People of Perficient: Meet Michael Adkins, Senior Content Strategist

After joining Perficient through acquisition in 2020, Michael Adkins, senior content strategist, has gained pride in his work, his team of collaborators, and his company. We recently connected to discuss the types of tasks he is responsible for in his role and what his typical day includes. We also discussed the many advantages of promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace. I loved hearing about how Michael’s team collaborates, and I’m sure you will as well.

Michael, thanks for joining me. Tell me about your role as a senior content strategist. What does a typical day look like? 

I serve as a senior content strategist within the healthcare business unit’s digital health strategy team. In this role, I help healthcare clients with a variety of tasks, including:

• Content strategy: Advising clients about what types of content they should or should not have within a particular area of their website or overall
• Content audits: Examining content clients have in place on their websites and advising them about potential improvements, as well as what they should do with their content
• Content creation: Conducting subject-matter expert (SME) interviews or working from provided materials to write content for clients, whether for their websites, blogs, email campaigns, social media or other channels
• Information architecture (IA): Determining where content best fits within a healthcare website’s organizational structure and/or determining how that website should be organized

Oftentimes, people think of content as the lowest priority for a healthcare organization’s website. While development, design, and other workstreams are essential for an organization’s digital strategy, the fact is that healthcare consumers come to a website to read (or skim) content and take action as a result. If they can’t find or understand the content that’s relevant to them, they’ll go somewhere else.

Our content strategy work helps clients attract, retain, and acquire users.

On a typical day, after dropping my son off at daycare, I spend a few morning hours catching up on a content audit. Here, I’ll note where a client can improve the service-line content pages’ tone, readability, conversion opportunities, and other key areas. I also finalize the agenda for a regular content strategy meeting I lead for a large client, making note of progress in key content initiatives and addressing content-related questions.

I meet with internal and external stakeholders for another project as part of a regular check-in to go over current status, blockers, and next steps. Between meetings, I either make more progress on content audits or work on content writing. Before I know it, my alarm’s going off to tell me it’s time to head out for daycare pickup.

LEARN MORE: Content Architecture Strategy & Consulting at Perficient 

What motivates you in your daily work? What do you enjoy about working at Perficient? 

Michael enjoying his favorite hobby, reading his Kindle

I like getting to put my content, knowledge, and experience to work to help consumers get the healthcare they need. I realize that consumers interact with my work at potentially the worst, most stressful points in their lives.

I hope I can make the experience a little easier as they search for answers for themselves or their loved ones.

I love working with my teammates. When I was in school, I always hated group projects. Often, my classmates would slack off, and I’d have to do their work and mine. At Perficient, we all do our part and support each other.

Perficient is great because it brings together smart people and lets them excel in their areas of expertise.

The people I work with are some of the smartest and most thoughtful I’ve ever known. I’m proud to work here.

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At Perficient, there’s no ego or institutionalization of bad procedures because “that’s the way it’s always been done.” We don’t blow up procedures just for the sake of change, but if there’s a different or better way to do something, we embrace it. We value the best idea, not the loudest voice behind a bad idea.

I’ve been at companies that held onto outdated, obsolete business models because they worked in the past or they were all that the leaders knew. Here, we have the tools and support we need to be organized, but we’re not bogged down by micromanagement in the process. (I also love that Perficient sponsored Minotaur for the most recent season of “BattleBots”!)

EXPLORE NOW: BattleBots, A Perfect Fusion of Science and Sport

What was your experience like coming to Perficient through an acquisition?

I joined Perficient as part of a company called MedTouch that Perficient acquired in January 2020. Originally, I was nervous about becoming part of a new company. But I quickly found that I would be doing the same thing I was before the acquisition — just for more clients and on a larger scale. I like that I’m able to bring my skills and experience to such a wide variety of clients and on such a wide range of projects.

What do diversity and inclusion mean to you, and why are they important to organizational culture?

Real diversity and inclusion aren’t boxes to check on a form. They shouldn’t be activities you do out of obligation. Diversity and inclusion should be key strategies for any organization that values an array of interdependent thought and experience.

The experiences that I’ve had in my life shape me and the contributions I make to my team and my clients. When we diversify our teams, we:

• Bring in others who have different life experiences
• Signal that we’re open to new ideas and ways of doing things
• Deepen the skills we bring to projects
• Increase the chances that we can compete for new projects because we’re more likely to have the skills and knowledge needed to deliver for those clients
• Better reflect the reality of our ever more diverse society

It just makes sense from every logical perspective. Why are diversity and inclusion important? In a company that values growth, success, and delivering on our promises to clients, why wouldn’t diversity and inclusion be important?

READ MORE: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) in Healthcare

Healthcare Leaders Turn to Us

Our healthcare practice is comprised of experts who understand the unique challenges facing the industry. The 10 largest health systems and 10 largest health insurers in the U.S. have counted on us to support their end-to-end digital success. Modern Healthcare has also recognized us as the fourth largest healthcare IT consulting firm.

We bring pragmatic, strategically-grounded know-how to our clients’ initiatives. And our work gets attention – not only by industry groups that recognize and award our work but also by top technology partners that know our teams will reliably deliver complex, game-changing implementations. Most importantly, our clients demonstrate their trust in us by partnering with us again and again. We are incredibly proud of our 90% repeat business rate because it represents the trust and collaborative culture that we work so hard to build every day within our teams and with every client.

With more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Perficient is a trusted, end-to-end, global digital consultancy.

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