Marketing Rounds

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Using TV, Radio, and SMS to Crack the Upper Funnel with Neil Walker

meredith@caspianstudios.com (Ray Mina, Neil Walker, Freshpaint, Oar Health) — Wed, 1 Apr 2026 14:35:00 +0000

💡 Episode Summary

Growth marketers understand they need to move beyond Google search in theory, but execution falters when channels like TV and radio require upfront investment without immediate attribution clarity. In this episode, Neil Walker of Oar Health reveals how he shifted from search-dependent growth to a 70-80% media mix from TV and radio. Neil details the targeting, creative cadence, measurement, and SMS integration required to make upper-funnel channels work in stigmatized healthcare categories where intent simply doesn't exist at scale.

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⏱️ Episode Timestamps

‍*(01:08) - Why intent channels aren't enough in healthcare

‍*(04:39) - How TV and radio became the growth strategy

‍*(09:02) - Budget, timeline, and creative approach

‍*(14:39) - Day parting: Reaching the right audience at the right time

‍*(19:05) - SMS as a call to action: Nurturing TV-driven leads

‍*(27:39) - Leading indicators and business outcomes

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💬 Quote

“ If you're spending a lot of money in Google and a lot of money in Facebook, when you turn on tv, it's going to have a more muted effect. Within the channel, if you're not going to get that immediate oomph, you're probably looking for the cost per view, like how cheaply are you driving traffic and on what volumes. And then probably a second or a third order is what's happening with your brand search? We had brand search, it was 20% of our total Google spend. It's now 70%. We now have 8X the brand search. Dominance in brand search, having your brand become the defacto one, which is what we're both experiencing and trying to create. You'll see growth in brand search quite quickly, I would say within a couple of weeks if you are doing it right.” – Neil Walker

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‍🔗‍ Links

Connect with Neil Walker on LinkedIn

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Revolutionizing Healthcare Marketing with a CRM with Heather Linder

meredith@caspianstudios.com (Ray Mina, Heather Linder, Freshpaint, OU Health) — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000

💡 Episode Summary

Regional healthcare providers face a unique challenge: they can't grow through population expansion or traditional acquisition strategies, making data-driven precision essential. Heather Linder's work at OU Health demonstrates how a CRM-powered approach transforms healthcare marketing in rural Oklahoma, driving measurable outcomes on lean budgets while connecting patients to life-saving screenings. Her team built a sophisticated orchestration system that links campaigns directly to patient outcomes, proving marketing's value to financial leadership. In this conversation, we explore why precision patient marketing matters in rural healthcare, how to balance growth with compassionate care, and what others can learn from Heather’s success in serving communities with genuine need.

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⏱️ Episode Timestamps

‍*(01:55) - OU Health's transformation: From safety net to academic medical center

‍*(09:17) - Balancing brand storytelling with surgical growth marketing

‍*(11:37) - Why CRM became the orchestration engine for patient engagement

‍*(16:19) - First party data and EMR integration: Choosing the right channel

‍*(21:16) - Mobile cancer screening campaigns and improving state health outcomes

‍*(32:20) - Proving marketing ROI: From vanity metrics to downstream revenue

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💬 Quote

“ We have people's lives in our hands. There's someone searching or looking in their inbox or coming across us somewhere out in the ether that is maybe really stressed out about a potential diagnosis, about a symptom, about some unknown in their life, and where do they go and how do they make that decision? There's so much coming at us all at once. If my campaign can help someone feel like they were confident in making the right next step toward getting an answer, toward getting the care that they needed, that's the goal.” – Heather Linder

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‍🔗‍ Links

Connect with Heather Linder on LinkedIn

👉 Check out the actionable guide based on this episode

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Why Multi-Channel Healthcare Marketing Fails (Even When Everyone Agrees) with Lauren Leone & Rich Briddock

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000

💡 Episode Summary

Healthcare leaders embrace multi-channel strategies in theory, but implementation consistently fails when measurement frameworks, economic models, and incentive structures face real-world scrutiny. In this episode, Lauren Leone and Rich Briddock of Cardinal Digital dissect the critical failure points in multi-channel execution, examine what's at stake when these systems break down, and reveal the transformations that occur when teams finally achieve alignment.

