Touch Point Media Podcast Appearance

At a time of staff and budget cuts across healthcare, how can AI help marketers get all the work done and focus on the parts of their jobs they love most? It's a topic Chris Boyer and I dug into on this week's Touch Point Media podcast.

In the first half of the episode, Chris and Reed Smith discuss "vibe marketing," why it's emerging now, and how it's being applied in healthcare.

Click on the image above and jump to the 25:15 mark.

Then, starting at the 25:15 mark, Chris and I jump into a discussion of how marketing teams can approach AI adoption in a way that’s practical, human-centered, and strategically aligned. We talked about the real pressures marketing leaders are facing—like staff cuts, frozen budgets, and growing expectations—and how AI can help teams do more with less without overwhelming them.

I shared insights from my work with CMO Kathy Smith and her team at Roper St. Francis Healthcare, emphasizing the importance of starting small, leveraging existing tech, and focusing on pilot projects tied to real operational challenges. We also touched on the mindset shift required to adopt AI effectively and how to keep the human element at the core of any AI strategy.

Top takeaways from my conversation with Chris:

• Why AI adoption should begin with existing tools and targeted pilot projects—not a massive digital overhaul.

• How to use AI to give teams time back and refocus on the strategic and creative work they love.

• What healthcare marketers need most right now: clear, practical guidance—not more hype.

Key quotes from the conversation:

“You've got marketing teams trying to help their organizations grow and attract new patients, but their marketing teams have been skinnied down. AI can help them figure out how to do more with less.”

Relevant Loop Blog Post:
🔗 More with Less: How AI Can Augment Marketing Teams Impacted by Job Cuts

“I counsel my clients to start with the tech they're already using. Organizations have invested a lot of time, energy, and money into platforms that may well have AI capabilities built in—and they just haven’t explored them yet. You don’t need to immediately run out and find the shiny new tool. See what’s possible with the tools you’re already paying for.”

Relevant Loop Blog Post:
🔗 Beyond Shiny Object Syndrome: How to Integrate AI Into Your Existing Marketing Strategy

“Rather than thinking about AI as something totally new, I suggest we treat it like any other marketing decision. Start with your goals, your strategy, your biggest operational challenges—and then see where AI might help. If your problem is that you can’t produce enough content, let’s look at tools that can repurpose or accelerate content creation. It’s not about boiling the ocean—it’s about solving your specific problem.”

Relevant Loop Blog Post:
🔗 One Small Step: Getting Started with AI Doesn’t Have to Be a Big Deal

“The nice thing about starting with pilot projects is that it can—and should—be time-limited. You don’t need to launch a year-long transformation. You can run a pilot over six weeks or three months. Set some clear KPIs, figure out what works, and make a call: do we scale it, or move on? That kind of focused experimentation helps teams learn quickly, without a massive investment of time or budget.”

Relevant Loop Blog Post:
🔗 Stop Chasing the Cheese: How to Avoid AI Paralysis