This article was written by Brian Schneweis, Sr. Copywriter, MERGE. MERGE Is the Communications Sponsor of HCIC23. 
From fancy app capabilities, generative AI, website widgets and new and wildly popular social media sites, the digital world is changing faster than you can say “TikTok” or “Threads.” If you’re not keeping up, you may as well be working on a typewriter. To stay ahead of the game, you need a powerhouse digital marketing team that'll make even the tech giants like Apple, Amazon and Google green with envy.
So, how do you attract the top digital marketing gurus and create an environment where they can thrive? Let’s break it down:
- Assess Your Needs. Take a deep dive and review your organization’s needs. What skill sets and gaps do you need to fill? What organizational structure makes the most sense to help teams thrive? Consider new functions and teams that could transform your strategies.
- Build a Staffing Plan. Once you’ve reviewed your needs, create a staffing plan that aligns departmental priorities with business goals. Figure out what roles to fill, the level of expertise required and how many rockstars to hire.
- Recruit the Marketer-Scientist. Embrace the blend of art and science, a.k.a. the Marketer-Scientists who understand and analyze data while crafting clinically accurate and compelling content. These folks provide the secret sauce for digital marketing magic.
- Be Great Together. Break down the silos and encourage cross-departmental collaboration. Creative pow-wows and brainstorms are essential, as are project management software and other time-saving tools that keep everyone on track.
At this year’s Healthcare Internet Conference (HCIC) in sunny LA, hundreds of brilliant minds in healthcare and digital marketing got together and imparted their wisdom related to digital dream teams. They shared tips and case studies to supercharge your digital team’s strategies, including:
- Trust and timely execution – the keys to social success. Mount Sinai Health System provided a data-driven roadmap to establish, maintain and enhance trust, leading to measurable growth.
- Get more mileage from your content. Speakers from Stamats and Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience showed how blog content can perform double duty as a PR machine, educating prospective patients and reaching reporters on the prowl for stories.
- Adopt a product mindset. Children’s Wisconsin got the right team in place to manage and evolve its patient family mobile app using sound product management.
- Keep up with your customers’ ever-changing needs. Indiana University Health and MERGE teamed up, focusing on driving revenue and earning respect to create a high-performing marketing organization for the future.
Building a solid digital team may take time and effort, but you’ll be glad you did! With the right crew, you can proactively engage patients like retailers predict when you run out of toothpaste or laundry detergent.
If you miss all the fun at HCIC this year, be sure to mark your calendar for Nov. 11-13, 2024—you’ll want to be there in person for the next round of awesomeness at HCIC 2024 in Austin, TX!