Advocate’s ‘health enews’ leads the pack in brand journalism

 

In its highly competitive Chicago market, Advocate Health Care was looking for a way to stand out. One way it could do so was to create a daily news site—a go-to source of health news and information for consumers, patients and their families, the news media, physicians, and associations.

The efforts paid off.

Its health enews news service earned Advocate Health Care top honors in the Best Website (Brand Journalism) category of Ragan’s 2013 Health Care PR and Marketing Awards.

As it planned the daily news site, Advocate aimed for these goals:

• Boost Advocate’s position as the premier health care network in the competitive Midwest market.
• Increase the health system’s media visibility with stories and videos that feature its physicians, nurses, and other experts.
• Align with Advocate’s social media platforms to help build community engagement and interaction around health topics.
• Significantly increase Advocate’s online search visibility.

Advocate’s health enews “Share Team” launched its site in March, partnering with physician relations; teaming up with Healthe You, Advocate at Work, and the Advocate Charitable Foundation; and engaging with local and national reporters. More than 150 physicians and clinicians across the Advocate system serve as bloggers and experts and will be featured in videos and live Web chats. All Advocate associates opted in to the news site.

The Advocate health enews site includes a healthy mix of news stories, videos, and blog posts, with polls, inviting social media integration, and a link to its MyHealth Pal app.

Within two months of the site’s launch, it had nearly 34,000 subscribers and more than a half million page views. The Chicago Tribune, CNN, and other media outlets have picked up its stories.

If you didn’t understand brand journalism before, take a look at health enews. This site does it right.

We congratulate the health enews team on their winning effort!

Visit the site here.

Want to get recognized for your hard work? Find out about Ragan and PR Daily’s award programs here.