#216 - Patient Acquisition Starts With Operations

#216 - Patient Acquisition Starts With Operations

Healthcare marketing doesn't have a lead problem. It has an operations problem. In this episode of Ignite, Ashley Petrochenko, VP of Brand Marketing at Cardinal, sits down with Colleen Mulder, a Multi-site, Private Equity Marketing Consultant and Fractional CMO, to explore why patient acquisition depends on far more than great marketing. Colleen shares how the fastest-growing healthcare organizations align marketing, operations, finance, and providers to turn patient demand into measurable business growth, instead of losing patients somewhere between the click and the appointment. You'll walk away with: * Why patient acquisition depends on operational readiness, not just marketing spend * How to measure marketing using completed visits, revenue, and EBITDA instead of vanity metrics * Why referrals and direct-to-patient marketing should work together across one patient journey * A practical framework for scaling campaigns across multiple locations without creating operational bottlenecks If you want to prove marketing's impact beyond leads and build a stronger healthcare growth engine, this is the episode to queue up next. RELATED RESOURCES Connect with Colleen - https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleen-mulder-94717310/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleen-mulder-94717310/] Marketing + Operations: Why Total Alignment is Vital to Growth - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-marketing-operations-alignment/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-marketing-operations-alignment/] Why Capacity-Driven Marketing Is Non-Negotiable - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/capacity-driven-marketing-media-investment-strategy/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/capacity-driven-marketing-media-investment-strategy/] Is Your Organization Actually Ready for Marketing? - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/marketing-readiness/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/marketing-readiness/] What is a Patient Journey? Examples to Grow Your Practice - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/what-is-a-patient-journey-grow-your-practice/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/what-is-a-patient-journey-grow-your-practice/]

#215 - Patient Trust Starts With Cutting Red Tape

Patient trust is becoming one of the biggest competitive advantages in healthcare, and reducing friction is where it starts. On this episode of Ignite, host Rich Briddock, Cardinal's Chief Strategy Officer, sits down with Pete Deutschman, CMO and Chief Partnership Officer at patient.com [http://patient.com/], to discuss why one of healthcare's biggest challenges isn't clinical quality, it's administrative friction. Pete shares how confusing benefits, repeat paperwork, and fragmented digital experiences create real barriers to care, and why trusted, AI-powered navigation will define the next era of healthcare marketing. In this episode you'll learn: * Why patient trust has become a key driver of healthcare growth * How administrative friction hurts both patient experience and provider performance * What patients actually fear about AI recommendations in healthcare * Practical ways healthcare marketers can build stronger, long-term patient relationships If you're looking to better understand how patient trust and administrative friction are shaping the future of healthcare marketing, this episode is worth a listen. RELATED RESOURCES Connect with Pete - https://www.linkedin.com/in/petedeutschman/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/petedeutschman/] What is a Patient Journey? Examples to Grow Your Practice - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/what-is-a-patient-journey-grow-your-practice/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/what-is-a-patient-journey-grow-your-practice/] 2026 Healthcare Marketing Trends: The New Rules Redefining Growth - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-marketing-trends-2026/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-marketing-trends-2026/] Harnessing the Power of AI Marketing for Healthcare - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/harnessing-ai-marketing-for-healthcare/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/harnessing-ai-marketing-for-healthcare/] How to Build a Full-Funnel Healthcare Marketing Strategy - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-full-funnel-marketing-strategy/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-full-funnel-marketing-strategy/]