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⏱️ Episode Timestamps

‍*(00:41) - Why multi-channel marketing fails in healthcare despite theoretical agreement

‍*(03:24) - Why marketing teams fall back on intent channels

‍*(10:21) - The 70-20-10 Framework

‍*(16:54) - Measurement frameworks and leading indicators

‍*(22:35) - Setting clear goals and understanding your audience

‍*(31:38) - Practical next steps and starting small

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💬 Quotes

“ We start oftentimes with, Can you tell us the capacity for new patients at your locations or by service line? So that it's not just this blanket, We need new patients everywhere. I think that creates really interesting channel mix opportunities. You might take a market where you're highly saturated, we do a marginal or incrementality test and find that search has really maxed its capacity and you need to start considering other channels. Then you may have an emerging market or market where competitive pressures are less or where there's population growth. There's just green space to be had and maybe you can rely on a little bit more of your bottom funnel there for the time being, and it's not this binary, my org does this mix or doesn't do this mix, but it's a lot more nuanced to that based on the business need.” – Lauren Leone

“ What we typically tend to find when we go into a new relationship is the life cycle or the stages of the goal maturity curve are often not met in terms of people might know that they need new patients, but they offer a variety of different service lines. They're not thinking about the different LTVs of those patients. They're just saying, I need 1,000 new patients at a $200 cost per acquisition, but they're not segmenting or there's no nuance between those different patient cohorts. And then it's oftentimes not measurable. They can't join the dots from, I'm spending here and I'm receiving X. What we are trying to work with them on is fundamentally what's the actual goal? And be more granular than just, I need this CPA. Actually know if you are getting someone on the dentistry side who's coming in for Invisalign, you shouldn't be looking at them the same way as someone who's coming in for a teeth cleaning. The value to your organization is significantly different.” – Rich Briddock

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‍🔗‍ Links

Connect with Lauren Leone on LinkedIn

Connect with Rich Briddock on LinkedIn

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Multi-Channel Marketing That Finance Actually Believes In with Scott Orstad

Wed, 4 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0000

💡 Episode Summary

Healthcare providers can no longer rely solely on Google to reach today's health consumers. Strategically combining search, social, programmatic (CTV), and email is essential for diversifying outreach and reducing platform dependency. Scott Orstad's work at Catholic Health demonstrates how a privacy-safe, data-driven infrastructure transforms this strategy into measurable results: driving growth on flat budgets, proving ROI, and maintaining compliance. In this conversation, we'll explore how Scott's team successfully expanded beyond Google Ads—why they did it, how they did it, and what others can learn from their success in tying marketing to tangible outcomes.

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⏱️ Episode Timestamps

‍*(01:24) - The limits of bottom-funnel marketing

‍*(04:20) - Building a multi-channel strategy on flat budgets

‍*(12:21) - How direct mail, email, and social outperformed expectations

‍*(26:30) - Proving ROI to financial leadership

‍*(30:38) - Why asking "how did you hear about us?" still works

‍*(38:44) - Brand vs. performance under budget pressure

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💬 Quote

“ Google's benefit was almost, in some ways it's Achilles' heel because of the instant gratification of the results that you're able to see and proving the worth. Because in many cases, it was one of those first drivers to really help marketers prove, especially in the healthcare space, with all the regulatory constraints that we are and can be a revenue generating resource for the organization. It's not going to necessarily work for every service line because again, that awareness is important. But there are, clearly, very specific ones where we can show that we are moving the needle as far as getting people to schedule appointments and actually have the appointments, and then looking at the downstream revenue of those potential things.” – Scott Orstad

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‍🔗‍ Links

Connect with Scott Orstad on LinkedIn

👉 Check out the actionable guide based on this episode

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Why Search-First Payer Marketing Is Hitting a Ceiling with Craig Blake and Aaron Mauck

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 10:00:00 +0000

💡 Episode Summary

In this episode, Ray Mina is joined by Craig Blake and Aaron Mauck to discuss the pitfalls of over-relying on bottom-of-funnel marketing strategies like Google search ads in healthcare. They analyze the changing dynamics in the payer market, emphasizing the need for diversification in marketing spend to combat diminishing returns. Craig and Aaron provide practical insights, including the resurgence of direct mail and the increasing importance of AI-driven strategies. They also underscores the necessity of a holistic, data-driven approach to reach and retain health plan members effectively.

