At the HCIC 2025 conference, Tenth Crow Creative invited attendees to weigh in on their biggest marketing and communications challenges through an interactive booth poll titled “What keeps you up at night?” Participants placed retro stickers next to the issues that resonated most. The results provide a clear snapshot of what’s top of mind for today’s healthcare marketers, especially as teams grow leaner, budgets tighten, and expectations rise.
Top results
Tied for first:
- Turning complex services into clear, human content
- Proving the impact of digital marketing
Second place:
- Balancing creativity, compliance & safe analytics
Last place:
- Nothing keeps me up – I sleep great
What the results reveal:
Turning complex services into clear, human content
- Health systems continue to struggle with how to translate complex medical information into simple, human-centered communication that patients actually understand. The appetite for clarity, empathy, and plain language is stronger than ever, especially as digital continues to transform and the need for patient education around prevention and treatment only increases.
- Key takeaway: Marketers want to make care more understandable, not just more visible. They’re looking for ways to simplify without oversimplifying.
Proving the impact of digital marketing
- Teams continue to feel pressure to demonstrate how marketing efforts translate into measurable results, whether that’s new patients, increased awareness, or better engagement. Many attendees said they have data but lack time, tools, or storytelling frameworks to connect the dots between effort and outcome.
- Key takeaway: Accountability continues to rise. Marketers need to show results and communicate their value internally.
Balancing creativity, compliance & safe analytics
- This theme reflects the daily tension between innovation and regulation. Health systems want to stay creative and relevant while keeping HIPAA, ADA, and brand standards intact. It’s a balancing act that will continue as digital teams navigate privacy updates, AI tools, and ever-evolving analytics rules.
- Key takeaway: Creative courage matters but only when paired with responsible data and compliance practices.
Overall
Clarity and measurement dominate the conversation. The top two issues (clarifying content and proving impact) show a shared desire for both simplicity and proof.
The human voice still matters most. Even in a data-driven world, the call for plain, empathetic communication shines through. Standing in the shoes of our audiences to determine why they should care remains essential.
Marketers are juggling compliance with creativity. Teams crave freedom to tell better stories, but regulation and internal review processes can hold them back.
HCIC 2025 attendees made it clear: the biggest challenge isn’t choosing the right tactic. It’s making healthcare communication clear, human, and measurable. Oh, yeah, and maybe catching a little more sleep along the way.