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3 media relations best practices for healthcare PR pros

by | Oct 19, 2021 | Public Relations

Having a successful healthcare public relations strategy means balancing both traditional marketing efforts as well as digital marketing and PR strategies. Gone are the days when PR only amounted to sending out press releases to media outlets. These days it’s a lot more involved, especially in the healthcare industry. Healthcare businesses have had to, in turn, adapt to those changes in the PR industry to achieve success.

One of the most common ways that companies in the healthcare industry have done this lately is by repurposing all content—from news releases to white papers—across a variety of social media channels in order to reach the most people possible. Discussed below are other ways a healthcare company can achieve this PR goal:

Newsworthy story

Instead of pitching a healthcare company, its products, or services when pitching to journalists or media outlets, it’s important to talk about the company’s story. The story should be newsworthy and based on statistics, facts, data, and outcomes. It should also relate to something larger in the healthcare industry overall or have a specific impact on the population. To create a newsworthy story, it’s important to get the company’s name in front of as many people as possible, and in the right way. The best way to do that is by using its story to show the public how the company’s unique value proposition can impact the healthcare industry.

Multiple channels

These days, journalists can be found on a variety of platforms, and that means healthcare companies and PR professionals don’t have to make hundreds of phone calls every day to reach the desired reporters or media outlets. Not only that, but journalists are no longer only available via email either, as many of them are present and easily accessible on social media platforms such as LinkedIn or Twitter. These days it’s easier than ever to create relationships with the right journalists and to get their attention when developing a newsworthy story. When healthcare companies are able to utilize all of the available communications channels while doing healthcare media outreach, it’s a lot more likely that their stories will reach   the desired attention.

Spokespeople

Most of the time, journalists don’t want to talk to people who use corporate and technical terms or general statements that rarely mean anything. In fact, the public isn’t interested in people who communicate in that way either. Most people are going to be a lot more interested in someone who has interesting things to say, such as something that will teach people something new about the healthcare industry. This strategy also allows the company’s spokesperson to help media outlets create a better story.

A medical company’s spokesperson should be articulate and knowledgeable about their industry and how they can communicate in a way that shows their passion and the company’s message. The best way to find the right company spokespeople is by identifying them, training them, and nurturing them so that when they face a journalist they’ll be able to portray their company in the best possible light.

Ronn Torossian
Ronn Torossian is the Founder and Chairman of 5W Public Relations: 5WPR is one of the 20 largest PR Firms in the United States.

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