Attending the SWAAY Health conference has been foundational to my professional journey.
When I first attended (back when it was still called HITMC) in 2016, I knew absolutely nothing
about healthcare marketing. I just knew I wanted to learn. What I experienced there reshaped
how I think about conferences, collaboration, leadership, and community.
I still remember the first event I attended, founder John Lynn opening the event with a simple but
powerful challenge: give before you get. Leave your titles at the door. Focus on serving others.
That mindset has stayed with me ever since. It has influenced how I show up at conferences
today and even inspired ideas I’ve brought into senior living, like the Unconference Lunch we
host at SMASH.
Fast forward to this year, I had the opportunity to attend SWAAY again, this time from a
different perspective, as Unlock Health was recognized for Best Use of Social Media. But my
goal remained the same: learn, listen, and bring value back to our community.
Here are my three biggest takeaways from attending this year’s healthcare marketing conference,
which I wanted to share with my healthcare marketing and Senior Living community.
1. Vulnerability and trust create better healthcare marketing teams
John Lynn once again opened this year’s conference by encouraging attendees to embrace vulnerability and reminding everyone that learning starts when we let our guard down.
And honestly, that message feels more relevant than ever.
Healthcare marketing is evolving so quickly that none of us has all the answers. The only way to grow is to create environments where people feel comfortable sharing what’s working, and what’s not.
One of the most impactful sessions leaned directly into this idea. My friends Sarah Bennight and Matt DiVenere hosted a discussion centered around marketing failures and the lessons learned from uncomfortable moments.
One quote from Matt especially stood out to me, “Stagnant marketing is irrelevant marketing.”
That statement perfectly captures the reality marketers are facing today. Safe and predictable marketing rarely drives innovation. But the bigger lesson from their session was about leadership. They shared that teams are far more engaged when people feel psychologically safe to contribute ideas and take risks.
They highlighted three essential pillars needed to build innovative and creative teams:
- Trust
- Truth
- Direction
Strong marketing leadership is not just about strategy; it’s about creating a culture where people feel safe enough to experiment, fail, learn, and ultimately grow together.
2. AI is changing how healthcare brands get discovered
The way we get discovered has completely changed. One of the most eye-opening sessions at the conference focused on AI search and the rapidly changing landscape of discoverability, which was led by Martha van Berkel of Schema App.
She highlighted that today is now about:
- Being part of the answer
- Being understood correctly by AI systems
- Becoming the trusted source AI chooses to reference
That shift is massive for healthcare marketers.
AI doesn’t process information the same way humans do. It relies heavily on data, structure, relationships, and context, which is why schema markup and structured content are becoming increasingly important.
One of the strongest takeaways from this session was the idea that schema helps de-risk your brand.
If AI platforms misunderstand your content, they can misrepresent your expertise, services, or story. Structured data helps create clarity and accuracy.
Martha also emphasized the importance of building a content knowledge graph, essentially creating a connected set of information that helps AI systems understand who you are, what you do, and how your expertise connects.
But despite all the discussion around AI, one message remained clear. You still have to write for humans first.
Answer the questions your audience is already asking. Create useful, trustworthy content. Help people understand complex topics clearly. Schema doesn’t replace storytelling or great content; it strengthens it.
3. Human connection and storytelling matter more than ever
Ironically, at a conference filled with conversations about AI and technology, some of the most powerful sessions were reminders that human connection still sits at the center of effective healthcare marketing.
One standout session focused on storytelling in pathology and how narrative helps build trust around expertise that people often never see.
The session which was led by Natalie Gregory, Lorraine McMeekin, and Dr. Elizabeth McLeod explored how the College of American Pathologists used a fictional radio-theatre style podcast called Case Encounters to make the invisible work of pathology more relatable and understandable to patients and healthcare consumers.
And honestly, that lesson applies far beyond pathology.
In health and wellness, we often assume that expertise alone creates trust. But the reality is when people can’t see the expertise, a story helps them develop trust
Storytelling creates context. It makes complicated ideas accessible. It helps people emotionally connect with work they might otherwise overlook.
That same theme carried into another fantastic session on healthcare podcasting, which was hosted by three healthcare podcast leaders, Jared Johnson, Carol Flagg, and Bill Klaproth, moderated by Alex Ferraro.
The panel explored how podcasts have become one of the most effective ways to create authentic engagement with highly targeted audiences. They discussed not only how brands can partner with existing podcasts but also why organizations should consider building their own platforms to establish direct trust with their audience.
As someone who hosts a podcast myself, this session reinforced something I deeply believe:
People crave real conversations.
Not polished corporate messaging.
Not overly produced marketing campaigns.
Real people sharing expertise, perspective, experiences, and stories.
Whether through podcasts, storytelling, events, or face-to-face conversations, the marketers who stand out moving forward will be the ones who know how to guide audiences as humans, not just market to them as consumers.
Technology may continue to evolve, but trust will always remain deeply personal.
The biggest lesson I took away from Swaay.Health on the future of healthcare marketing
If there was one phrase that kept surfacing throughout the conference, it was this:
Take action.
Whether it’s:
- Building cultures rooted in trust
- Preparing your brand for AI-driven discovery
- Or creating more human-centered content and conversations
None of it matters if we don’t act on it or take risks.
SWAAY continues to be one of those rare conferences that doesn’t just spark new ideas, it leaves you walking away more inspired, energized, and grounded in purpose. While it’s rooted in healthcare marketing, I’d encourage my senior living marketing friends to connect with this community as well. At the heart of both industries is the same mission: serving people well.
And for me, it still all comes back to the very first lesson I learned there years ago…
Give before you get.
We are so grateful to have been recognized by Swaay.Health for Best Use of Social Media. Congratulations to all the other winners at this year’s conference!
