As a health journalist and a healthcare content marketing writer, I’ve interviewed countless physicians for stories on everything from having a healthy pregnancy to how to prevent a heart attack.

Regardless of what the story is about, one thing I’ve realized is that the doctors I interview are either seasoned pros or have no idea how to conduct interviews.

Whether you’re creating content for a blog, thought leadership article or an annual report, ensuring that your physicians are prepared will help you create content that generates leads, engages patients and gives you credibility.

Likewise, if you’ve landed an interview at a top media outlet, your physicians will give better interviews and be called on again and again for future stories.

Here are 4 ways you can help your physicians give great interviews.

1. Be a pro.

When scheduling interviews make sure your physicians will be available. Sure, appointments run late and emergencies happen, but don’t schedule interviews at times you know they could get delayed, like when they’re wrapping up surgery or in a board meeting.

Many times physicians are too busy to remember they have an interview, so always send them calendar invites and confirm the night before.

2. Prepare them.

It happens to me practically every week. I take a call with a doctor and he says, what’s this for again? Clearly, his PR and marketing team didn’t communicate the details with him.

When asking doctors to do interviews, it’s important that you give them everything they need to know: the name of the outlet, the type of media, the audience, the story idea, the name of the journalist or producer and anything else that’s important for them to know.

If you’re working with a physician on a content marketing project, be sure to send them questions ahead of time if they want to prepare.

Most physicians can talk off the cuff, but if they have been asked to speak about something in particular that needs to be researched ahead of time, be sure to let them know and offer to help. If the physician comes prepared with his own talking points and can cite relevant studies, it will help the interview go even more smoothly.

3. Make sure they talk in sound bites.

I find that physicians fall into 3 camps:

1. They give brief answers with little to no detail, i.e. yes, diabetes is dangerous.
2. They ramble on and on about one idea that isn’t relevant or important or they go off on a tangent.
3. They give brief, but informative straightforward answers and speak in sound bites whether they’re being interviewed for a blog post or a TV show.

Experienced writers understand how to conduct interviews, ask the right questions and how to get the physician talking. Yet if your physicians talk in sound bites, they will have credibility and your content will be a lead generation tool.

4. Help them focus on strategy, not their own agenda.

As a healthcare marketer, you have buyer personas, a content marketing strategy and an editorial calendar in place. Although your physicians are on board to help you create content, some may not like your story ideas, the voice, tone and style of your writing or the final version.

Remember that doctors are not content strategists and should not write content. Although they are vital to content creation, they need to understand your organization’s goals and objectives for generating new leads, keeping patients engaged and reducing attrition.

Physicians are a healthcare organization’s greatest asset, as both expert sources and content creation partners. And when you take the time to guide and support them, your organization can do amazing things.

You might have world-class doctors, state of the art technology and exceptional wellness programs, but when it comes to healthcare marketing, you could be making crucial mistakes that are preventing you from attracting and retaining patients.

Here are 5 of the most common mistakes healthcare organizations make and what you can do to solve them.

1. Your website is weak.

If your content isn’t clear, concise and written specifically for the patients you want to attract, you might as well not have a website. Not to mention that poor navigation, broken links and a dated design are surefire ways to send prospective patients running.

When people visit your website, they need to see themselves at your practice and feel like valued patients before they ever walk in the door. Remember: it’s about them, not you.

Your website should always include a strong call-to-action such as a free report or your newsletter sign-up, a list of services, an about page, contact information including email that’s easy to find and a blog with valuable content that is updated 2 to 3 times a week.

2. You don’t have a list.

Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to generate new leads and keep your patients engaged. Yet so many medical practices and healthcare organizations either miss this opportunity or send out a newsletter when the motivation strikes.

One of the best ways to grow your list is to have a clear call-to-action on your website. Offer a freebie such as a guide, a gym membership discount or a collection of healthy recipes in exchange for email addresses. Continue to create new content and send your newsletter out on a regular basis.

