The Power of LinkedIn: Transforming Healthcare Conversations

Sara Payne [00:00:10]:

Welcome back to the Health Marketing Collective, where strong leadership meets excellence. I'm your host, Sara Payne, and I'm bringing you fascinating conversations with some of the industry's top marketing minds. Today, we're talking about a platform that's shaping the future of health care conversations in real time, LinkedIn. In a landscape where trust is paramount and health care professionals are rethinking where they engage online, LinkedIn has emerged as the go to space for meaningful discussions, industry collaboration, and thought leadership. And there's no better person to dive into this topic with me than Haley Deming. Haley is a strategic marketer and community manager at LinkedIn, advising some of the most influential health care leaders on the platform, helping them shape industry dialogues and drive change through thought leadership. She has an extensive marketing background, having worked at companies like One Medical, ClassPass, and First Dibs. I've had the privilege of hearing Hailey speak at the health conference, but we've never met.

Sara Payne [00:01:08]:

So I'm thrilled to finally have this conversation and learn from her today. Welcome, Hailey.

Haley Deming [00:01:13]:

Thank you for having me.

Sara Payne [00:01:15]:

Yeah. So great to have you here and such an important conversation. Let's start off with you telling our listeners a little bit about the work that you do at LinkedIn to advise these thought leaders and other top four voices on driving meaningful conversations in LinkedIn. Tell us more about the work that you do.

Haley Deming [00:01:34]:

Yeah. I think it would actually be helpful if I just took you a little back in my career as well to sort of get that to see Love it. How I get into this role. Amazing. So like you mentioned, I did start my career at a handful of startups more in the broader marketing communication space. At first, a wellness company called ClassPass. And during that time, I brought in my role from community management to really oversee more brand marketing, thought leadership, and influencer marketing. And soon after that, I was at a company called First Dibs during the pandemic.

Haley Deming [00:02:08]:

And while I was leading social at First Dibs, a luxury ecommerce website unrelated to health care, we all found ourselves during the pandemic with a lot more time on our hands. So on the weekends, I was able to found a marketing consultancy where one of my earliest clients was a very well known clinician. And I sort of started getting more interested and excited about the idea of health care, thought leadership, influencership, and all those things. Sort of fortuitously, soon after that, I was recruited by One Medical to join their external communications team and lead their social and editorial team. And through that, I really got to dive into working with health care thought leaders, clinicians, executives in the space. And then that lent itself really well to this job that I have now at LinkedIn, where I am working on a team that is solely dedicated to cultivating a community of expert voices across industries, but I was hired to focus on health care where we're driving these really important conversations on the platform. So I'm working with leading Fortune 500 health care c suite CEOs to clinicians and nurses who are on the ground actually having their hands in the health care systems. So what's kind of unique about my position at LinkedIn is I sit on the editorial team, but we sit in the product org.

Haley Deming [00:03:32]:

So I'm also able to deliver real time product feedback from these health care professionals and how the platform is serving them and their thought leadership experiences online.

Sara Payne [00:03:44]:

That's I love that background. Thank you for providing that super helpful context. Question for you, I'm curious as as you and LinkedIn look at this category of expert voices and and and building this community, is it something that you invite people into that they they can apply for, opt into, or how explain a little bit to our listeners who might be curious how that works.

Haley Deming [00:04:10]:

Yeah. There's a it it has evolved quite a bit since I've joined. There are a handful of different types of communities that we do work with, health care just being one of them. There are a number of ways to get involved. I would say, currently, the best way to get involved is to start contributing to trending news topics on LinkedIn, and that's a great way for our editors or our community managers to potentially identify you as an expert in your field.

Sara Payne [00:04:40]:

Yes. Great advice. So your job is built around helping others expand their thought leadership through LinkedIn's platform. So let me ask you this. What role do you believe thought leadership plays in influencing change in health care?

