How Healthcare Marketing is Getting Personal

For a long time, the healthcare industry was focused on one very large population – Baby Boomers. The focus of marketing was directed to them and presented in a way that made that group most comfortable. But today, healthcare marketers are focusing on two other large consumer groups – Gen X and Millennials.

These two groups are tech savvy and very open to retail health. So how you go about talking to them about healthcare is much different than the Boomers. When it comes to marketing to these groups, it’s all about personalized patient marketing.

Here are a few new rules for making healthcare marketing personal.

Focus on Digital for Personalized Patient Marketing

To reach today’s tech-savvy consumers, healthcare systems and providers need to develop strategies that speak directly to individuals. General messaging doesn’t work as well on groups who are well aware of the fact that they’ve been marketed to their entire lives.

Advancements in digital technology have ushered in an era of personalized marketing. This is perfect for healthcare consumers who want to feel like more than just another number. Gen Xers and Millennials are also known for wanting quick answers. This is all the more reason why personalized healthcare marketing, delivered through digital technology, is ideal.

Improve Patient Retention By Focusing on Personalized Patient Marketing

Patient retention is often overlooked during marketing. While it’s expected that you can’t keep every patient, the cost of losing them is often overlooked. One of the biggest reasons is financial. Too many healthcare marketers focus on getting new patients rather than keeping existing patients. Patient retention is much more cost effective and more profitable. In his classic study, Fredrick Reichheld shows that increasing customer retention rates by as little as five percent can boost profits by as much as 85%.

One method to improve patient retention is to focus on personalized patient marketing, based around healthcare consumerism. Strong patient relationships and referrals can help. Here are ways to keep patients by strengthening patient relationships – which, often lead to word of mouth referrals.

1. Create and employ patient journey map: Patient journey maps or healthcare process mapping, are designed for providers to better understand how patients interact with a hospital and healthcare system throughout their care journey. There are multiple benefits, including the ability to create personalized experiences for each patient by deeply understanding their needs and preferences, which helps foster patient loyalty.

2. Strengthen your digital marketing strategy: Like it or not, the Internet highly influences how consumers interact with their healthcare. Before phoning a physician, patients have often already conducted online research on health-related information. It’s important to tap into those looking for information by serving as a valuable online resource. Engaging with patients online through personalized healthcare marketing encourages them to continue to seek out your healthcare expertise.

3. Ramp up marketing efforts for patient portals: While patient portals used to be considered an afterthought to care, however, patients view them much differently. Data shows that portals add to customer satisfaction, which helps patient retention. In addition, portals also may offer clear financial benefits to healthcare providers. Advertising patient portals help encourage registrations and usage. The more patients positively engage with the portal, the more likely they are going to be to stay with a particular provider or healthcare system.

We Can Help Personalize Your Patient Marketing

At Nichols Brand Stories, we believe healthcare is personal, so healthcare marketing should be, too. Let us put our experience in personalized patient marketing to work for you. To get started, or simply to have a conversation about how to add a personal touch to your healthcare marketing, please reach out to me at MKlein@WeTellYourStory.com.