#214 - The Strategists' Corner: Getting Leadership Buy In

Healthcare marketers often know what needs to change. Getting the organization to act on it is the hard part. In episode three of The Strategists' Corner, host Rich Briddock sits down again with Ben Dutter, Chief Strategy Officer at Power Digital, to explore why the biggest barrier to better marketing isn't strategy. It's organizational change. Together, they unpack what actually drives resistance inside marketing teams, how to challenge long held assumptions with evidence, and how to build a testing culture that earns leadership trust. You'll learn: * The three real blockers stopping marketing teams from changing course * Why provocation often works better than education when driving change * How long to actually run a test before you call it a failure * How to build testing roadmaps that earn stakeholder trust and improve performance If you've ever struggled to get your team or C-suite on board with a better way forward, this is the episode that gives you the tools to make the case. RELATED RESOURCES The Search Plateau Problem: Why Healthcare Providers Need Incrementality Testing - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-incrementality-testing/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/healthcare-incrementality-testing/] RevRx™: Unlocking the Power of Media Mix Modeling - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/media-mix-modeling-revrx/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/media-mix-modeling-revrx/] When & How to Expand Your Healthcare Media Mix - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/expanding-channel-media-mix-strategy/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/expanding-channel-media-mix-strategy/] How to Build a Healthcare Marketing Roadmap That Drives Patient Growth - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/how-to-build-digital-marketing-roadmap/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/how-to-build-digital-marketing-roadmap/]

#213 - The Creative Briefing Is Now a Media Decision

Your Meta targeting isn't reaching who you think it is, and your creative is why. On this episode of Ignite Healthcare Marketing Podcast, Cardinal President Lauren Leone sits down with Group Media Director Brandon Wilhelm to break down why creative is now the most important media decision you make. As AI-driven platforms like Meta and Google take over audience selection, the concepts and assets you load into a campaign have become the primary signal determining who sees your ads. If your creative brief isn't being built alongside your media strategy, you're already behind. You'll walk away knowing: * Why Meta's Andromeda update shifted targeting power to your creative * How to build distinct messaging pillars that actually move performance * What a 3x performance lift looks like when creative strategy leads the build * How to unify creative concepts across paid social, search, and programmatic If you're still relying on audience targeting as your main growth strategy, this conversation will change how you think about media performance. RELATED RESOURCES Performance Creative: The Key to Paid Media Success - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/performance-creative-the-key-to-paid-media-success/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/performance-creative-the-key-to-paid-media-success/] How Meta's Andromeda Changes Healthcare Marketing Forever - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/meta-andromeda-update/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/meta-andromeda-update/] Mastering Performance Max (PMAX) for Healthcare - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/performance-max-pmax-healthcare-guide/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/performance-max-pmax-healthcare-guide/] The Meta Strategy That Reduced Acquisition Costs by 73% - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/meta-strategy-patient-acquisition-case-study/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/meta-strategy-patient-acquisition-case-study/]

#212 - The Real Role of AI in Healthcare Performance Creative

AI won't save a weak creative strategy, it will just produce more of it, faster. Cardinal's President Lauren Leone sits down with Sr. Creative Director Jean Zhang on the Ignite Healthcare Marketing Podcast to break down what it actually takes to make AI work in healthcare marketing. From Meta's Andromeda update to real production tests comparing AI video against traditional shoots, this conversation covers the creative shift that's quietly reshaping performance marketing. You'll walk away knowing: * Why creative diversity is now a targeting signal, not just a design preference * How to use AI for production speed without losing brand authenticity * Where AI genuinely falls short in the creative process (and what to do instead) * Quick wins in-house teams can act on right now with limited resources If you're trying to keep up with the changing role of creative in healthcare marketing, don't miss this conversation. RELATED RESOURCES How Meta's Andromeda Changes Healthcare Marketing Forever - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/meta-andromeda-update/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/meta-andromeda-update/] Performance Creative: The Key to Paid Media Success - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/performance-creative-the-key-to-paid-media-success/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/performance-creative-the-key-to-paid-media-success/] Harnessing the Power of AI Marketing for Healthcare - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/harnessing-ai-marketing-for-healthcare/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/harnessing-ai-marketing-for-healthcare/] Mastering Performance Max (PMAX) for Healthcare - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/performance-max-pmax-healthcare-guide/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/performance-max-pmax-healthcare-guide/]