Haley Deming [00:05:00]:

Yeah. I would say that's a good question. It is really crucial, honestly, in driving change in the health care system, and I feel very fortunate that I've had a front row seat to a lot of these stories and anecdotes that have been created by these thought leaders. Yeah. So I would say, in general, they're fostering these really important discussions on critical issues and innovations. And separately from the thought leaders, also, we're talking about brands. Brands are able to engage with their audiences on a safe, trusted platform and able to position themselves as a leader and build loyalty rooted in trust. So I think the role of thought leadership and its ability to influence change in health care, I've seen it firsthand.

Haley Deming [00:05:43]:

So I'm gonna share some stories just high level with you, one that I'm particularly excited about. So doctor Anwar Gibran recently let me know that, actually, a lot of medical students have found him through his content, and it is it has inspired them to pursue careers in clinical informatics and just support new health care innovations. Love that. Provider that I work with. He's a top voice on the platform. His name is doctor Michael Bass. He landed his role as a director, at Oshi Health, which is he was found through his LinkedIn content, not just his profile and sort of applying for a job. And then we have doctor Aditi Narukar.

Haley Deming [00:06:27]:

LinkedIn, she said, has been really pivotal pivotal in helping her to secure speaking gigs and, therefore, launch her book platform to broaden her reach as a mental health expert. Oh gosh. I could go on.

Sara Payne [00:06:40]:

I'll update you

Haley Deming [00:06:40]:

more because they're amazing. Doctor Jonathan Fisher, I mean, he told me that a connection on LinkedIn led to the led to the creation of ending clinician burnout, this global community that he's built, which has over 2,000 members, and they host annual events specifically to address burnout in health care. So I could go on and on, but the examples are there. And I have a front row seat, so I'm doing my best to share them.

Sara Payne [00:07:05]:

That's so great. Thank you for digging up those stories and getting permission to share them because, it does make it very real. Change is happening, right? And and, to your point, thought leadership is an important part of that. We have to participate in the conversation. We have to participate in the dialogue, right, and make these connections if we want to see meaningful change. And I love that you talked about mental health. You talked about, burnout that's happening within our health care workforce, which are just just two really important topics, in the industry. Can you share some data, if you would, about, generally speaking, the number of health care profession professionals that are active on LinkedIn and maybe how that has evolved or grown in recent years?

Haley Deming [00:07:46]:

Yeah. So health care conversations on LinkedIn are definitely on the rise. They have had a 30% year over year increase globally. That's as of 2023. But we're also seeing a 56% rise in actual health care related posts, and then we saw a 41 jump in engagements on content. And then in terms of actual audience size for health care professionals that are here using the platform, the platform connects over 3,400,000 US nurses, one point one million physicians and surgeons. We have nearly a million mental health professionals, two point six million US health admit medical administrators. So there's a broad industry representation on the platform, which really enables this holistic approach to health care, fostering collaboration and innovation, not just within the space, but in other industries too.

Sara Payne [00:08:40]:

Love that. Historically, you know, going back a few years, health care leaders were tended to be a bit more cautious about public platforms and sharing in in that space, but engagement really seems to have accelerated over the past few years. And what do you think is driving that?

Haley Deming [00:09:00]:

I think the pandemic definitely drove a pretty significant rise in health care professionals coming to all sorts of online mediums to share their insights and experiences and have their voices heard, which has ultimately led to a more engaged and informed community. These influential voices are driving those critical discussions and real time working on problem solving, which creates a lot of opportunity for the health care industry on LinkedIn and brands in and for the years to come. I would also say that I would probably expect to see a rise in even more health care specific forums in this very dynamic current health care environment that we're in where people are really seeking trusted health care information right now.

Sara Payne [00:09:49]:

Yeah. I was gonna ask you it's a great segue. I was gonna ask you or to say that you're you're obviously in a very unique position to be able to see some trend lines on what's gaining traction. Are there any noticeable topics, such as AI and health care or workforce shortages where you see big spikes in in thought leadership or big spikes in engagement?

