The Importance of Human Interaction in Healthcare Innovation with Josh Schneck, President and Founder of Snow Communications

[00:00:02] Hey, everybody.

[00:00:03] Saul Marquez with the Outcomes Rocket here at HIMSS 2024.

[00:00:07] I want to welcome Josh Schneck to the podcast.

[00:00:10] He is the president and founder of Snow Communications.

[00:00:14] Josh, welcome.

[00:00:16] Thank you so much. It's good to be here.

[00:00:17] It's good to be here.

[00:00:18] Yesterday, we had the opportunity to really have a conversation

[00:00:22] around topics of public relations, marketing in health care.

[00:00:26] And we're going to share those with you today.

[00:00:28] But before we do, Josh, tell us a little bit more about you

[00:00:32] and a little bit about Snow Communications.

[00:00:33] Yeah, thanks.

[00:00:34] Well, Snow Communications was founded actually a few decades ago.

[00:00:37] I came out of a big corporate setting, big global PR agencies,

[00:00:42] and I wanted to provide a global solution for startups, early stage companies.

[00:00:48] And we really got going in a big way, beginning with a dot com boom.

[00:00:53] And just I still feel the excitement of working with entrepreneurs,

[00:00:56] people with a vision.

[00:00:57] I had breakfast today with someone who started a company

[00:00:59] after being diagnosed with brain cancer.

[00:01:01] I mean, these are really cool things that I get.

[00:01:05] I still get excited about, even though I've been doing this for a while.

[00:01:08] Yeah. And how about Snow Communications?

[00:01:10] Do you guys focus solely on health care?

[00:01:12] Tell us a little bit more about that.

[00:01:14] Yeah, well, Snow Communications was focused.

[00:01:17] It's always been focused on business to business, what we call B2B.

[00:01:21] But the last, I'd say, 15 years, it's been more or less exclusively health care

[00:01:25] and health care technology in particular.

[00:01:28] Love it. Thanks for sharing that.

[00:01:29] You're here at HIMSS 2024.

[00:01:32] There's a lot of buzz, AI, you know, innovation, machine learning.

[00:01:38] What has risen to the top for you as an insight from the meeting?

[00:01:42] And why did you decide to come this year?

[00:01:43] Well, you know, I was getting over and out with HIMSS.

[00:01:46] I've been coming since about 2010.

[00:01:48] But when COVID occurred, we all stayed home.

[00:01:51] And when I came back, I went, wow, it's wonderful to meet people,

[00:01:54] to talk to people, to actually exchange ideas with people in the eyes.

[00:01:58] And I realized that, hey, there's something great about human interaction.

[00:02:02] It's still pretty, pretty meaningful.

[00:02:04] You learn things.

[00:02:05] And I've learned a lot just talking to people here.

[00:02:08] Yeah, it's a really great conference.

[00:02:09] And any particular insight that has risen to the top from the meeting

[00:02:13] for the listeners and viewers that weren't able to come?

[00:02:15] We want to share those with them.

[00:02:16] Sure. You know, I think at HIMSS, just like in general

[00:02:20] with health care marketing and PR, you got to tell real stories about real benefits.

[00:02:24] It's pretty easy.

[00:02:26] You mentioned AI.

[00:02:27] I'm not saying people do this, but it's almost like you take any subject,

[00:02:30] put AI in front of it. You got a hot topic.

[00:02:33] And what it really gets down to is what is that doing meaningfully

[00:02:37] to promote better health care, cut costs, make it more affordable,

[00:02:41] make it more evidence based?

[00:02:42] I mean, those are the things that really impact people's lives

[00:02:45] and ultimately generate, you know, the kind of business

[00:02:47] that people are here to promote.

[00:02:50] Love that. Yeah, it's all about stories.

[00:02:52] Yeah, it is stories.

[00:02:53] Don't focus on the AI, but focus on the benefit of the AI.

[00:02:58] Exactly. AI has a lot of promise.

[00:03:00] Obviously, we've seen in the past that there's flavors of the week,

[00:03:03] things that are supposedly going to change the world.

[00:03:05] And that's not to diminish the obvious strengths of AI,

[00:03:09] but ultimately it's how you use it, what your intent is

[00:03:13] and whether you're really going to follow through.

[00:03:14] Making a promise really real for customers, for patients, having a real impact.

[00:03:20] Love that. Thank you, Josh.

[00:03:22] So, you know, I'd love to just kind of explore one or two tips

[00:03:27] that you'd give to our listeners and viewers around public relations,

[00:03:32] marketing and getting their story out there.

