PR’s Top Pros Talk: Shannon Moylan

Shannon Moylan, Senior Vice President of Public Relations at imre, explains how the head and the heart concept can be applied to healthcare communications and beyond. Shannon shares valuable advice on how to turn ideas into actions and explains the differences between media outlets. She also discusses the importance of enthusiasm during the pitching process.

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TRANSCRIPT:

DOUG: Let’s start out by having you talk a bit about the head and the heart concept that you have.

SHANNON: In healthcare in particular, and this is probably rote for anyone who does it regularly, but it’s just making sure that we’re appealing to all sides of the story that we’re including the data, of course, that we’re appealing to those who really won’t listen to us if we don’t have the data, but also remembering the heart of the story and the reason that a lot of people PR and otherwise get into healthcare, which is the meaningful stories, the people being cured or their lives being dramatically impacted for the better. I think too often some we tend to, tell one side of the story or the other and making sure that both are included. I mean, physicians are people, too, and many of them got into the profession to help people. So, making sure that while you might lead with data, you don’t forget the heart of the story, which might be a smiling kid or an older person getting more years of life with their family, something like that.

DOUG: Yeah, sharing the heart of the story has clearly been a part of healthcare communications for a while. It’s been consistent. But do you see anything changing in the healthcare com space?

SHANNON: I think the biggest thing that we continue to have to overcome at this point is this weird shifting of trust within our audiences, both professional and more consumer audiences. That it used to be you could have the CDC or, you know, some organization like that come in as your authority, throw some data points in it, and people just trusted. And on one hand, it’s great that people are questioning more. I think we’re all more informed healthcare consumers, and I think that’s a positive development. But it’s that analysis that, you know, questioning and skepticism has also led to a lot of misinformation. And, you know, the CDC. Love them or hate them. At this point, people aren’t necessarily as trusting of organizations like that, so I think it’s actually made the heart side of things that much more important. Again, you can’t forget the data, but those stories of people like each of us that we can relate to are that much more important now that people are so skeptical.

DOUG: Yeah. And that skepticism you point, too, might make it even more important for brands in this space and nonprofits to be getting at their message to earn media. What’s your take? Is earned media especially important in the healthcare space?

SHANNON: So important. I mean, at Emory, we cover a lot of areas of healthcare, communications and marketing, but at the same time earned media. And again, people have their different opinions of different media outlets. Some of them certainly are slanted, but earned media, at the end of the day is called that for a reason. It’s, you know, it’s earned. We have to go and convince a reporter that our story is worth covering and that it will appeal to their audience and that it’s something their audience should know. It’s not something that we paid to put there. And so, I think earned is probably as close to a pure message. And I say that as someone who is a PR person, I understand spin, but, you know, it’s as close to a pure message as, you know, particularly a company or a pharmaceutical, company can get out there that it isn’t just driven by them, that there is a filter on it that is hopefully in the best interest of the end user, the consumer.

DOUG: Yeah. When it comes to trust, we completed a survey asking, people in the public, more than a thousand of them, to give feedback on what they trusted more. And local TV news was more trusted by an 85% to 15% rate over social media. And it was exactly the same. Whether you’re Republican or Democrat. So, try getting Republicans and Democrats to agree on something that’s challenge, but that they fully agreed with, which is an important point, because there are opportunities both in print and broadcast for health messages. Can you maybe talk a little bit about those, how they’re different and what types of opportunities there are?

SHANNON: You bring up a good point of, you know, some of those more localized outlets that, you know, yes, maybe owned by a larger company, but I think are, you know, seen as swayed a little bit less by dollars. But as far as print versus broadcast, obviously there’s the spokesperson consideration. And you know what? Media may be best for a particular person, but I think each has its positives. Right. Print often gives us a chance to dive really deeply into things like data or really complex concepts. And, you know, it’s still the dream to get a multi-page, long-form New York Times piece. But I don’t think we can underestimate the importance of broadcast. And I don’t just mean broadcast in the typical sense of what we might have seen on our over-the-air TVs, but broadcast as it’s being taken out into the internet, you know, whether it’s the actual outlet itself and their internet presence, where it’s being consumed and included, or whether those videos are being repurposed and taken to social media. You know, a picture is worth a thousand words of videos, probably worth a million and it can also be worth a million likes. So, um, I think broadcast is still hugely important for bringing a lot of concepts to life.

