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Author: WG Content
Last updated: 07/24/24
As a healthcare organization, building trust with patients helps maintain a positive reputation and attract new patients. One effective way to do this is by engaging your brand advocates — patients loyal to your organization and willing to spread positive word-of-mouth.
Engage your current patients
As humans, we’re often attracted to things that are “new and shiny.” As healthcare marketers, we might say the same. Our campaigns often seek to bring in new patients. But do you have an engagement strategy for when those new patients become familiar faces?
Existing patients have trusted you at least once with their care. But that doesn’t guarantee they will choose you next time. Life is full of ongoing healthcare decisions — finding a new primary care provider, picking a hospital for a procedure, seeking a specialist — and each choice matters.
Plus, if we want to look at the bottom line, it’s more financially sensible to focus on current “customers” with patient engagement. In fact, retaining patients is more profitable than trying to acquire new ones.
In the same way longtime friends can create more meaningful relationships than new acquaintances, your current patients can create significant brand value. Engage the patients you already have.
Know your goal: What does an engaged patient look like?
Engaged patients play an active role in managing their health. They often display the following behaviors:
- Asking questions
- Doing research
- Making decisions in partnership with their healthcare provider
An engaged patient doesn’t leave their health up to others. They take action to improve it.They’re also vocal about their healthcare experience. They may share information by word-of-mouth, leave reviews online or post on social media. Every patient has a circle of influence and multiple platforms at their fingertips.
What are the benefits of patient engagement?
Engaged patients tend to be healthier patients. Patients who participate in their healthcare have better outcomes and experiences.
As a result, the patient and their healthcare provider have lower costs. Patient engagement can also build your brand equity through brand advocacy.
When did you last recommend a useful product or service to a friend? Did you write a review online or share it on social media?
Your patients can do the same for their experiences with you. Patients are more likely to leave a favorable review or share their great experience with others if they feel cared for.
These reviews and referrals build up your brand and can create future patient volume. Because they occur organically and come from trusted social connections, these expressions of brand advocacy can significantly impact your business. People trust the opinions and experiences of people they know.
Watch our on-demand webinar to hear more on how to get to the heart of patient stories.
How to engage patients and build tailored content
Like your childhood friend, your current patients know a lot about you. Here’s how to make the most of your relationship in a mutually beneficial way that can grow over time.
Listen to patient feedback
Your patients are giving you a lot of feedback already — are you listening? Tap into existing feedback sources like patient experience surveys, social media, rating sites and provider reviews. You can also build short, targeted surveys to gather more data.
Don’t forget to ask your providers. What kinds of questions do patients ask them? What are the most common reasons for office visits? What do providers wish their patients knew more about?
Asking the care team what they hear can round out your feedback to create robust patient engagement marketing.
Engage in two-way conversations
Ignoring someone when they talk to you is just poor manners. Once you’re listening, respond thoughtfully.
This advice applies whether you’re getting complaints or rave reviews. You may even convert a dissatisfied patient into someone willing to give you another shot based on your conversation with them.
If you’re lucky enough to have some patients singing your praises as brand advocates, engage with them. Reply to their reviews, encourage comments and reshare social media posts.
Thank your patients for their opinions and support. When others see how you treat patients online, it may encourage them to step out and advocate for your brand.
Build tailored content
Have you ever had to buy a generic gift for someone you barely knew? It’s stressful and awkward.
But when you know someone well and talk to them regularly, the right gift jumps off the shelf. The same goes for content.
When you use patient feedback, your content is a personalized gift.
When you analyze patient feedback, ask: what questions do they have? What information are they looking for? What are their pain points and struggles?
You can also look at previous content that performed well, such as blogs with high readership or social media posts with high engagement. You can uncover great patient stories that build your brand through two-way conversations.
Sharing stories from your current patients makes your content relatable and genuine.
Take it to the next level
Think beyond content and get creative. Use
what you know about your patients to offer other meaningful experiences tailored to them. Consider special events, support groups, thank-you mailings and patient advisory boards as ways to continue engaging your brand advocates.
Are you ready to start your own patient engagement marketing?
If you devote a strategy to your existing patients, you’ll be in good company. According to Content Marketing Institute, 78% of the most successful content marketers focus on building loyalty among existing customers.
By creating content tailored to your current patients, you can enjoy the following benefits:
- Improve patients’ health and well-being
- Foster further engagement and loyalty
- Reduce costs for everyone
- Know you’re doing purposeful wor
Get help building campaigns that keep patients engaged
WG Content helps healthcare organizations build effective content for all types of patient audiences. Lean on our writers, editors and strategists to create campaigns to reach your marketing goals. Contact us or email hello@wgcontent.com.
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