Haley Deming [00:10:13]:

Yeah. Absolutely. So in terms of trending topics that we've seen over the years, I would say things like career advancement, health care, entrepreneurship, the future of work, personalized medicine, women's health, mental health, and patient centered care. Also, I'm seeing a lot around jobs outside of clinical work. How can you leverage your clinical background to work in different areas, at tech companies, in AI? So I would say if you're not already following our health care editor at large to the listeners on this podcast, her name is Beth Kutcher. She covers a lot of these trending topics and also features, some of the leaders in this space. And then I would say as one way to sort of focus thought leadership efforts as a tip, not just on trends, but the best thought leaders that I'm seeing, meaning the most successful, are the ones who are leaning into their areas of expertise and lived experiences. So if your niche is pharmaceutical oncology, there is an audience here for you that is going to resonate, and want to learn from you.

Sara Payne [00:11:19]:

Love that. So stick to your authentic, voice and your passionate topic, and there will be an audience there for you.

Haley Deming [00:11:27]:

Yeah.

Sara Payne [00:11:28]:

I'm curious. You know, we're we're we're living in, you know, noticing some very real time changes that are happening, in like I said, in real time right now. Have have you seen any noticeable differences on the platform over the past couple of weeks? You know, as we're seeing communication from government agencies changing, but we're also seeing some brands and scientists exiting other platforms like Accent Meta. Are you noticing any spikes in activity on LinkedIn or any meaningful shifts in the conversation happening care leaders in real time right now?

Haley Deming [00:12:01]:

I don't know that I can speak to this too much. I have definitely personally, just based on my own feed, seen a lot of chatter about sort of the breaking health care news going on in the industry, and a lot of those conversations are led by government officials. They're on LinkedIn too. So a lot of, people who are employed in federal agencies, they're on the platform as well. They're employees. So everyone's talking online, especially on LinkedIn, about what's going on. And I'm sure we'll continue to see sort of more chatter and trends as people are turning to each other to become advocates, share what's going on, sharing information, during these confusing times.

Sara Payne [00:12:44]:

Yeah. Absolutely. You've mentioned brands a couple of times. Where do you see the biggest opportunities for health care brands to drive meaningful change via LinkedIn and advance their own thought leadership?

Haley Deming [00:13:00]:

Yeah. I was excited about this question. I will say that breaking away from the mold of reg of feeling stuck in a highly regulated industry and starting to really get more creative and joining conversations and really building or rebuilding trust through this human content, human centered content. So LinkedIn, right now, video is having a moment. Vertical video is here to stay. And so I would say leaning into vertical video on the platform, putting down the really high production, overly scripted, one size fits all approach. You know, we used to influencers and bloggers used to be sort of all the rage, and now it is experts and thought leaders who are qualified to deliver trusted information. And this great article was actually published.

Haley Deming [00:13:47]:

I was excited to see that it came out around the time of this, conversation. It was in Digiday, I believe, just this week. And it's not a health care example, but it's a a regulated industry example. The title was CEOs embrace selfie video to talk selfie videos to talk up earnings and prove they're not robots. And an applicant shared that LinkedIn posts from CEOs of companies with over 5,000 employees on the platform have risen 23% in the past year. And the example they used was the chief operating officer of Blackstone. His name is Jonathan Gray, and he is becoming known for his post earnings videos where he really showcases warmth, humor, and it's just not something we would have ever associated with earnings. And it's just one example of a different way to think about innovations in untraditional areas, regulated industries.

Haley Deming [00:14:42]:

And I think we're gonna see a lot more of this as we continue to humanize health care, and just sort of thought leaders and and the c suite in general.

