The Women of Mediaura Series: Dawn Geary

Meet our Director of Marketing, Dawn Geary

“When I first began at Mediaura and our company was young, I was one of two females in a leadership role; now I'm one of several. It's fantastic.”

35-year-old Dawn Geary has travelled and worked all over the world, from Kentucky and Japan to London and New York City. Dawn loves to bring her global perspective into her professional and personal life. She’s been with Mediaura for over six years and she knows the ins and outs of digital marketing, which means she will get to know your business like nobody’s business. Also, she is Bill Murray’s number one fan.

Explain your role at Mediaura...

Dawn Geary: I am the Director of Digital Marketing/Marketing. I manage the brand's internal marketing strategies and campaigns, as well as develop and oversee the implementation of digital marketing for clients. This can be pretty extensive by way of incorporating creative direction, content writing, PPC marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), research initiatives and advocating for new technology or methodologies for clients. Since everything we do at Mediaura is customized for each unique client, I have to really dive-in deep to various industries to gain the best understanding - because what may work for one client's audience may not be what is best for another.

Why did you get into digital advertising and what steps did you take to get here?

DG: I've always been involved with computers and technology, prior to the Internet as we know it today. When I first became involved with technology, it was back when you had dial-up modems and utilized terminal programs (Bulletin Board Systems). It's crazy to think that this was really not that long ago and how far and how quickly technology has evolved (and is still evolving). I've worked for various industries (medical, manufacturing, research, marketing, creative direction) and have always been the person called upon to leverage technology's benefits. The digital advertising field was the perfect culmination for all of my experience, and again, when I first began my career, it wasn't even a career path that had existed. So it's been incredible to be at the forefront of a new industry, knowing where and how it emerged and seeing the incredible benefits it can provide.

What challenges have you faced in this industry?

DG: Since the area that I work in is so relatively new, things are constantly changing and evolving. It's a very controlled experiment, and different platforms (Google, Facebook, Yahoo, etc.) are all trying their own methods. So I constantly have to learn and adapt to their directions and changes, while simultaneously learning about all of the new and emerging tools and platforms that come along. What may have worked well for a client one month might suddenly no longer exist as an option the next because the platform they were advertising on entirely abandoned that direction. So there is a lot of challenging work that is done in order to constantly improve and remain at the forefront on technology. It's impossible to make truly definitive statements about what works and what doesn't, because the field itself is so fluid and advancing. You just have to keep up.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

DG: I really love that I work with such a passionate team. Advertising can be a stressful profession for anyone, but digital advertising is another beast entirely. We are always constantly pushing each other and building one another up to try new things, communicate, and educate our clients. The idea that I can come into work one day and have everything turned-upside-down by some new innovation is exhilarating. No two days are ever the same and this job is anything but boring.

What advice would you give other women who want to pursue this field?

DG: Go for it and don't allow anyone to tell you that it can't be done. Technology used to be a male-dominated field, and it wasn't always easy being female. I've seen that change more and more every day. Some of our most promising and brightest talents are female engineers, programmers, and digital marketing specialists. When I first began at Mediaura and our company was young, I was one of two females in a leadership role; now I'm one of several. It's fantastic.

What are your goals for your future in this field?

DG: I want to continue the trajectory of growth we've began at Mediaura and keep pushing that envelope. Every success story and positive ROI is another "W" in the win column for digital marketing. The more I'm able to educate and help clients understand the inherent benefits of the analytics and technology that comes from digital, the better their businesses perform. We all grow together and I've been very fortunate to have more and more stories like that to share. It feels wonderful when you optimized a client's budget with digital and they come back to tell you their numbers were up or their budget improved. I always want to continue to strive for that feeling, because it never gets old. Developing new strategies and ideas is in my blood. I am fortunate enough to have a career where I wake up every morning looking forward to coming in to work.

How do you feel being a woman has affected you in the advertising industry?

DG: I feel like it's provided a unique insight into many things. It's interesting to be in meetings with men and hear them talk about their experiences and what they think works or will work for a client, and then to provide thoughts on the female side of things from a variant perspective. Women are for the most part natural communicators, and to be in an industry where communication is key - it really is an asset. We know how to talk to men and we understand how women think.

Who are your role models?

DG: My mother, who is a very strong leader herself. Angela Ahrendts, the only woman on Apple's executive team, is someone I greatly admire. She's constantly pushing boundaries and helping to usher in even more growth for a company that already seems unstoppable. Sheryl Sandberg is brilliant for telling women to step up, or lean in rather, and have their voices heard.

