Healthcare Marketing: Loyalty-Building Techniques and Basic Healthcare Marketing Content Ideas

Nov 13 / 2024

Patient loyalty is regarded as the ultimate priority for successful healthcare marketing. With the plethora of options available, all it takes is one bad experience for the patient to find another healthcare provider. Hence, institutions need to focus on customer loyalty while charting out their marketing strategies. We are a content marketing agency and SEO company in Chennai that has been helping with healthcare content marketing for leading healthcare providers.

Why Focus on Customer Loyalty?

In this era of free information, people have many options. In the healthcare industry, while the patients do have many choices, most choose the best hospitals for treatment. Hence, having a good reputation helps.

When the patients are loyal to a healthcare provider, they are also more understanding. People who are already acquainted with a brand are more likely to understand the unintentional mix-ups or errors when compared to new patients.

Patient loyalty and satisfaction also mean more customers. Your loyal patients would contribute towards word-of-mouth marketing for you and this in turn increases the patient volume.

Loyalty Building Techniques for Healthcare Marketing

Healthcare is a volatile field and it is hard to retain patient volume. In case of medical emergencies, people tend to find the nearest hospital rather than take the time to find the best one. But when they do have a choice, most patients choose an institution that they trust.

Some common causes that make people switch healthcare providers are insurance acceptance, quality of care provided, location of the hospital, and more. It helps to keep these in mind while creating the marketing strategy for your brand. Here are some loyalty-building techniques that might help maintain your patient volume.

Quality Creates Impression

Most patients who stick with a healthcare provider do so because of the quality of service offered. Create a clear vision of the ideal patient experience for your institution. Educate your staff on these goals and make sure that they are in line with the plan.

When a patient experiences the best treatment during their hardest times, loyalty comes naturally. It is important to deliver the same quality of service every time the patient visits the hospital. Consistency pays since 65% of people have switched brands over a single customer service mishap.

Use Simple Language with Patients

Almost every one of us tends to search online about a symptom or disease we think that we have. While there is a lot of healthcare content on the web, most of it is hard to understand.

When a patient visits or calls the hospital, there is this intrinsic anxiety. Instead of using complex medical terms, use simple and understandable words to explain the condition to the patient. The patient should get to know all that they want to know and understand it clearly.

Another important tip is to let the patient talk first and later explain your point. This will make the patient feel heard and he/she will be satisfied with the service.

Having a social media page that you use to regularly interact with your patients helps your brand remain in their minds.

Tweak Your Customer Service

When it comes to healthcare, people want fast answers and service. A person who suspects that he has a medical condition would not want to wait long hours in the waiting room before an appointment.

Get the help of technology for increased patient satisfaction. You can remind a patient of his appointment or notify him of a delay using a phone call or text. Patients are more appreciative of the service when they believe that the healthcare provider also values their time.

Simplify and streamline the appointment and payment processes. Confusing and delayed billing procedures can make the patient lose confidence in your service easily.

Use Personalization

Brands that have a human touch to their personality perform better. This is truer with the healthcare industry since it deals with the lives and health of people.

Patients with ailments come with physical and emotional pain. They want the healthcare institutions to understand it rather than deal with it like a business transaction.

Encourage your staff to communicate with the patients. Patience and kindness are the factors that could make your brand trustworthy.

Create content for marketing using your doctors and staff since expert advice generates trust among the patients.

Hospitals providing psychiatric care for the family members of the patients touch on the human aspect. This in turn makes the patients believe in the brand and ensures that they return to it again in times of need.

Be Transparent

When a patient feels like there is information being withheld from him/her, the trust starts to break. With time, the distrust grows and the patient starts to feel neglected.

It is important to convey the information without withholding any part of it. Also, be honest about the services you provide and the facilities that you have in your institution.

Also Read: What are the 9 basic rules Google follows for Featured Snippets?

What Is Healthcare Content Marketing and How Will It Be Useful in Gaining Customer Loyalty?

There are about 70,000 health-related searches made on the web every minute. EVERY MINUTE. When we experience any worrisome symptoms, our first instinct is to ask Google for consultation. With this kind of demand, accurate medical information is needed on the web.

Healthcare marketing involves the medical professional or medical institution providing industry-related content on their website. The aim of this medical content usually is to educate the patients seeking the information. But when the content posted is of good quality, then the brand becomes more visible and the patient volume increases.