Sara Payne [00:14:52]:

I totally agree with that, and I personally love this trend. Right? I think that we, you know, can can do away with the formal podiums and do away with the formal script and the the video, the polished videos, and all that kind of stuff, and just have real human conversations and interactions, and let people really see the people behind the brand. Right? And show those passions and show those commitments. Of course, it it from time to time, it's gonna make a comms team a little bit nervous, but there are, you know, preparations that can be done to to make sure to your point in a highly regulated industry and even around a conversation with earning earnings that we're staying within a state a safe conversation and a safe zone, but yet pulling back that curtain, and letting ourselves just be real and have that moment of realness.

Haley Deming [00:15:44]:

Exactly.

Sara Payne [00:15:45]:

Do you have any, sort of favorites, if you will, of of people that you you think are do beyond that example that you just shared, which, by the way, I'm really excited to to find that when when we're done here. But, other examples of leaders you think are really doing this sort of selfie video, style communication really well?

Haley Deming [00:16:10]:

Yes. I would say the CEO of Novartis is doing an amazing job of this on LinkedIn. Definitely go check out his profile. And there are actually a handful. They're not necessarily execs at some of those larger health care organizations, but they are leaders in the health care space. I definitely recommend checking out, doctor Austin Chang. Actually, he is. He works for Medtronic.

Haley Deming [00:16:32]:

He's one of their medical dress directors. He was at school when we met. He does amazing vertical videos. I would say others who are doing this really well. I'm gonna pull some more examples for you. Doctor, Atul Gupta, he's the chief medical officer at Philips. I have an amazing list that I would be happy to share.

Sara Payne [00:16:55]:

Yeah. Oh, I love that. I would love to share those out with folks, as part of this. We can put them in the show notes and and and make sure they're a part of the the LinkedIn post as well for this episode.

Haley Deming [00:17:06]:

Okay.

Sara Payne [00:17:06]:

Great examples. I think it it's always helpful for a marketing team, a comms team, a brand team to have some of those great examples. Obviously, everybody needs to do their own style and what they're comfortable with, and that's what makes it so great is the authenticity that comes along with it. But having something to sort of shoot for, I think, is, always helpful. And on the point, I think many brands would love to see their leaders be more active and engaged in conversations on LinkedIn. And I'll I'll be the first to say it's not for everybody. Right? It has to be somebody who is comfortable and willing to do it. But what advice do you have for brands in terms of identifying and nurturing those influential voices within their organizations or helping convince the organization that it's worth the time and the effort spent to do that.

Sara Payne [00:18:01]:

What have you found to be successful in coaching and and advising these leaders?

Haley Deming [00:18:08]:

Yep. I would say to effect effectively identify and nurture these influential and influential voices. That's a whole part of why I was hired at LinkedIn. So I really have gotten, again, a front row seat to seeing how marketing and communications team at health care teams at health care companies are doing exactly that. And I would say some of the most successful, buy ins that I as you will are first of all, you need the individual to have some level of interest and passion. Like you said before, it it some people draw a hard line. That's gonna be pretty hard to overcome. But most people fall into the I'm interested bucket.

Haley Deming [00:18:50]:

Tell me more, but I'm cautious. So then I think you know, I got this advice this week actually from someone on the marketing team at a large pharmaceutical company, and she said one of the ways that she was able to convince their c level executive that LinkedIn video was the way to go is he's a scientist. So they talk to him in science. They share data. They shared examples, not just health care examples, but they showed him how other CEOs at Fortune 500 companies are speaking. So by speaking their language, I think that's a great first place to start. And I would also say when it comes to LinkedIn, emphasizing trust. Trust on this platform is really important for executives to comfortably and effectively represent their companies.

