Effective patient engagement has become a crucial focus for healthcare organizations in recent years. With rising competition and consumerism in healthcare, hospitals and clinics need to prioritize marketing strategies that resonate with patients and drive engagement.
Engaged patients are more likely to have better health outcomes, lower readmission rates, and higher satisfaction with their healthcare providers. They are also more likely to recommend the provider to friends and family. Therefore, investing in smart marketing tactics to engage patients can benefit hospitals in multiple ways.
Why Hiring A Healthcare Marketing Agency Is Critical
Partnering with a specialized healthcare marketing agency can help hospitals create and execute data-driven engagement strategies. Healthcare marketing agencies have extensive experience working with providers to:
- Conduct market research to gain consumer insights
- Identify targeted patient personas and their motivations
- Map patient journeys to find engagement opportunities
- Develop multi-channel campaigns to connect with audiences
- Measure marketing ROI and optimize based on performance
This level of expertise and strategic focus is difficult for hospitals to replicate on their own. Agencies help streamline effective patient engagement efforts.
Patients today expect healthcare brands to provide an exceptional experience – agencies deliver on this promise. When considering who to partner with, seeking out top healthcare marketing agencies can ensure that you’re aligning with the best in the industry.
Strategies For Engaging Patients
Create A Patient-Centric Website
Having a website that focuses on patients is key for engaging them online. Many hospital websites are confusing and hard to navigate. Patients get frustrated trying to find doctors, pay bills, or schedule appointments. To improve the patient experience, healthcare organizations need to design their website around patient needs.
The first step is organizing the website so patients can easily find what they need.
- Have sections for key tasks like finding a doctor, paying a bill, or scheduling an appointment.
- Make these sections obvious on every page.
- Have a patient portal for access to medical records and messaging doctors.
- Optimize website content so it shows up when patients search online.
- Use simple language that is easy to read.
Focus On The Patient Experience
To engage patients, healthcare organizations need to focus on patient experiences at every touchpoint. This includes call centers, waiting rooms, doctor visits, hospital stays, and discharge.
Train all staff to provide excellent customer service and patient-centered communication and listen to patient feedback to identify problems in the experience. For example, long call center hold times or unclear hospital directions are common complaints. Fix these pain points to improve how patients perceive you:
- Make waiting rooms comfortable and welcoming.
- Have staff greet patients warmly.
- Explain care in a way patients understand.
Develop Targeted Content Strategies
Creating content that informs and engages patients is vital for marketing. Identify patient education needs across their journey with you. Develop content that addresses those needs in a patient-friendly way. Make sure patients can easily find the content through search and partnerships.
For instance:
- Write blog posts or social media content around patient concerns like preparing for surgery or recovering from illness.
- Use patient personas to guide the tone and topics.
- Promote the content so it shows up on Google when patients search related keywords.
- Share on your website, email newsletters, and social channels.
Build A Strong Reputation Online
Managing your reputation online is the key to engaging patients. Many patients check review sites like Yelp and Facebook before choosing a hospital. Make sure to respond quickly and empathetically to negative reviews; this shows you care. Also, ask happy patients to post positive reviews to showcase your strengths.
Promoting awards or achievements on your website and social media builds trust. And when you commit any mistakes, be transparent by admitting them; taking ownership improves your reputation.
Monitoring review sites and actively managing your reputation influence how patients perceive your healthcare organization.
Leverage Paid Advertising
Paid ads allow targeting specific patient groups locally. Run Google and Facebook ads focused on your city and use them to promote doctor open houses or webinars. You can also use them to promote discounts and free screenings.
Tailor ad messaging and calls-to-action to your campaign goals. For example, an ad for a heart health webinar could say, “Worried about heart disease? Join our free online event.” The call-to-action is to register for the webinar.
Engage On Social Media
Social media presents opportunities to engage patients. Build an online community by posting regularly on your hospital’s Facebook and Twitter accounts and sharing a mix of health tips and doctor spotlights on those pages. You can even share patient stories.
Respond quickly to comments and messages on your pages. Asking questions and running contests boost engagement. Make sure to use relevant hashtags so that the content is discoverable. Being actively involved on social media allows patients to engage with your hospital in a friendly, accessible way, which ultimately fosters brand loyalty and word-of-mouth.
Personalize Communication Across Channels
Today’s patients expect personalized interactions tailored to their needs and preferences. Make sure you collect patient data and leverage it to segment audiences and customize communication across channels.
For example, send targeted emails to announce a new specialist at your clinic or promote a health screening based on a patient’s age and risk factors. When patients receive relevant messages, they pay more attention. Personalized communication also nurtures the doctor-patient relationship.
Chatbots and AI can help you scale personalization. Use data insights to engage patients with customized website content, online ads, and text messages.
Foster Patient Communities and Discussions
Healthcare consumers often turn to peers for advice and emotional support regarding health issues. You can build engagement by facilitating online patient communities through social media groups, forums, and other platforms.
For instance, a Facebook group for new moms can provide a space for them to discuss parenting tips, post questions, and exchange encouragement. A forum for patients managing diabetes helps them discuss challenges and build a support network. This community engagement humanizes your brand and shows you care.
Conclusion
Implementing marketing strategies focused on education, reputation, customer experience, and relationship-building is key to engaging today’s healthcare consumers. While the tactics will vary based on your specific audiences and resources, putting patients first will improve how people perceive and interact with your organization.