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⏱️ Episode Timestamps:

‍*(01:31) - Why Google search dominance is hitting diminishing returns

‍*(02:16) - Why bottom of funnel marketing is breaking

*(07:16) - Identifying the warning signs

*(14:34) - Moving beyond Google

*(34:50) - Q1strategy: post-enrollment planning

*(39:55) - The future of AI and healthcare marketing

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💬 Quote

“ Bottom of funnel becomes less of a relevant tool as the way in which people approach interacting with markets. Whatever that market happens to be, insurance, cars, widgets, whatever it happens to be, evolves and it's evolving away from traditional search. And as that evolution takes place, the standard approach that we've taken will be less and less relevant going forward. So developing new strategies that try to meet consumers where they are is going to be relevant. That is not going to be bottom of the funnel as it's been traditionally understood.” – Aaron Mauck

“ The challenge is marketers by default is like, oh, bottom of funnel, we gotta pump money in there. The reality is, it’s diminishing returns. You're not getting more for the money you're spending. So we gotta look at it more holistically. We've seen a significant pendulum swing over the past two years in just marketing in general in the Medicare population, where that pendulum needs to come back to center. The times are changing, not to quote Bob Dylan or anything, but they are in marketing and things are breaking and things need to be rewired to, as Aaron you just said, where the consumers are today.” – Craig Blake

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‍🔗‍ ‍Links:

Connect with Craig Blake on LinkedIn

Connect with Aaron Mauck on LinkedIn

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How Channel Myopia Is Undermining Payer Marketing with Jeric Griffin

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 10:00:00 +0000

💡 Episode Summary

Payer marketers aren't "over-reliant on Google" because they love it. They're trapped there because last-click attribution makes it the only channel that looks defensible to finance. The path beyond Google isn't "run more channels." It's building an operating model for multi-touch attribution, audience orchestration, and CRO that's credible enough to survive CFO scrutiny. This episode breaks down how real performance teams move beyond intent: by redefining what counts as proof, designing 5-10% pilots that stair-step to scale, and using customer journey data to earn permission to spend where the actual origination happens, not just where the last click lands.

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⏱️ Episode Timestamps

‍*(01:19) - The biggest lie in healthcare marketing: Why last-click attribution is killing your strategy

‍*(07:58) - How intent channels create false confidence and hide origination points

‍*(13:18) - Moving beyond intent channels

*(15:24) - Why CTV and upper funnel campaigns fail

‍*(28:05) - Building better attribution

‍*(33:57) - Running effective pilots

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💬 Quote

“ Everything that they're looking at in their data is, in most cases for people that I've talked to across the industry and even other industries, most of the time they're only looking at last click attribution. They end up giving way more credit to one channel or another than needs to be. And then more importantly, they're neglecting other channels and pulling spend from those other channels and even specific platforms where that's actually where a lot of the origination of their customer journeys are starting.” – Jeric Griffin

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‍🔗‍ Links

Connect with Jeric Griffin on LinkedIn

👉 Check out the actionable guide based on this episode

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How the Digital Front Door Drives Healthcare Growth with Adrienne Woods

meredith@caspianstudios.com (Ray Mina, Adrienne Woods) — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 10:00:00 +0000

💡 Episode Summary

The digital front door isn't just about convenience, it's the foundation for measurable, compliant growth. Hackensack Meridian Health's transformation came from pairing improved access with rigorous measurement, strong consent practices, and privacy-safe analytics that power performance marketing. In this episode, Adrienne Woods, Vice President of Digital Engagement reveals how she modernized scheduling and access, then proved ROI using booked and attended appointments, channel efficiency, and operational alignment. The results: lower customer acquisition costs, higher conversion rates, and the confidence to scale marketing spend. This is a blueprint for health systems seeking growth, reliable measurement, and airtight compliance—all at once.