Haley Deming [00:19:38]:

And everything here, it's tied to on the platform, it's tied to your personal identity. There is no hiding behind a screen name or a username or anything like that. It is the person posting. So I think that has also drawn a little comfort. Separately, I would say some companies that I have told me they've seen success in sort of drawing out employees or execs that might be potential thought leaders is by starting to put feelers out for them and making it seem less burdensome. For example, starting to share press releases with them and suggested language copy and see who sort of bites, who's interested. And then you'll see they'll emerge. Are they interested? Are they excited? Are they adding their own flare? Are they trying to make it authentic? And you'd be surprised at, how many willing and excited experts within your organization would be willing to champion your brand and sort of build their own thought leadership along the way.

Sara Payne [00:20:36]:

I love that. And I think there's a there's a point in there, which is it may not always be the c suite. Right? It that that may not be their thing. Right? We've gotta we've gotta let it be a little bit of a self selection moment there. They've gotta be bought in, but give that opportunity and let folks who are other subject matter experts, other scientists across the organization step into that opportunity and bring a level of of passion and commitment to this because it is gonna be a a commitment. Right? You don't wanna you don't wanna dabble in it. You wanna you wanna really engage and participate in the conversation on a regular basis.

Haley Deming [00:21:14]:

Exactly.

Sara Payne [00:21:16]:

Do you get asked the question a lot about about ROI, you know, in terms of the return on on the the amount of time that they're gonna spend there. And you did share some examples earlier of some specific, you know, movement happening and change happening in the industry on some specific objectives that those particular experts had. In general, how do you tend to respond to that ROI question?

Haley Deming [00:21:44]:

Yeah. So when it comes to health brands, it can be a little less tangible than, let's say, a leading clinician building a community about mental health. And having been in the seats of many of those marketing teams before, I know that from a PR brand marketing communications standpoint, brand and sentiment can always be a little hard to measure. Attribution can be a little hard to measure. So I always recommend those teams to look at trends over time. Right? What did your engagement on LinkedIn look like last year? What did your executive director employee following look like the year prior, and how has that changed? And everyone's sort of goals are going to be different. I don't work on this team, but at LinkedIn, you know, we have a marketing solutions team where if you wanna boost your thought leadership ads, there is opportunity to do that if that aligns with your goals. If your goals are driving more people to engage with your LinkedIn newsletter, you can build a subscriber base just through that.

Haley Deming [00:22:46]:

So I think going into it being really crisp on what you're hoping to accomplish and ensuring that there are some tangible measures and metrics that you can tie it back to while also keeping in mind its brand. So there are limitations on how much you can measure. I think you'd be surprised at how much, impact around sentiment, employee engagement, and things like that you'll find.

Sara Payne [00:23:10]:

So great. Well, let's switch gears here, Hailey, for a a few quick fire questions. What makes content stand out on LinkedIn?

Haley Deming [00:23:18]:

What makes content stand out on LinkedIn? I would say if it is rooted in knowledge sharing and has a strong hook and these key takeaways, it's going to thrive on the platform. We've seen it time and time again on the editorial team. People are coming here to collaborate, engage, and learn in an effective and productive way, which I think is what helps LinkedIn stand apart from maybe some of the other social media platforms. They are here for a reason. It is a professional platform. So root your content in knowledge sharing, what you're an expert in, learnings, and sort of crowdsourcing learning from your colleagues, and you will find success.

Sara Payne [00:23:59]:

Love it. What are the biggest mistakes you see brands make on LinkedIn, and how can they avoid them?

Haley Deming [00:24:06]:

I would say being overly promotional is a mistake that I see, and I think that probably lends itself well across platforms truthfully. So not being overly promotional and making sure that you're diversifying your content mix. Right? Of course, you're going to have to post an upcoming event or, you know, something that you want to promote, but make sure that that's balanced with actual clear and insightful content that is important that your community is consuming and not just taking an action by clicking a website or promoting something, but you wanna engage your community. So really balance that content mix. And one other, if I can add, is Yes. I would say kinda like I said earlier, but starting to get more flexible when it comes to that really overly structured, overly scripted, highly produced content. Let yourself you know, maybe maybe that's 80% of your content. But give yourself 20% to experiment, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised on some of the results.

