While many industries have shifted huge portions of their marketing budgets online physician practices and healthcare organizations still spend a small portion of their overall marketing budgets in digital spaces by comparison. That means that online campaigns and content need to be more in line with offline efforts.
With customers operating in omnichannel environments, we need to be sure that the transition between online and offline is as seamless as possible. If you mail reminder postcards via USPS, the content that shows up in a patient’s mailbox should mirror the style, tone, and branding of the page on your website where you direct them to schedule the appointment that you’re reminding them about.
Make sure online and offline activities fit together. Maybe even print the entire suite of patient-facing materials, site pages, and social media profiles out and lay them out across your desk. Do they feel like they’re coordinated?
Lastly, make sure you don’t just have matching materials but are utilizing marketing and communications tools that makes sense. Consider your audience.
If you’re a practice specializing in geriatrics and you’re serving a population that’s not as digitally-inclined as some others, you can still leverage things like text reminders, but be sure your texting program can be navigated by your patients. Simple text reminders of upcoming appointments are one thing, requiring people to text back with a special code or phrase to confirm that they’re coming is another.
Consider the level of comfort your patients will have navigating each tool you use. Maybe even ask which ones they want to opt into and out of. The goal is to make the comprehensive care experience consistent and to give them confidence in your relationship. Don’t overcomplicate it.
