if they match the reality of your business, are consistent from one story to the next, and are unique. If not, your audience may remember your brand as something to avoid rather than to embrace.

It’s not easy to do brand storytelling well

In truth, there aren’t that many great storytellers out there. Historically, the traveling storyteller was revered because his talents were so unique. But today, thousands of mediocre novels and short stories are published for every great one that withstands the test of time. Writing well is not that easy.

But even when you hire a great writer, a great brand story can backfire. I’ve been thinking about this while watching the fallout from Chipotle’s crisis with food poisoning. Chipotle’s award-winning videos convinced me that it was worth my time to watch what is, for all intents and purposes, a 3–1/2 minute advertisement. These beautifully produced short films completely engaged me in their opposition to the industrial food complex.

While not a fast food consumer, I became a fan of the chain. And then people started getting sick eating at their restaurants. Lots of them. Not just at one restaurant, but several across a few states.

Chipotle went to unprecedented lengths to revamp its food safety procedures. But unlike other chains that have had issues with E-coli outbreaks, Chipotle made the quality and health of its food ingredients its brand—and made that brand memorable in its stories. Before this, I was rooting for the scarecrow/farmer and his fight to promote healthy food. Now I feel a bit sad for him and question not only Chipotle but every open salad bar I see.

We all know that a good story is just a story. But when you ask your audience to relate your story to your brand, they’ll have expectations about what you’re going to deliver. When your reality can’t match your brand identity, you may be looking at an unhappy ending.

The post Matching Your Brand Storytelling to Reality appeared first on Lisa Stockwell.

I’ve always liked to entertain, but over the years my form of entertaining has changed dramatically. I grew up with a mother who could have been Martha Stewart’s role model. Our home always looked beautiful, with fresh flower arrangements and everything in its place. Mom was the consummate entertainer and set a standard for me that was hard to maintain. When I was a young adult, I felt I had to plan and perfect everything that went on the table. That meant a menu I tested and was sure would be fabulous, all the right decorations, the right guest list and even the right background music.

Somewhere along the way, between starting my own business and having kids, I was forced to relax my standards. I still carved out time to entertain because I enjoy getting my friends together. But while I might think about what I would cook for a week in advance, I would never start shopping until the morning of the party. I’d decide what I was going to serve based on what inspired me in the market. The other big concession I made was to let go of control and make my parties potluck. I’d provide one part of the meal and ask my guests to bring the rest.

Letting go of perfectionism

You may be wondering what this all has to do with blogging. I’m a communications professional and writer and for years I promised myself I’d start a blog.  But I had the same issue with blogging as I had with entertaining, worrying I wouldn’t do it perfectly, I wouldn’t have the time or that no one would come. After all, what do I have to say that a thousand other bloggers haven’t already said? I hate to be redundant.

It was the inspirational words of bloggers I admire, like Seth Godin who, in his wonderful book, The Icarus Deception, challenged me to start making art and connections right now. I realized that blogging isn’t about being perfect or putting out completely brilliant ideas. It’s about connecting. It’s connecting with each other and providing a sense of who we are—a personality our readers can relate to.

So now I write, when I can, so that potential clients and associates know something about who I am, my ideas, the way I approach marketing, the things I’ve learned through the years and the value I can bring to a project.

I welcome the chance to make connections and hope that in small ways I bring you in so you feel welcome to add your own contribution to this potluck of words and ideas.

Photo by Doyoun Seo

The post Blogging is Kind of Like Throwing a Potluck appeared first on Lisa Stockwell.