Sara Payne [00:25:08]:

Great advice. I love that. What advice would you give to brands, struggling to find their authentic voice on LinkedIn?

Haley Deming [00:25:18]:

I would say the first place to start is look at examples. Get inspired by those around you. That is what I do every single day before I get on a call with another company, when I follow-up, after a meeting. Like you said, just through anecdotes and storytelling and seeing what others are doing, you will get inspired. The ideas, you know, they don't have to come out of nowhere. That can be really daunting. But if you give yourself a spread across industries and take that profile of who would work for your company, so if you're looking at c suite, if you're looking at directors, if you're looking at clinicians, spend time on LinkedIn discovering people who are active in those spaces and start to learn what they're saying and if they're successful.

Sara Payne [00:26:05]:

Love that. What's the biggest untapped opportunity for health brands on LinkedIn right now?

Haley Deming [00:26:11]:

Video. Definitely video. It is growing, I believe, 36% year over year on the platform, vertical video. Like I said, health care, financial services, traditionally, right, they are regulated industries. Right? So there are constraints and barriers that some others don't have to play in. And I think but I don't think that means that you can't put forward the thought leaders at your company and get them to connect directly with the community face to face. And one of the best ways to do that is through vertical video.

Sara Payne [00:26:45]:

Love it. Any other advice that you have for our listeners?

Haley Deming [00:26:50]:

I would say it can be really intimidating to get started on any social media platform. And, I mean, even you know, I talk about vertical video all the time, and I go to make my own vertical videos. And I'm like, woah. That was hard. It is not as easy as it sounds. You know? So I would but I would say don't be intimidated by the experience. Everyone no one is an expert at

Sara Payne [00:27:16]:

Yes.

Haley Deming [00:27:17]:

At content creation. Even though they might seem like it

Sara Payne [00:27:20]:

Yes.

Haley Deming [00:27:20]:

They all started somewhere. Okay. So maybe they're an expert now, but they all started somewhere. So if you lean into your authentic authentic self, your topics and areas of expertise, and just try, what what do you have to lose? If it meets your goals, go for it.

Sara Payne [00:27:38]:

I love that you shared that because I think, you know, nobody loves to hear their own voice. No. Nobody loves to see a video of themselves. And there's there's a level of you kinda you kinda just have to get over that. Right? And but also the more you do it, the less phased you are by it. Right? And it can feel hard, and it can feel uncomfortable. But it's like anything new. Right? We just gotta do it.

Haley Deming [00:28:05]:

Exactly. You just do it. I mean, I wish I could show you my, like, camera roll, how many video outages. You know? Like, if that's the truth behind every great video that you see, that's just the person behind it producing in their living room or wherever they are at their office. So just put that lens on it, and I think it'll take some of that cold start scare out of it.

Sara Payne [00:28:28]:

And Absolutely. Love that. Well, this has been fantastic, Hailey. I can't believe we have already gotten, to the end of the show here. So so many great insights. Really appreciate you being here. If folks wanna get in touch with you, how can they connect with you? And I'm guessing your answer is gonna be LinkedIn.

Haley Deming [00:28:46]:

I would say LinkedIn is the place to find me. Yes. That is my most active social platform.

Sara Payne [00:28:52]:

Yes. So look for Haley Deming on LinkedIn. And, also, if you're not following, is it it's called health care tap voices on LinkedIn.

Haley Deming [00:29:01]:

Yep. I have a, newsletter called healthcare voices corner, and then I highly recommend our healthcare editor at large Beth Kocher's newsletter called path to recovery.

Sara Payne [00:29:11]:

Love it. Again, thank you so much for being here today, Hailey.

Haley Deming [00:29:14]:

Thanks for having me.

Sara Payne [00:29:16]:

Well, that's it for today's episode of the Health Marketing Collective, where strong leadership meets marketing excellence because the future of health care depends on it. We'll see you next time.