3. You miss the mark on member engagement.

When you bring on new patients, keeping them engaged is the best way to lower attrition and costs and generate referrals. In fact, according to a Commonwealth Fund-supported study, patients with the lowest “activation scores,” or those who were able to make informed health care choices and manage their medical conditions, had predicted average health care costs that were 8 percent higher than those patients with the highest activation scores.

Although you may not be a concierge medicine practice, thinking like one can help keep your patients engaged. Welcome new patients with an information packet, have a staff member call to thank them for joining the practice and follow up after visits to answer questions that may have come up. You might also consider hosting informal meet and greet session and special events.

4. Targeting patients with one-size-fits-all content.

It’s certainly easier to send the same newsletter to all of your patients, but if you don’t customize the content for individual patients, you’re missing an opportunity to help them stay engaged in their care.

By using personal health data and demographics, it’s easy to target your patients with content customized for them. For example, you can send a collection of plant-based recipes for those patients with high-blood pressure or FAQ’s about vaccines to parents of your pediatric patients.

5. Using the wrong channels.

If you only use one type of channel, chances are you’re missing opportunities to generate leads and keep your patients engaged. For example, sending emails and text messages to your 25-year-old patients will be much more effective than your 80-year-old patients who prefer direct mail.

Look at demographics, historical data and opt-in preferences to determine the most effective channels to communicate with your patients and keep in mind that they must be channels your patients understand and use regularly.

Although healthcare marketers can talk all day about their businesses, why they’re unique and better than the competition, when it comes down to writing content, they freeze.

That’s why most hire freelance healthcare writers to write their content. Handing it off to a writer who understands their business, speaks their language and knows how to research and write compelling content is a no-brainer.

Yet for some marketers, hiring help isn’t in their budget. Or they simply haven’t sold their CMO on inbound marketing yet.

And if you’re one of them, the good news is that you can still write amazing content on your own, even if you don’t consider yourself a writer.

Here’s how to make it happen.

Write for your customer

Your leads might be suit-wearing, serious executives, but they still want to read a good story. The key however, is to always have them in mind when you write any piece of content.

The best way to make sure you write for your customer is to create buyer personas. Buyer personas explain demographics like age, sex and annual income, identifiers such as their time limits or their demeanor, as well as their goals, challenges and objections to what you offer.

Find the game changer

If you can’t identify the turning point in the story, then you either don’t have a story or you’re not ready to write it.

You might have to review the story or even conduct another interview. Some stories are “stories within stories” and have so many twists and turns it can be hard to decide what to focus on. So go back to your buyer personas and then home in on the one that will resonate with your leads and write it.

Have a plan

Do you remember writing outlines for reports in high school? It might seem tedious or even unnecessary, but it’s one of the best ways to write a well-crafted story and get it done in no time.

So write a rough draft of how you think the story will shape up. Then just starting writing. Don’t worry about the quality, just get your thoughts down. Then come back to it later, fill in what you’re missing and edit it until you’re happy.

Show, don’t tell

It’s one of the most important rules reporters learn in journalism school: show, don’t tell. And it holds true whether you’re writing a blog post or a white paper.

So when you’re writing content, write as though you’re talking to your best friend over coffee. Be sure to answer your readers’ questions, include relevant quotes and as much detail as possible to support your ideas. Bring the reader on your journey and make him feel as though he’s right there with you.

KISS

Whether you’re writing about a complex medical device, a new technology or a wellness program for your patients, follow the “Keep It Simple Stupid” principle when writing your content.

Instead of wordy, complex or filled with medical jargon, make your content easy to understand. Once you write the first draft, re-read it and cut out extra words, phrases and sentences that aren’t unnecessary.

Leave them with a lasting impression

When writing your stories, the ending should always leave your reader with an idea or a feeling that you want to stick with them.

Always tie the conclusion back into the introduction and then think about what you want them to remember.

Whether it’s a quote or an epic thought, your goal should make them take a deep breath and leave them thinking, “Wow, that’s amazing!”