Building a brand for the first-ever healthcare ethics consulting certification

In partnership with my senior manager and mentor, I built the marketing campaign for the Healthcare Ethics Consultant-Certified (HEC-C) program from the ground up. With a small but mighty core staff team, I lead the creation of all marketing strategy for the HEC-C, from building the brand’s messaging to generating new leads and reaching audiences through digital channels.

The HEC-C is the first-ever certification program to implement a national practice standard for healthcare ethics consultants and to validate the core competency of those practicing. There are two application cycles within the year—candidates must demonstrate that they fulfill a set of eligibility requirements and pass a multiple-choice exam in order to earn the HEC-C credential. In a field where a typical career trajectory can involve years of education and costly certificate programs, physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and academics still pursue healthcare ethics consulting and succeed in it without credentialing. This may present a lack of consistency in baseline knowledge across healthcare ethics consulting teams across the U.S., and the purpose of the HEC-C is to bridge this gap and improve consult outcomes.

Our goal was to build the credibility of the HEC-C brand within just a few months while also building a list of warm leads, communicating with existing prospects, and nurturing them toward conversion.

The strategy

We first started by collaborating with the client team on messaging guidelines based on the audience segments we were able to deduce from ASBH’s existing database. It was crucial that we position the benefits and importance of the HEC-C in a targeted manner that resonates with practicing healthcare ethics consultants and committee leadership. These messaging guidelines were the basis of an email campaign, a social media campaign, a new certification section on ASBH.org with a landing page and lead generation form, and paid ads through Google Ads and SmartBrief. Each of these elements work alongside each other for different reasons but a common goal: to drum up excitement about a new professional development opportunity for our target audience and showcase a brand that is polished and well-thought-out—one that signifies positive change within the field of healthcare ethics consulting. This strategy also allowed us to not market to ASBH members and prospects who are already familiar with the organization, but also to cast a net externally, bring the HEC-C front-and-center to external audiences, and generate new leads.

I wrote extensively about the strategy we implemented for this client in a blog post I wrote for my workplace, Association Management Center. Read more here.

The results

The HEC-C campaign has repeatedly demonstrated success in meeting our KPIs for audience awareness and conversion. My senior manager, Jerrod Liveoak, elaborates on the results in a blog post for Association Management Center building off my own post linked above. Read more here.