DOUG: That’s a great call that broadcast, in effect, has a longer tail now than it used to have, which can be really valuable. So, let’s say there are people in our audience, they’re just going to get started on a healthcare campaign. What are some of the best practices for them to sort of get started developing a campaign?

SHANNON: The biggest thing, and we tell our folks this on a daily basis and they probably roll their eyes at us. But I think the biggest thing is to really, really know your audience. And when I say audience, I don’t just mean the end user, I mean the reporters and outlets that we’re going out to, you know, don’t assume that you know, a particular reporter is your target just because you saw them on muckrakers’ vision, you actually need to consume the media that you’re pitching. I think the other thing, going back to head in the heart is not pigeonholing your audiences. It’s so easy to sit there and say, oh, it’s a doctor. Throw data at them. Well, that doctor might also be a mom who might have a kid. And what does that mean about that person? So, I mean, it’s nothing new, but some of those tried-and-true things of just really knowing your audience and approaching them from multiple. Pull vantage points, and not just giving them one side of the story is huge, and I think a lot can be accomplished with earned, but adding into an integrated campaign can make it even more powerful sometimes to make sure that I think it’s what something it used to be 6 now I think it’s 8 or 9 times somebody has to hear a message in order for it to really stick and resonate with them. So, I’m all for being part of that 6 or 8 times. But recognize that, you know, the full breadth of an integrated campaign can be huge. So, I think it’s just taking that step back and not doing what you’ve always done, not getting stuck up in momentum and instead realizing, okay, let’s start from scratch, what’s actually going to mean something to this person? Are they prone to being, affected by misinformation? And do we have to battle that while we’re also telling our story?

DOUG: You have some insights about top considerations when you’re building a healthcare team. Can you share some of those?

SHANNON: The number one question that folks ask when you give them that opportunity in an interview of what questions do you have for me is, you know, usually, especially when you’re talking to a more junior person, is what is it that you’re looking for? What is going to make you pick me essentially over somebody else? And I tell them that number one is enthusiasm. I can’t teach that, particularly in the healthcare space sometimes. And, you know, other more complex industries as well. Sometimes you are diving into really dense subject material. And if you are not excited to do your job and you’re not excited to learn something new every day, that’s going to hit you and be really boring really fast. So that’s the biggest thing, is finding people who genuinely want to be there, want to do new things, want to learn, are willing to take the feedback and take it in stride as an opportunity to grow. Beyond that, I really look for folks who, frankly, can write because I think that we’re never going to get away from that in our industry. Even with ChatGPT and everything else, I think writing will also be huge. But, just in general, folks that are, I think, more. Suited to this profession in terms of being team players and being willing to fight through for the right result. That’s the path that you can’t teach anyone. So that’s the part that I look for most, and the rest of it just being patient and willing to teach them.

DOUG: Yeah. And I think being open to receiving guidance is a key factor as well, because ideally you want to learn and get better. I mean, I know the people watching this segment have learned a lot. Is there any final thought you’d like to leave them with?

SHANNON: Things are changing so quickly. That’s not news to anyone but being open and willing and nimble to change with them as much as possible. And you know, always having your core objective or your core message at the heart and realizing that how you execute that can change sometimes on a daily basis and being open to finding the best solution to achieve that objective or get that message across will do you well almost every time.

DOUG: Great. And especially if your people also like doctors. Thanks so much for sharing your reviews. So that’s really interesting stuff.

SHANNON: Thank you for having me, I appreciate it.