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⏱️ Episode Timestamps

‍*(01:39) - The digital front door concept

‍*(07:12) - Technical changes for better patient experience

‍*(13:13) - Healthcare marketing proof points

‍*(24:45) - The role of digital tools in healthcare

‍*(26:22) - Where the digital front door is headed next

‍*(39:46) - Consumer experience and trust in healthcare

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💬 Quote

“ It's also that handoff between the brand team and the marketing team, the email campaign team and those kind of things. Before we were as seamless as we are now, they would put out an ad or put out a billboard for example, featuring a new location. The brand would say, We're so excited that this physician who everybody knows in the community is taking over this practice. We need to get new patients to this new building and we're going to feature this physician that everybody knows. The issue is that physician is already fully booked, so you're spending money to market this location for ease of service with this great physician everybody likes. But then when they go to make the appointment, how frustrating is it that he or she can't see you for six months? Whereas, that physician that everybody loves is bringing two or three other physicians with them to that location. So yeah, quote the physician that everybody knows, but highlight all this availability at that location so that you're doing what you're setting out to do, which is bringing new patients to that new location. I think that's the missing piece a lot of times is, what is your end goal and then how can you get there? It's not by promoting this physician that everybody loves, who doesn't have availability to see anybody.” – Adrienne Woods

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‍🔗‍ Links

Connect with Adrienne Woods on LinkedIn

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How to Grow Multi-Location Care on a Flat Budget with Allison Horn

Wed, 4 Feb 2026 10:00:00 +0000

💡 Episode Summary

Healthcare marketers, it's time for some tough love: if 90% of your budget is going to Google Ads, you're not doing demand generation. You're just paying a premium to compete in a shrinking pool of high-intent searches. In this episode, Allison Horn, Vice President of Marketing at Imagen Dental Partners, pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to build a marketing engine that drives lifetime patient value across 120 unique dental practices. The bottom line? Marketing's job isn't just filling the top of the funnel. It's understanding your market, meeting patients where they are, proving ROI on retention and lifetime value, and even launching direct mail campaigns. If you're tired of the "do more with less" mandate while watching your Google CPCs climb, this episode is your roadmap to building a smarter, more sustainable marketing strategy.

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⏱️ Episode Timestamps

‍*(02:39) - Why intent capture isn't demand generation

‍*(06:16) - Managing 120 unique brands: pattern recognition across rural vs. urban markets

‍*(08:48) - How one practice jumped from 51% to 80% patient show rates in one year

‍*(22:11) - What actually works: direct mail and community engagement

‍*(32:57) - Better patients, not just more patients

‍*(43:41) - The future of healthcare marketing

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💬 Quote

“ The end goal is booked appointments. That is how we're measuring things through several of our partner platforms that we can actually see that, and various ad groups. Right now, it's new patient growth, but we are exploring additional stuff with additional service lines and channel mixes and how we actually can get higher revenue service lines to convert. How are we actually able to capture the patients that are researching stuff? Implants, let's just say, that they maybe know that they need an implant or they need a smile makeover. It's something that is more cosmetic and has been kind of weighing on their hearts. How do we actually create that need to want to explore. How much does it cost? How do I get a consult? What does this entail? What's my recovery going to look like? Is it same day or is it something I have to go three to four weeks? Understanding services and understanding our patients and the audience that we're targeting is critical at this point in how we're going to change our digital strategies is more targeted.” – Allison Horn

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‍🔗‍ Links

Connect with Allison Horn on LinkedIn

Check Out the Actionable Guide Based on this Episode

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The Hidden Cost of Last-Click Thinking with Blair Primis and Brian Gould

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode, Ray Mina embarks on a deep dive into the complexities of multilocation healthcare marketing with Blair Primis, Chief Marketing and Experience Officer at OrthoCarolina, and Brian Gould, Vice President of Marketing, Communications, and Patient Experience at vybe urgent care. They discuss the multifaceted consumer journey, the imperative of brand and experience in driving patient trust, and the critical importance of aligning marketing with operational capabilities. Blair and Brian highlight the significance of creating a consistent, spectacular patient experience from the first interaction to in-person visits. They share specific tactics and metrics, such as tracking paid ad spend to bookings and combining data from EMR and scheduling systems. The conversation also explores future strategies involving AI and technology, emphasizing the need for adaptable teams to navigate the rapidly evolving healthcare marketing landscape.