[00:03:34] Sure. I think there's I'd say two categories, two big tips.

[00:03:38] One is on a strategic level.

[00:03:40] I mean, have a really well thought through, defined message.

[00:03:43] You go into the hall here and I had a client once said,

[00:03:47] Hey, you walk into HIMSS and everything's been solved.

[00:03:49] That's all wonderful.

[00:03:50] There's all in the future is now.

[00:03:52] And I think it's important, whatever segment you're operating in,

[00:03:56] to really think through how can we express something that's unique,

[00:03:59] that is true to our mission, true to our solution or an organization,

[00:04:04] but is going to be meaningful, differentiated from

[00:04:07] all the other messages and relevant too, highly relevant.

[00:04:11] So I think that strategic think through, which can be very simple

[00:04:15] or it can be a very complex process, depending on what kind of organization you have.

[00:04:19] It's worth spending the time and a lot of organizations just don't get there.

[00:04:22] It is hard work.

[00:04:23] And you have to really, I think, really demand that you have high expectations

[00:04:29] go through it.

[00:04:30] And so when you say something, people go, Aha, I get that.

[00:04:33] That's a key number one.

[00:04:36] Have something to say.

[00:04:37] Yeah. Yeah. And be clear about it.

[00:04:39] And then was there a number two?

[00:04:40] Yeah, the number two is I'd say more at a tactical retail level.

[00:04:44] I mean, if your interest in PR, understand the PR process,

[00:04:48] understand how editors and publications work, podcasts,

[00:04:52] people who are there to help you get the word out.

[00:04:55] They're not there to sell your product.

[00:04:57] They're not. You can buy exposure.

[00:04:59] But if you want to earn exposure, you've got to have things, stories, examples,

[00:05:05] messages that resonate with the market have not been repeated

[00:05:09] 10 or 100 times and are individually targeted to,

[00:05:13] hey, this publication, this editor goes focuses on this part of this kind of

[00:05:18] audience. You have to be aware of that blast emails, just a lot of shortcuts.

[00:05:23] They don't work because other people are doing that.

[00:05:25] And I think quite honestly, I think AI might make that worse

[00:05:27] because you'll see all these brilliantly worded emails.

[00:05:30] We're starting to see it coming in greater numbers, more sophisticatedly written.

[00:05:35] But again, repeating what 10, 20, 30 others have said,

[00:05:40] some of these editors get 500 emails a day.

[00:05:42] So how do you break through?

[00:05:44] Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[00:05:45] And so being real, having things that are fresh is what I hear you saying.

[00:05:50] And don't sell your product. Be a thought leader.

[00:05:53] Yeah. If you want to sell a product and what editors would tell you, hey, buy an ad.

[00:05:57] You can do that. Use whatever language you want.

[00:06:00] But if you want to inform their readers,

[00:06:03] give them examples of things that are working and actually benefiting

[00:06:06] various constituencies with the health care world, especially patients,

[00:06:09] there's always interest in that kind of story.

[00:06:12] Now, that's really, really useful, Josh.

[00:06:14] I hope everybody took notes.

[00:06:16] Those are some great tips.

[00:06:17] If you're looking to get more earned media out there,

[00:06:20] get your message out for credibility.

[00:06:22] Definitely excited for us to really put this to action with you.

[00:06:27] Josh, if people wanted to get in touch with you, say

[00:06:30] they don't want to deal with this stuff and they want somebody like a professional

[00:06:34] to take care of it with an agency that does it.

[00:06:37] How can they reach you?

[00:06:38] Well, two ways.

[00:06:39] Snow Communications dot com or just call me or text me.

[00:06:43] 612-709-8500.

[00:06:46] The last two years, calendar years, I placed nearly 500 articles for clients.

[00:06:51] That's now 30 plus a month.

[00:06:53] And I'm pretty effective at what I do.

[00:06:55] Not saying I do everything better than anyone else, but

[00:06:59] I get things done for clients.

[00:07:00] I care.

[00:07:01] I go about it with a passion and a commitment to your success.

[00:07:05] Love it.

[00:07:05] Well, Josh, thank you so much for being with us.

[00:07:08] Looking forward to seeing you around.

[00:07:09] Yeah, I'm looking forward to meetings with you.

[00:07:11] Likewise.

[00:07:12] Thanks so much.

[00:07:13] Thank you.

[00:07:14] See you guys next time.