I had the opportunity to present this morning at the Kentucky Society for Healthcare Public Relations and Marketing (KSHPRM) Fall Educational Conference this morning at the Kentucky Derby Museum. Churchill Downs is a great place and right by the University of Louisville, and the group of healthcare professionals were very engaged and supportive.  My presentation focused on looking at infographics and what are some defining characteristics, best practices, and resources available.  It was a lot of fun! 🙂

My speaker bio for KSHPRM Conference

I had a chance to hear Stephen Moegling of Franklin Street Marketing discuss some of the emerging trends that are going to be impacting the healthcare marketing industry for the upcoming year (very insightful presentation!). Several themes were presented ranging from the rise of second screens (the evolution of mobile devices when it comes to getting information) as well as the rise of DIY healthcare.  You should also check out their infographic series dedicated to healthcare marketing – pretty fab!

However, there was one trend that caught my attention since this is basically where content marketing has been going and how we not only have to be aware of creating meaningful content, but repurpose and curate this information for our followers and audience members through our digital platforms, which Stephen referred to as being guruism. You can read more about it from this report, but it does bring about some interesting points. There are of course mixed perceptions when it comes to the term “guru” when it comes to social media practices. We have to be aware of what are some of the defining characteristics that make people influential not only on what they are creating, but also what they are sharing with their audiences.

Along with brand storytelling (Coca-Cola has done a lot with jumping on board with this trend), what we are seeing is the increase presence of brands not only taking ownership of their content and digital media sites, but also taking ownership as the go-to brand for knowledge and information.  We are living in a day of age where information is readily available to us with a click of a button, tap of an app, or a like on a page. However, one of the challenges we are seeing in PR and other areas dealing with social media is where to go with the most relevant and up-to-date information that is timely, relevant, insightful, and strategic.  These are individual sources that are extremely helpful and useful not only for practitioners, but also students and professors (:)) as well.

Based on this, some of the best resources and brands that have really distinguished themselves in this area not only producing great content, but sharing and marketing it as well, include the following:

In summary, more brands and PR professionals need to realize they have to have the ability to provide their own content and insights in business, but they also have to determine what information is out there and how to share this content in a strategic and organized manner.  Infographics, articles, blog posts, videos, reports, and other documents are just some of the content that can be shared. In order to establish ourselves in the field – whether it is in practice or even in research – we have to position ourselves in an area and provide our own commentary as well as share information and knowledge with others.  Doing these tasks over time not only engages individuals and simulates conversations, but it builds networking relationships that translates into a strong professional online and offline reputation.

Hope you all are having a great day!

Best Wishes,

Karen