Brooklyn and the Butcher Soft Opening

You may know successful restauranteur Ian Hall from his beloved New Albany establishment, The Exchange. Well the team at Mediaura are happy to announce that Mr. Hall is working his culinary magic once again with the launch of Brooklyn and The Butcher, a delicious steakhouse certain to be another destination spot in his arsenal.
The opening of Brooklyn and The Butcher is another shining example of the revitalization taking place right now in New Albany, Indiana.

Craft Cocktails And An Appetizing Menu

The menu of Brooklyn and The Butcher will include fresh seafood, small plates and multiple cuts of beef, which Ian hall describes as “the heart and soul of the menu.” Mediaura worked closely with Hall and his team to develop the brand and imagery set to accompany this mouthwatering menu, and we've been anticipating the experience since day one. Featuring high-end cuts such as New York strip and bone-in ribeye as well as lower-priced flatiron steaks. Hall also plans to source some of his meats locally.
Brooklyn and The Butcher will have outdoor seating in a back patio, which will seat about 40 people during good weather, as well as a lounge area in the basement. The inside will seat 100 to 110, Hall said. With the attention to detail placed on his food, Mediaura worked extensively with Hall and his team to ensure that his branding - from website development, logo design, menu, and branding elements were executed with that same level of precision and vision. We were honored when the team at Brooklyn and The Butcher invited Mediaura to their soft open. Although the restaurant officially opens on Sunday, February 14th, it is now taking reservations. Trust us, this is not a location that you will want to sleep on, as  it is sure to become the go-to place for dinner and drinks for those craving the best our local food scene has to offer.

Take a sneak peak at some of their menu items here. Check out some of our pictures from last night's fun and delicious experience below!

Mediaura Can Help Your Brand Shine

Are you ready to make an impact? Mediaura’s expert and diverse advertising team knows how to create the best strategies to boost profits and grow business for our clients. Call us today at 812-590-9900 or contact us here to learn more about our full-service branding or any of the other services we provide.

Digital Signage and Healthcare

The Digital Signage Revolution in Healthcare

When used effectively, digital signage is an advertising medium which allows for the opportunity to maximize your potential while minimizing costs. Ideal for marketing, communications, and training, Digital Signage helps your message stand out above the crowd, while improving the consumer experience and potentially earning revenue. Digital Signage is not an entertainment medium (even though it can be used as one), but a communications method.
Digital Signage gives you the ability to inform, educate and entertain. The real value of digital signage is to be able to deliver the right message at the right time to the right audience. It lets you plan what content you want to show (unlike TV).

With Digital Signage You Can

• Inform your employees
• Inform your patients and visitors
• Generate extra revenue
• Decrease perceived wait time
• Save on costs
• Help reduce your environmental impact
• Reinforce your brand image
• Communicate health services or health plans

The Benefit of Digital Signage for Patients

From a fear of procedures and devices to the general unknown of outcomes, a hospital or clinic visit can be a nerve-wracking event.

Reducing Anxiety

Research has shown that providing education about a procedure to the patient before the patient undergoes a procedure can reduce the patient’s anxiety levels.

Patient Education

This gives the patient a lot of knowledge about the experience, and can help generate much stronger dialogue between the patient and the doctor. One facility, located in Connecticut, decided to implement Educational Digital Signage and the result was an 80% increase in referrals.

Informing Family And Friends

The family is exposed to the information, strengthening the bonds between the entire family and hospital, an ongoing effort to reduce anxiety. Reducing the Perception of Wait Times It is often assumed and stated that an audience in a waiting room is a “captive audience.” This is not true. The waiting room is full of people pre-disposed with thoughts of their loved ones being cared for. People in waiting rooms have questions, concerns, and a desire for information. When addressed with targeted and relevant digital signage, the content can reduce anxiety, boost the viewer’s knowledge base, and reduce the perceived waiting time.

Marketing of Medicine

Much like shopping online, many people now head to the Internet to learn more about medical conditions and procedures, especially before visiting the hospital. A Digital screen in a medical waiting room serves the patient / parent by providing information directly related to her top-of-mind presence, the reason they are there. It serves the practice by motivating the viewer to ask questions, report observations, and reduces perceived waiting time. It serves the advertiser by providing that viewer engagement resulting in recall, as well as being associated with the viewer’s doctor carrying her perceived recommendation.

The Benefit of Digital Signage for Staff

Patients come and go, though, and often the real beneficiary of a digital media network can be the staff. By their very nature, hospitals operate under a very high level of awareness and preparation. Digital signage is a medium of time and relevance, where information can be delivered instantly.