Only 28% of healthcare marketing executives have a documented healthcare marketing strategy. When you join this short list of healthcare institutions with a strong marketing strategy, the chance of your brand doing well increases.

Basic Healthcare Marketing Content Ideas for Increasing Patient Volume

There are different types of content that you can adopt for your strategy. Healthcare content marketing can be done for different groups of people. For example, the content might be created to reach patients, doctors, healthcare insurance companies, and more. Depending on whom you want to focus on with your strategy, you can create content that will reach the targeted group of people.

Here are some of the popular types of content that are effective for increasing the patient volume for your brand or hospital.

1. Healthcare News

There are many advancements in the healthcare field but most people aren’t aware of it or they simply do not understand it. There are still people who believe that cancer is an incurable disease!

You can create a column where you update the advancements and innovations in the healthcare industry. Use simple and accurate language to make the patient understand the content.

When easily understandable information comes from a trusted source, the patient finds it more useful.

2. Blog Posts

Blogs are one of the most popular types of healthcare content. Most of the content types in this list can be classified as blog posts of some form.

Blogs are the foundation of your marketing strategy since they are very popular with patients.

Create blogs about the most searched topics and make sure that the information you provide is accurate and easy to understand. You don’t have to go into details like the research studies. Instead, keep it short and simple.

Think from the patient’s perspective and answer the questions they might have. You can get ideas for blogs from your hospital staff since they would know the questions that their patients repeatedly ask. Hire an experienced medical content writer and also bring in your staff to double-check the accuracy.

3. Seasonal Tips

We know that the rainy season brings with it diseases but a gentle reminder is always appreciated. A post or article about the common cases of flu that attack during the season along with tips to be safe would garner more views than a random post about coronary artery disease.

Think about the questions that arise during a particular season and provide seasonal tips. It might be about seasonal allergies, back-to-school questions, or holiday safety tips – make sure that you give information that is important at that time.

4. Infographics

Infographics seem to be a hit among people in recent times. We all want to get as much information as possible in a limited time and we also want it to be entertaining. Infographics are the total package of all we want.

Images with easy-to-understand facts have a better reach since the time needed to grasp the information is much less. Also, infographics are easier to share on social media and websites.

Infographics might take some extra time and effort since content, design, and research are all needed for a good infographic. But the ROI will be worth the effort.

5. Videos

Healthcare content sometimes can get too technical and videos make understanding the topic easier.

You can include doctors in these videos since content coming from a professional in the field increases the trust factor.

Keep the explanation simple and include images when it is necessary. Healthcare videos are another type of content that seems to have a greater reach among the patient groups.

6. Social Media

Social media is a powerful tool for healthcare marketing when you learn to use it right. You can post useful information and also create engaging events to make the patients notice your brand.

For example, you can create quizzes or challenges and encourage your followers to share them on the platform. You can also share some healthy recipes since healthy eating has become a common focus for most people, especially after the pandemic.

Also Read: The Importance of Customer Engagement in Social Media Management

7. Patient Stories

Nothing beats word-of-mouth marketing and you can amplify its effectiveness with the help of technology. Bring in your patients to talk about their journey with your brand.

Testimonials and happy reviews create a sense of trust and convince other patients to be associated with your brand. You should get the consent of your patients to share their stories and the better choice is to try getting their testimonials on video which you can share.

A well-researched and well-written content can help your brand achieve the tag of a trusted source which in turn can increase the number of patients. But make sure not to sell your brand with the healthcare content you create.

47% of people are concerned that the brand providing the information is trying to sell them something rather than providing accurate facts. The results of healthcare content marketing might be slow but the trust that you create is the foundation of a lasting relationship with your brand.

LBN Tech Solutions

Healthcare content marketing is a growing field with many hospitals just discovering its magic. If you are still handing out brochures to your patients with the hope of them reading them someday, then you need to level up. Healthcare content marketing has many purposes and depending on your needs, you can modify your strategy. You can hire a medical content writer or a digital healthcare marketing agency (aka us) which would help you navigate the trend. We are a digital healthcare marketing agency and we can help your brand achieve more visibility. We have been associated with some of the top names in the healthcare industry. Let us take care of the digital part of this loyalty-building for you. Check out our portfolio here before giving us a call.

Here are the links to the blog corners of our healthcare clients.

https://kauveryhospital.com/blog/

https://www.nmcpondy.com/blogs.php