Key takeaways in this post on physician referral campaigns:

  • Provide referring physicians with clear, accessible information about your services. Use a multi-channel approach (e.g., direct mail, email, digital ads) leading to a user-friendly landing page without gated content to ensure quick access to details.
  • While medical facts are important, also highlight compassionate care and how your health system supports patients. Physicians want confidence that their patients will receive both top-quality treatment and empathy
  • Equip physicians with marketing materials like brochures and posters to easily share with patients, helping them communicate your services without added effort.


Author: WG Content
Last updated: 04/15/23

A physician referral campaign is a key part of every health care system’s marketing plan. Referring physicians can help spread the word about your hospital’s services, treatment or care available to the community and connect patients with your organization.

Physician referral campaigns are also quickly becoming commonplace as competition increases across markets. In fact, 78% of physicians consider patient referrals fundamental to their practice. Improved access to care also means it’s easier for other health systems to offer similar services and treatments as you, so build referral relationships is more important than ever.

Make your physician marketing campaign stands out with four simple tips

1. Make it easy

It’s no secret that primary care doctors are busy. Make it easy for them to learn about your system’s services and providers. Physician referral campaigns should include an integrated, coordinated approach across several marketing channels that leads to one landing page.

This process of lead generation also allows you to build a relationship and educate your audience about your providers and services.

Consider sending a postcard, followed up by an email and then support it with a digital campaign that leads back to one clear landing page that’s easy to navigate to additional information.

Resist the temptation to put information behind a log-in. Gated content (content that’s only available by downloading a PDF or providing an email) can turn audience members away. Give physicians the information and details they need right at their fingertips.

2. Make an emotional and intellectual appeal

Your physician referral pieces will undoubtedly look and sound different than your consumer-facing pieces – as they should. You can include more medical terms and healthcare-language when connecting with fellow physicians. However, many healthcare marketers are quick to overlook the importance of an emotional appeal to referring physicians.

Physicians do want to hear about the latest advances in treatment, evidence-based research and success stories. They also want to hear how you will help and support patients.

In a crowded marketplace, a physician wants to feel good about the provider they send patients to. They want to ensure that their patients will receive the highest quality and compassionate care.

Physician marketing is the perfect opportunity to showcase your health system’s brand and the attributes it delivers to patients. It’s an important deciding factor for patients, and it’s important for physicians, too.

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3. Give them tools to connect with patients

Help make a busy physician’s day a little easier by preparing and sharing marketing materials about your patient services. Instead of relying on doctors to remember your key messages, create brochures, posters, postcards and other printed materials that physicians can easily share with their patients and families who may need your system’s services.

4. Build a physician referral campaign with on-goingn communication

A strong physician referral campaign is built on constant, two-way communication. Keep the door open and look behind a straight sales message. Consider:

  • Sending a regular email newsletter to share news and thought leadership
  • Creating a quarterly print magazine to highlight breakthrough research and care – here is a great example from AdventHealth
  • Inviting physicians from target groups to write a guest blog for your health system
  • Elevating social media accounts by sharing interesting, informative content
  • Sponsoring an event or conference physicians will attend
  • Inviting physicians to complete a survey to better understand their needs

Looking for help with a physician referral campaign?

Our team of experienced healthcare content experts can help you put together an integrated, engaging physician referral campaign. Learn more about WG Content’s custom content development approach and our services.

Editor’s note: This blog was updated on April 15, 2023. It was originally published in July, 2019.

Additional advice on physician referral campaigns:

To gauge the success of your referral campaign, track metrics such as referral volumes, website traffic from referral-specific landing pages and engagement with your email content (email open rates, click-through rates). You can also survey physicians to gather feedback on how helpful they found the materials. Additionally, consider setting up tracking mechanisms, like referral codes, to attribute new patient acquisitions directly to specific physicians or outreach efforts.

Updating referral materials should be done regularly to reflect any changes in services, new providers, or advancements in treatments. Ideally, review materials quarterly or at least biannually to ensure they remain relevant. Staying in touch with referring physicians also allows you to adjust messaging based on their evolving needs or feedback.

To stand out, emphasize unique attributes such as specialized treatments, cutting-edge technology or patient success stories that align with both clinical outcomes and emotional appeals. Offering exclusive physician education opportunities, such as webinars or workshops, can also build deeper connections and position your health system as a leader in your specialty areas.

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