Admissions Process

It used to be that paperwork was the first order of business when checking in. From medical and safety standpoints, the documentation could contain extremely important information – whether a patient is allergic to any medications, for example. But once entered, it’s difficult to know who will see it and when. By using online resources coupled with the digital network, the staff now has access to this information upon arrival. Then staff at all levels can access it to quickly determine the best course of action for the patient.

Information and Alerts

Hospitals are living-breathing entities with schedules that change by the minute. When events have moved to different locations or times, or new events occur, the ability to share this information with everyone on-site in a timely and relevant fashion is critical. Imagine a scenario where a large-scale accident is sending dozens of patients to a single emergency room. With digital signage, messaging can be provided not only to the ER but also to all other floors and levels where patients may need immediate care.

Locate, Navigate, Medicate

Interactive, way-finding digital signage can show the patient the right way to where they are going.Doctors and staff are rarely grounded to one building or area, routinely working at various locations within the system. Almost like an airport terminal, digital signage can provide staff with updates on the locations of specialists and doctors at any given moment during the daily schedule.

Continuing Education

Every licensed physician in the U.S. must go through a certain amount of Continuing Medical Education, or CME, every year to maintain a license. Digital signage networks that have day-parting control or on-demand features can allow staff and physicians to watch videos on the same network during off-hours, reducing the need for another channel of programming.

The Benefit of Digital Signage for Facility

While much of the operation of a hospital system comes from a central location, that operation is affected by internal and external influences. A centralized digital signage network empowers the system to communicate with determined speed and accuracy, to keep everyone informed, and to provide a degree of efficiency in the management. The medical field is continually evolving with regulations, laws, forms, and procedures around the well being of patient. Every facet of health care is always under scrutiny and very often subject to change. Interactive content delivered by the administration can give the staff relevant and timely information as it pertains to the system as a whole.

Usage Manuals for Tools

Every day new technology enters the medical field, from surgical devices to health monitors to robots and tiny cameras that assist surgeons in the operating room. In the same way that digital signage can deliver videos about procedures, digital signage can deliver educational material about the hospital infrastructure. Further, because the videos are located on a central server, they can be accessed anywhere at any time – there is no need to haul around instruction manuals.

Philanthropy

Fundraising has become a major revenue stream for hospitals, especially for nonprofit hospitals and facilities that care for large numbers of under- or uninsured patients. In 2010, over $8.2 billion were donated to health care facilities. Screens provide greater visibility to the philanthropic community. Viewers can learn more about the donor, show where the donor’s money may be going, and offer greater recognition for the donor’s activities with the facility.

Advertising

A hospital can deliver a very targeted audience that may be very attractive to certain types of advertisers. Hospitals can use digital signage to promote surrounding businesses and partners that strengthen the relationship between them for the benefit of the patient. This establishes and grows the hospitals brand in the experiential marketing that many health care facilities are aiming to achieve.

Reduction of Errors

One of the human traits that digital networks can reduce is misunderstanding due to poor communication. Due to their closed-circuit nature, digital signage networks offer a level of control where individuals can monitor and filter every piece of content being pushed out over the network. Often, more eyes fall on content than just the doctor and the patient. This encourages viewers inside the system to be quality assurance specialists as well, ensuring that all content going out over the network is accurate.

Cost-Savings

A facility will spend thousands of dollars each time new marketing materials are printed, including costs for shipping and the time required for employees to sort through and hang traditional advertising. A digital signage solution reduces costs by eliminating printing costs and allowing content to be managed remotely.

Compare the Competition

Healthcare providers that are looking to add a solid-state digital signage solution or replace their vulnerable PC-based system should be aware that many digital signage players do not include software, which can add to your initial cost—sometimes substantially. Others may offer free software, but it isn't really free, just a limited time trial. Mediaura’s ProBuilder Digital Signage solution is hardware agnostic, extending your cost-savings even further during implementation.

Key Features of Mediaura's Software

• Patent-Pending drag-and-drop interface to customize your signs
• Integrated image library to manage your assets online
• Advanced enterprise ready multi-store and multi-sign management tools
• Full-featured scheduling tool with day-parting, recurring schedules, one-time future event planning, and more
• Historical archive showing proof of playback
• Our player software has offline caching capabilities, a custom rendering engine to reduce bandwidth, and polling to ensure your display never goes blank due to loss of internet connectivity
• API for integration with existing digital signage networks
• ...much more

Contact Mediaura

Contact Mediaura today to learn more about our custom software solutions. We are committed to offering turn-key solutions that maximize profits and reduce costs, so that your business of facility can retain its edge on the competition.