Homecare Homebase x Sara Cook: Putting People First

Marketing in a sensitive industry like home healthcare can be a challenge, but for Sara Cook, Marketing Director of Brand Management and Content at Homecare Homebase (HCHB), the key is caring about what matters. Whether sitting side-by-side with doctors and nurses in her early days as a traveling implementation consultant or wrangling creatives in her current role, Sara lets empathy lead the way. In this episode, she shares how she boomeranged between creative and technical positions before striking the perfect balance, how she communicates with her team (sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words), and why she loves car commercials. Ultimately, Sara tells us, the best marketing message is about making someone’s day better — so listen up for a mood boost!

Key Takeaways: 

• Sara tells us how working as an implementation consultant taught her what users really care about (and that marketers don’t always get it right).
• We talk about the commercials that make us cry — and why those heartwarming ads work.
• Are you more left-brained or right-brained? Sara shares how she harnesses both creativity and organizational skills.
• We discuss how the pandemic shone a spotlight on home-based industries and generated lasting change.

Guest Bio: 

Sara is the Marketing Director of Brand Management and Content at Homecare Homebase (HCHB), a software leader for home-based care agencies. With past marketing and project management experience, Sara enjoys integrating a mix of creativity and analytical skill in this role. She has a degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from ACU and worked in marketing, graphic design, and photography before joining HCHB in 2009 as an implementation consultant. She later moved into project management on the implementation team where she could put her knowledge of the product and organization skills to work. When the opportunity arose to join the HCHB marketing team in 2018, Sara jumped at the chance to get back to her marketing roots — she started as a product marketing manager and was later promoted to her current director role.

Always looking for opportunities to broaden and share her knowledge, Sara participates in many programs with Smartsheet, including: Smartsheet Overachievers, Marketing Advisory Council, Early Adopters Program, and more.