Ignite: Healthcare Marketing Podcast

#205 - Inside the Brand Strategy Powering 1,000+ PDS Health Locations

If your patient acquisition strategy depends too heavily on paid media, this episode explains why brand trust is now the real growth lever. On this episode of Ignite, Ashley Petrochenko, Cardinal's VP of Brand Marketing, sits down with Courtney Taylor, Senior Director of Brand Marketing at PDS Health, to discuss how one of the nation's largest healthcare organizations is using brand strategy to stand out in a crowded, low-trust market. They break down how clearer messaging, smarter storytelling, and connected consumer experiences can improve performance marketing efficiency and long-term patient loyalty. For healthcare marketers facing rising costs and shrinking attention spans, this shift is critical. You will learn: * Why trust is becoming the biggest driver of patient conversion * How stronger branding reduces lower-funnel acquisition pressure * Ways to make complex healthcare messages simple and human * How partnerships and storytelling expand reach beyond paid ads If you want a smarter patient growth strategy that doesn't rely on chasing clicks, this is the episode to listen to next. RELATED RESOURCES Connect with Courtney - https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtneyjotaylor/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtneyjotaylor/] 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/] 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/] 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/] DSO Marketing: Branded House vs. House of Brands - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/dso-marketing-branded-house-vs-house-of-brands/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/dso-marketing-branded-house-vs-house-of-brands/]

#204 - Strategist's Corner: What healthcare can learn from retail

Healthcare marketers are stuck chasing the same patients while retail brands are building demand at scale. In the first episode of The Strategists' Corner, a new series on the Ignite Healthcare Marketing Podcast, host Rich Briddock, Cardinal's Chief Strategy Officer, sits down with Ben Dutter, Chief Strategy Officer at Power Digital Marketing. Together, they break down what healthcare can learn from more mature industries like retail, e-commerce, and SaaS. You'll hear how top brands balance demand generation and capture, rethink measurement in a privacy-first world, and use creative to influence real patient decisions. You'll learn: * Why overinvesting in bottom funnel limits patient growth * How to measure true marketing impact beyond attribution * What builds trust in high-stakes healthcare decisions * How stronger creative can lift performance and demand If you want to move beyond incremental gains and build a smarter healthcare growth engine, this is the episode to queue up next. 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/] 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/] 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/] 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/]

#203 - Trust Is the New Healthcare Growth Engine

Trust is no longer a brand message. It is the growth engine behind patient acquisition today. In this episode of Ignite, Ashley Petrochenko, Cardinal's VP of Brand Marketing, sits down with Rachel Johnson, Marketing Director at Acorn Health, to break down how healthcare marketing is shifting toward consumer-led journeys where patients arrive informed, empowered, and already forming opinions before they ever engage. She shares how behavioral health has become a powerful example of this shift and why marketers must rethink how they build trust across the entire experience. This matters because growth is no longer driven by channels alone. It is driven by how well your brand shows up across every touchpoint patients actually trust. You will learn: * Why patient journeys are longer, messier, and harder to control * How reputation and peer conversations shape patient decisions * What it takes to build trust before the first interaction * How to align marketing and operations to reduce friction If you are rethinking how to drive real patient growth today, this is a conversation you do not want to miss. RELATED RESOURCES Connect with Rachel - https://www.linkedin.com/in/racheljohnson730/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/racheljohnson730/] 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/] 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/] Optimizing for AI Search: A New Era in Healthcare Marketing - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/optimizing-for-ai-search-a-new-era-in-healthcare-marketing/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/optimizing-for-ai-search-a-new-era-in-healthcare-marketing/] How a Primary Care Provider Futureproofed Their SEO in an AI-Driven Search World - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/search-content-strategy-ai-landscape/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/search-content-strategy-ai-landscape/]

#202 - Patient Acquisition Needs Programmatic Infrastructure

If your patient acquisition strategy depends on last-click performance, you're missing the system that actually drives demand. In this episode of Ignite, Lauren Leone, Cardinal's Chief Growth Officer, sits down with Lisa Fisher, Associate Media Director, Paid Social & Programmatic Lead, to break down why programmatic should be treated as always-on infrastructure, not a short-term campaign. They share how healthcare marketers can use programmatic to build demand, improve performance across channels, and drive measurable growth over time. This shift is critical as competition increases and traditional channels hit saturation. You will learn: * Why small programmatic budgets fail and what to do instead * How programmatic increases branded search and organic performance * The right way to measure impact beyond last-click attribution * How to build full-funnel patient journeys with video and CTV If you want a more scalable and predictable patient acquisition strategy, this is the episode to queue up next. RELATED RESOURCES Connect with Lauren- https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenthomasdigital/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurenthomasdigital/] Connect with Lisa- https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisaruthfisher/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisaruthfisher/] 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/] 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/] 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/] 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/]

#201 - The end of easy growth in healthcare

Healthcare marketing is entering a new phase where AI, data, and trust are redefining what actually drives patient acquisition. In this continuation of our 200th episode, we take the conversation further as Lauren Leone, Cardinal's Chief Growth Officer, sits down with our media, analytics, and creative experts who are in the trenches every day. They break down how AI, data, and platform shifts are redefining what actually drives patient acquisition and where most teams are falling behind. You'll learn: * Why first-party data and real patient outcomes now drive visibility and trust * How AI is accelerating insights and changing how teams act on data * What's actually improving paid media performance today * Why creative and full-funnel strategy matter more than targeting As we continue celebrating our 200th episode, this conversation brings the real-world perspective on the trends shaping what's next in healthcare growth. RELATED RESOURCES 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/] 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/] Optimizing for AI Search: A New Era in Healthcare Marketing - https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/optimizing-for-ai-search-a-new-era-in-healthcare-marketing/ [https://www.cardinaldigitalmarketing.com/healthcare-resources/blog/optimizing-for-ai-search-a-new-era-in-healthcare-marketing/] 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/]