Digital Patient Engagement & Hospital Marketing Strategies to Improve Patient Acquisition and Retention

The value of your hospital's marketing efforts, both traditionally and online, can yield significant return on your marketing dollars. As consumers become more tech savvy, their online shopping transcends into the search for healthcare. Digital marketing amplifies your brand, raises awareness about your events and efforts in the community, and educates your patient populations. In turn, a focus on a digital strategy can help meet your patient acquisition objectives and boost patient loyalty while driving revenue in and back through the hospital and affiliated physicians.

What are some of these different strategies and blended approaches to attract and maintain a loyal patient base? Ensure your organization is utilizing or leveraging these key objectives to drive measureable return on your marketing investment:

Digital strategies to acquire new patients
The key to acquiring new patients digitally is simply making sure your organization and its information is easily accessible for those who need it quickest: physicians, patients and staff. Harness the strengths of technology to ensure your brand is discoverable online and create powerful, user-friendly tools.

• Check your search engine optimization. [..]
  
• Add a toolbar of "quick links" [..]
  
• Include referral phoine numbers and other key info on all pages [..]
  
• Make a call to action [..]
  
• Leverage your website [..]
  
• Leverage your social channels [..]
  

These tactics provide significant value to your brand that can influence customers' purchasing decisions when shopping around for healthcare.

Patient retention through online engagement

For the engaged and technology-savvy patient, hospitals can leverage social media channels, apps or patient portals to keep existing patients in-network by promoting value-added services.

• Create segmented conversations [..]
  
• Take support groups beyond weekly meetings [..]
• Listen and respond [..]

As hospitals work even harder to elevate their presence in a highly competitive market, online marketing strategies can improve retention, open lines of communication and boost the experience for patients and healthcare providers.

Source: www.beckershospitalreview.com