Bill Klaproth (Host): This is a special podcast produced on site at SHSMD Connections 2024 Annual Conference in Denver as we talk with keynote speakers and session leaders and award winners right here at the show floor. I'm Bill Klaproth. With me is Tim McMahon, the Director of Marketing and Business Development at St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, New Hampshire. And we're going to talk about Tim being a SHSMD Rising Star Awardee, a recognition that highlights emerging leaders in our field. Tim, welcome.

Tim McMahon: Thank you, Bill. I'm excited to be here.

Host: I'm excited to talk to you. So, first off, tell us a little bit about your journey into healthcare marketing and what led you to St. Joseph Hospital.

Tim McMahon: So, my journey wasn't really standard. I used to be a special ed teacher at a high school. I was in sales for a little bit. I had my own business in marketing for a little while. I was a long time Rotarian. And I happened to run into a job at St. Joe's where there was another Rotarian working there. And she was in HR, and she actually kind of got me in the door and said, "I think you'd be great for this job." And fortunately, for me, St. Joe's wasn't doing a lot in the marketing world in terms of current marketing strategies, social media, digital marketing, that sort of thing. So really, anything I brought to the table looked genius. I'm not sure if it still does, but at least five years ago, it looked really, really good.

Host: Well, it must be good, because you're a Rising Star awardee, so we appreciate that. So, let's talk about the Rising Star awardee. What does that mean to you personally and professionally?

Tim McMahon: For me, it's not something where I look at it as a chance to get a better job or move up in my career, because I'm really actually very quite happy where I am. I'm in a small town, New Hampshire. I'm not looking to change positions. But what it does do is I think it hopefully validates some of the work I've been putting in over the last five years at the hospital. It helps my colleagues, my president understand that all the digital strategies that we've been implementing really are working and they're what other people are doing and they're what other hospitals are doing, because we're always kind of judging ourselves against what others are doing. So, I think this recognition kind of helps validate all those efforts.

Host: Absolutely. So, let's talk about a few of those initiatives then. Can you share some specific campaigns or initiatives at St. Joseph Hospital that you're particularly proud of?

Tim McMahon: Yeah. You know, I was in a session this morning where people talked about how, you know, you really have to try a little bit of everything. You have to see kind of what works and it might not always work, but that's okay. You should keep trying. And we've certainly tried everything in the last five years. Even during COVID, we were trying lots of different things. But, you know, since we're on Doctor Podcasting, I will put a plug, we started working with Doctor Podcasting about a year, ago and it's been really phenomenal. It's actually been a very easy way to get our doctors engaged. Many of them don't like being on camera or they get very nervous shooting traditional videos. And this is an easy way for them to kind of have a casual conversation about their subject matter expertise. So, you know, we've been really excited to do that and nobody else in our market is doing it, which is kind of cool. We've gotten really engaged in TikTok. We've gotten really engaged on Instagram. And again, TikTok's a funny one where our president the other day said, "Wait, we're on TikTok?" And I said, "Yeah, man. We have like 10,000 hits on this video and 15,000 on this video." And it's funny seeing people's reactions when you tell them that a hospital is on TikTok or doing podcasts because people just don't expect it. And we're constantly trying to do things that people don't expect, because that's what makes us stand out in the market.

Host: Well, that trial and error is really important because then you learn what works, what moves the needle, what doesn't, et cetera.

Tim McMahon: Absolutely.

Host: Yeah, I was just at a session this morning before we started doing this podcast on video engagement and TikTok. And they talked about how TikTok has been really useful to them. So, I applaud you for jumping into that because I know a lot of people are like, "Oh, TikTok, I don't know about that. I don't know anything about it." But good for you for jumping in and learning it and going, "Hey, this has become a useful tool for us."

Tim McMahon: Well, and the thing with us is that we're a small team. We have, I think, 2.1 full time employees in our marketing department, me included, obviously. And we have to find ways to do more with less. know, we have to take our budget and go, "Okay, how can we do TikTok videos and podcasts and all these different things with such a small team?" So, you know, one of the reasons I like coming to this conference is because I get to meet lots of different vendors. And actually, this is how I heard about Doctor Podcasting, was coming to this conference.

Host: Yeah. Well, and we love that. We thank you for that. So Tim, let me ask you this. You just talked about coming here. How important has SHSMD been in your career development?

Tim McMahon: Right. I just spoke to this saying that coming here, especially to this conference specifically, it gives me a lot of new insights, in terms of what other people are doing, because we're always trying to find out, I mean, I don't know everything, so I want to see what other hospitals are doing, what's working, what's not working. And in addition to the conference, there's SHSMD's online platform where there's a conversation piece where you can kind of go back and forth with other marketing leaders in healthcare and ask questions and say, "Hey, what's everyone else doing for this?" And to get those responses has been really helpful for me, especially if I say something like, "Who's everyone else using for video editing?" And, you know, you get 10 different responses and you go, "Okay, I'll try those." So, it's stuff that you can't just Google. And I don't really want to Google, because people pay for ads to show up at the top. And I really want to hear from actual marketing leaders in healthcare about what works and what doesn't.

Host: Right. Somebody sitting in your seat somewhere else hearing what you're using.

Tim McMahon: Absolutely. So, SHSMD's been very helpful for that.

Host: Yeah. I love hearing that. So, what is your advice for any up and coming rising stars?

Tim McMahon: You know, I think it goes back to you got to be open to trying everything. You can't be afraid to try something because it's never been done in your field, at your hospital. I work for a Catholic hospital, which comes with its own challenges sometimes. So, you know, I think it depends on, obviously, if you have a big team versus a small team and how many layers there are in terms of getting things approved. But you have to keep going out there and keep trying new things, because that's what gets results eventually. Even if the first ten things were terrible, it might be the 11th thing that really works. And I think that's how you just grow your career as well, especially if you're looking to move up, people want to see that, you did X, Y, and Z. And I think that's the best advice I can give.

Host: Yeah, I love that. Tim, thank you so much for stopping by our podcast booth here at SHSMD Connections 2024. We appreciate that. Anything else you want to add about being an awardee or about your journey in healthcare?

Tim McMahon: No, I think like I said, this conference is always fun to come to. I learn so much every year. This is my third year in a row coming. So, I'm excited to be here and honored to be a Rising Star Award. You know, excited for the future.

Host: Yeah. Well, congrats once again on the Rising Star Award. Tim, thanks for stopping by.

Tim McMahon: Great. Thank you.

Host: You bet. Once again, that is Tim McMahon. And we hope you enjoyed SHSMD Connections 2024. For those of you who are unable to attend, you can access the presentation recordings at shsmd.com. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels, and please subscribe so you get every episode chock-full of great healthcare marketers like Tim. We have great topics, we have solutions, so make sure you listen to the SHSMD Podcast. You can access our full podcast library at shsmd.org/podcasts. Thanks for listening.