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“ The best thing we have had been going for a couple of years, is the ability to say, here's how much money we spent last quarter, here's exactly the return on investment we got, and here's precisely how we can dial this up and dial this down to scale. It has been easily the best performing metric or story to tell about how marketing dollars are actually driving growth.” – Blair Primis

“ I am combining the data from two systems, our EMR and our scheduling system. And by combining those together, I'm seeing a status for every patient who's come through. Whether a walk-in or an appointment or a call center schedule. Using our service, with Freshpaint and Google Click IDs, I can get to a lot of exact paid conversions. I can get to some organic conversions. And where we try to squeeze a little extra juice out of the lemon is, particularly with walk-ins, let's look at what each center is doing and where there's an opportunity to lower that cancel rate or improve that no-show rate.” – Brian Gould

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Episode Timestamps:

‍*(02:07) - The importance of brand and experience

‍*(06:35) - Aligning marketing with operations

‍*(17:58) - Accountability in marketing

‍*(28:00) - Tracking and measuring marketing effectiveness

‍*(35:56) - Community engagement and brand relevance

‍*(44:55) - The future of healthcare marketing and technology

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Links:

Connect with Blair on LinkedIn

Connect with Brian on LinkedIn

Connect with Ray on LinkedIn

Check Out the Actionable Guide Based on this Episode

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From Ad Impressions to Lifetime Care: Measuring What Really Matters with Jeremy Rogers

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Healthcare marketers have long relied on Google search as their safe channel. But in today's post-pandemic landscape where many clinics are at capacity, that dependency has become a strategic liability. In this episode, Jeremy Rogers, Vice President of Digital Marketing and Experience at Indiana University Health, explains why the real challenge isn't just acquiring new patients, it's winning their lifetime value and share of care. Jeremy breaks down how IU Health is moving beyond last-click attribution to build a full-funnel marketing engine that connects campaign data to actual health outcomes. That shift requires first-party data infrastructure, multi-touch attribution, privacy-compliant EHR integration, and getting buy-in from IT and finance teams by proving real ROI on metrics that matter: NPS, share of wallet, and patient retention.

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“ Many CFOs around the country say without margin, there is no mission. And there's some truth to that. You've gotta keep the lights on. But I think it's keeping the top of funnel wide open. We want to provide care for all Hoosiers, everyone in our state who needs care, we're open for them. But you want to be strategic. Not all growth is equally weighted. There are some services that are maybe more profitable, have more correlation to long-term health. Our mission here is to help Indiana become one of the healthiest states. We can't do that alone just by offering primary care or other low acuity services. We have to offer a suite of different services across the care continuum, across a patient's lifetime. You've gotta balance all those things.” – Jeremy Rogers

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Episode Timestamps:

‍*(02:06) - Why bother moving beyond Google search? The post-pandemic supply-demand shift

‍*(08:59) - The patient journey: From digital search to care delivery and beyond

‍*(14:47) - Moving beyond last-click attribution: Defining true conversions and health outcomes

‍*(20:37) - Key metrics that matter to executives: NPS, share of wallet, and lifetime value

‍*(33:46) - Three actionable steps to start connecting the dots today

‍*(38:39) - The future of AI in healthcare: Patient-facing automation and the trust challenge

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Links:

Connect with Jeremy on LinkedIn

Connect with Ray on LinkedIn

Connect with Ray on LinkedIn

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Trailer

meredith@caspianstudios.com (Ray Mina, Freshpaint) — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Can healthcare marketers actually improve growth and stay compliant at the same time? We’re seeing it happen every day and this podcast is all about sharing those stories. Introducing Marketing Rounds, your check-up on how healthcare marketers are innovating, experimenting and pushing past old playbooks without breaking the rules. Over 14 episodes, Ray Mina, CMO at Freshpaint, will be talking with marketers who are finding creative ways to grow in one of the most regulated industries out there. This is Marketing Rounds, presented by Freshpaint.

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Links: