It’s no secret that consumer expectations for digital experiences are at an all-time high, especially in the healthcare space.  

One consumer survey found that 50% of healthcare consumers said a poor digital experience from a healthcare provider would ruin their entire experience with that provider. Patients and prospects look for seamless, responsive, impactful experiences across multiple channels, and if your organization can’t provide that, they’ll likely move on to a competitor. 

However, as the demand for robust digital experiences grows, so does the need for a solution that goes beyond a traditional content management system. For larger healthcare organizations or those implementing marketing strategies across multiple channels, a digital experience platform (DXP) is a better fit.  

A DXP offers healthcare organizations a suite of integrated tools to manage and optimize the patient journey and provides a level of sophistication for healthcare marketers that most CMS platforms can’t match. 

If you’re new to the world of healthcare DXPs and wondering if one would be the right fit for your organization, here are just a few of the benefits a DXP like Optimizely can provide your team:

1. Seamless content management

A fully-featured healthcare DXP should offer an integrated content management system to streamline website content creation, management, and distribution. Unlike a standalone CMS, however, a DXP can publish content across all channels and include features like personalization and artificial intelligence. 

By making content management this easy, a DXP allows your team to take care of updates on the go — without waiting for IT or an outside agency — saving you valuable time to focus on other marketing efforts. 

2. Personalization possibilities

Not on board the personalization train yet? You should be!  

Personalization in healthcare gives healthcare marketers the power to provide digital experiences tailored to patients’ unique needs, and a healthcare DXP can drive that process by leveraging data from the organization’s customer relationship management (CRM) platform.  

By offering meaningful, relevant, personalized experiences, you can connect with prospective patients and show them that their care journey matters to you from their first digital interaction with your organization. 

3. Simplified digital asset management

How much time does your team spend tracking down your organization’s most recent logo or other branded content? 

A standout healthcare DXP should offer digital asset management that helps your team manage, organize, and reuse content like videos, images, documents, and branded graphics. This ensures brand governance and management and makes it easy for people across your organization to find and use the content that puts your brand front and center. 

4. Easy optimization

Your website isn’t set in stone — experimentation is crucial for optimizing digital experiences and providing precisely what patients want. 

A healthcare DXP allows you to use A/B testing to see which experiences patients prefer and quickly hone in on the ones that will help lead to more conversions for your organization. When your website updates are backed by real engagement data, you’ll waste less money and time on ineffective tactics and get more value from making confident decisions. 

5. Engaging, converting content

When we say a DXP unites all of your digital marketing efforts into one place, we mean it! With the right DXP, you can plan, create, collaborate, and launch content across any channel, as well as track analytics on how that content is performing. 

6. The ability to scale

If your organization is growing, a DXP is the solution for you. Between multi-channel publishing and the ability to create custom templates, launch a landing page for a new location and personalize campaign content for patients in a certain geographic area, a DXP is key to keeping up with the demands of a growing health system. 

7. Keep everyone involved

At large healthcare organizations, collaboration within and beyond the marketing team is a fact of life. Make that process go a little smoother with a DXP that includes collaboration features like comments, markups, and the ability to instantly share new content with departments across your organization. 

The right healthcare DXP

While a robust healthcare DXP should provide all of the benefits listed above, only one comes backed by Geonetric’s 25 years of healthcare marketing experience: Optimizely.  

With Optimizely, your entire marketing department can get the tools they need to create, streamline, and optimize healthcare-specific digital experiences that win over prospective patients and build loyalty with existing ones.  

Want to learn more about the benefits a DXP can deliver to your organization compared to a traditional CMS? Check out this blog post to learn more about the difference between the two, and which one is the right solution for your team. 

If you’re ready to see firsthand how a DXP can help your organization, contact our team today! 

 If your organization has increasing patient conversions, growing a specific service line, or drumming up business for a new location on its 2025 to-do list, healthcare search engine marketing is just the way to do it. 

Search engine marketing (SEM) is the strategy of utilizing paid advertisements on search engine results pages to increase awareness and drive users to your website. Healthcare marketers use paid ads to capture potential patients’ attention at crucial moments in their online care journey and guide them toward a specific service line or location. 

Over the past year, Geonetric has helped clients across the country meet their healthcare search engine marketing goals and win some awards while doing so. If you’re looking for SEM inspiration for your organization, check out these 2024 award winners! 

University Health

Geonetric has worked with San Antonio, TX-based University Health on its healthcare search engine marketing efforts since 2021. One specific multi-year campaign was designed to promote the health system’s primary care services and increase online appointment scheduling while staying on budget and decreasing cost per conversion. 

The multi-year format of this campaign allows the Geonetric team to continuously experiment with campaign assets to drive the best results. Those assets include keyword research, search engine-optimized landing page copy, the landing page design, ad copy, and more. 

As a result of this experimentation, University Health saw its highest number of online appointment requests to date, as well as year-over-year results including: 

• A 26.3% increase in overall conversions 

• A 19.5% decrease in cost per conversion rate 

• A 30% increase in conversion rate 

These impressive results earned University Health a Platinum MarCom Award for SEM Campaign, as well as a Gold Award for Best Search Engine Marketing Campaign in the eHealthcare Leadership Awards. 

ProHealth Care 

Waukesha, WI-based health system ProHealth Care has partnered with Geonetric to provide SEM and paid advertising services since 2020, including an ongoing campaign to increase site traffic to priority service lines and boost online appointment scheduling while decreasing the cost per conversion. 

This campaign was designed to drive organic traffic and online appointment scheduling, effectively track conversions, and decrease conversion costs to maximize the organization’s digital ad spend.  

To connect with the right audience at the right time, Geonetric created ads that target users in southeastern Wisconsin, where ProHealth has more than 80 locations. The team also optimized the ads for relevant keywords and continuously monitored performance to pinpoint opportunities where paid ads can enhance organic traffic without undermining SEO success.  

Since this healthcare search engine marketing partnership began, ProHealth has earned more than 4.3 million impressions, 383,900 clicks, 84,900 conversions, and a 22.28% conversion rate. 

For those results, ProHealth earned a Gold MarCom Award for SEM Campaign. 

Hartford HealthCare

Hartford, CT-based Hartford HealthCare has worked with Geonetric for more than five years to make its healthcare search engine marketing efforts more cost-effective while breaking down the system’s siloed approach to harmonize digital advertising across organic search, paid ads, and other channels. 

To optimize Hartford HealthCare’s ad spending, Geonetric uses weighted conversions, which allow Google to prioritize certain conversions based on their strategic value. By informing Google which conversions carry more significance for this ad strategy, the Geonetric team can optimize for the most valuable user actions and lower the cost per conversion. 

These campaigns are also continuously improved to respond to healthcare trends and consumer needs to help build brand awareness, reach patients at critical points in their care journey, and encourage consumers to make informed healthcare decisions. 

Since their Geonetric partnership began in 2018, SEM and pay-per-click efforts have earned Hartford HealthCare more than 255 million impressions, 1 million clicks, 111,500 conversions, and a 10.16% conversion rate. These incredible, ongoing results earned Hartford HealthCare a 2024 MarCom Award Honorable Mention for SEM Campaign. 

Need more inspiration? 

A great healthcare search engine marketing campaign isn’t worth much without an outstanding website to send users to. Check out these 2024 award-winning Geonetric client websites to inspire your next refresh, redesign, or intranet project! 

To learn more about search engine marketing, check out our Digital Advertising service page and request a free consult from our team today! Your organization could start seeing incredible results like these in the coming years and even pick up a few awards along the way.  

Have more questions about SEM, digital advertising, or website development? Let our team know — we’re ready to help take your digital healthcare marketing to the next level! 

Healthcare marketers’ ability to connect with prospective patients is what sets successful organizations apart from struggling ones. Without a strategy for patient acquisition and outreach, the people searching for care in your area may choose your competitor over your organization. 

That’s why it’s essential to have a plan with tactics to foster new relationships and turn your community members into loyal patients. 

There’s no better time than the start of a new year to reevaluate your marketing strategy. If your organization is looking to connect with new patients in 2025, try these strategies: 

Tap into the power of personalization

Patients look for care tailored to their unique needs, and your paid ads should reflect that. Leverage personalization and optimization to create highly targeted ads based on demographics, location, and search behavior.  

For example, personalize the art in an orthopedic ad to depict someone in the same age group as the person searching for care. You can also personalize other aspects of your website to make them more useful for people in your area. For example, put local urgent care clinic information front and center on your homepage after 5 p.m. 

Personalization not only improves click-through rates but also builds trust with potential patients by demonstrating that you understand their needs. 

Pay attention to website analytics

Your website’s analytics tell the story of every prospective patient who visits. How long did they stay on your site? What pages did they visit? Did they complete an action or leave before scheduling an appointment? 

Use these insights to optimize content, improve page load times, and identify areas of friction in the patient journey. For example, if analytics show high exit rates on your appointment scheduling page, it’s time to reassess the process for usability. 

By regularly reviewing your analytics, you can sense how website visitors are using your website and whether it’s a helpful resource or a frustrating experience that sends them to one of your competitors. Speaking of which… 

Make sure your site is easy to navigate

If users can’t find what they’re looking for on your website quickly and easily, they’ll look elsewhere for care.   

Ensure your site has an easy-to-understand navigation menu, is mobile-friendly, and has clear calls-to-action like “Schedule an Appointment” or “Find a Provider” to guide patients on their care journey. 

Navigation should feel intuitive, guiding users seamlessly to the information they need. Conduct user testing to identify pain points and make adjustments accordingly. Remember, a well-designed website reflects the quality and accessibility of the care you provide. 

Provide streamlined appointment scheduling

Prospective patients expect convenience from your organization. If scheduling an appointment takes too many steps, they’ll likely go elsewhere for care. 

Integrate online scheduling tools that allow patients to easily book, reschedule, or cancel appointments. Offering appointment reminders via text or email and highlighting telehealth options can further simplify the process. The easier it is for patients to take the next step, the more likely they are to choose your organization. 

Build a robust content hub 

A healthcare content hub is a fantastic way to introduce your organization and its experts to prospective patients and help answer questions they may have on their care journeys.  

You can use your content hub to share health-related news, helpful healthcare information, patient stories, and other posts related to the care you provide. You can also use your content hub as a way for your care team to get involved and promote their expertise by authoring posts themselves or helping with the approval process. 

A robust, consumer-focused content hub is a way to highlight that prospective patients will be in good hands with your organization and that your providers are ready to help them take the next step on their care journey.  

Connect with your community

Healthcare is deeply personal, and community connections can make your organization stand out. Host health fairs or classes, sponsor local events, or partner with schools and community centers to build awareness of your services.  

You can also engage with your audience on social media by sharing patient success stories, celebrating milestones, and addressing community health concerns. Authentic engagement fosters trust and positions your organization as a cornerstone of the community and truly drives patient acquisition.

Ready to work on your 2025 patient acquisition goals?

Attracting new patients in 2025 requires a mix of advanced digital marketing techniques and old-fashioned relationship building. Ensuring your website and marketing tactics are a helpful, seamless stepping stone in a prospective patient’s care journey will help position your organization as a leader in your community and improve patient acquisition in the new year and beyond. 

Want to learn more? Check out this Geonetric blog post that provides even more strategies for winning over new patients. 

If you’re ready to take the next step in your patient-centered digital marketing journey, let our team know! We’re ready to help you implement strategies that will make your 2025 acquisition goals a reality. 

The new year will be here before we know it — are you (and your marketing strategy) ready?

If you could use a few pointers to help reach your 2025 goals, the Geonetric team is here to help! We put together several resources over the course of 2024 to help you tackle rising digital healthcare marketing trends and use them to advance your marketing efforts.

Download your free copies of these resources today, and get ready for a successful 2025!

• eBook: DXP — Empowering Compelling Patient Experiences 

• eBook: The Future of Findability — Search in the Age of AI 

• Webinar: Beyond the Horizon — Digital Healthcare Marketing Trends Shaping the Future 

• eBook: Your CMS Isn’t Working for You — Here’s Why 

Have questions about any of the topics covered in these resources? Let our team know — we’re ready to put our 25 years of digital marketing expertise to work for your organization!

In healthcare, we typically focus on the moments that drive a prospect to become a patient of your organization. These moments include patients finding your organization in search engine results, clicking on a paid ad, or scrolling through your site to learn more about your treatment options for a specific condition. 

However, one moment that often gets overlooked is when a prospective or even current patient visits the blog page of your website.  

What do they see when they arrive? Is the information on your blog helpful or generic? Is the content patient-focused, or simply a way for your team to blast out press releases that don’t have much — if anything — to do with patients’ concerns? 

If your blog has gone stagnant or turned into a lackluster page where press releases go to die, it’s time to consider a revamp. Even better, it’s time to consider launching a healthcare content hub for your organization. 

What is a healthcare content hub?

A content hub is a term used to describe an area of a website where organizations publish quality content that’s useful to their target audience. These hubs often have an editorial look, feel, and tone, creating an engaging, branded experience that goes beyond your basic blog page. 

In healthcare, content hubs are used to share vital health information, patient stories, and news-related posts that relate to the services they provide.  

If you have a healthcare content hub that needs some TLC or are just getting started on your healthcare content marketing journey, here are a few tips from our team to get you started. 

Keep it timely 

Not all of the information you share through your healthcare content hub has to tie in with current events or seasonal happenings. By adding in timely content, you can capture your audience’s attention and make your content hub a go-to place for the latest in health news. 

Timely topics could be tips for allergy relief during the spring months, healthier recipes to try out during the holidays, or suggestions from your care teams about health topics in the headlines.  

Keep it consumable

If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that consumers’ attention spans are short. This is especially true as Gen Z patients start making their own healthcare decisions, and more and more patients consume healthcare content from their phones. 

Aim to keep your content on the shorter side, with a layout that utilizes bulleted lists, headers, and bold text to make it skimmable. You may also consider creating video content, especially short-form videos, as they’re a fantastic way to share critical information while holding viewers’ attention. 

Keep it credible

Your healthcare content hub is a place to let your organization’s expertise shine!  

This means bringing in providers as subject matter experts to inform the stories you cover, provide quotes, and even write content themselves if they have time. If your organization is working on a physician marketing strategy, having providers serve as content hub authors is another great way to provide them with promotion and exposure. 

Keep it audience-focused

No matter what your content hub looks like, your content strategy needs to be centered around the people who will be visiting it: your audience of patients and prospective patients.  

Think like a patient when brainstorming story topics and consider articles they might find helpful, like patient success stories, “get to know a provider” profiles, and health information they can use in their everyday lives. By weaving in stories of the people your organization employs and has helped in addition to health content, you can add a component of social proof and trust-building to your hub. 

Not sure about the types of helpful stories patients want to read on your healthcare content hub? You can also employ a poll or survey within the site where users can provide their thoughts and ideas on what they’d like to see next! 

Keep it actionable

Every piece of content should include the next steps a reader can take. Examples of these calls to action can include: 

• A link to your appointment scheduling platform at the end of a provider profile 

• Links to your relevant service line pages in an article about a condition or treatment 

• A call to share their experience at the end of a patient success story 

• Links to previous articles on a similar topic in a health-related news story 

Whatever you do, make sure the posts on your content hub aren’t the end of the line for your readers. Instead, they should open the door to more helpful, engaging content. 

Looking for healthcare content hub inspiration? 

If you’re due for a new or revamped healthcare content hub and aren’t sure where to start, check out these case studies to see how we helped organizations like Cone Health in North Carolina and Silver Cross Hospital in Illinois transform their content strategies and get results (like a 56% increase in social media traffic!). You can also find inspiration in these content marketing hubs, which our team finds particularly impressive. 

When you’re ready to get started with your own healthcare content hub, Geonetric is ready to help! Reach out to our team to learn more about the development process and how we can create a powerful content hub that accomplishes your goals. 

In need of some inspiration for your next website redesign, intranet project, or microsite? Check out the Geonetric healthcare websites honored with awards for their cutting-edge visuals, user-friendly features, and comprehensive content in 2024.  

This year, Geonetric clients won big in boh the MarCom Awards, which honors excellence in marketing and communications, and the eHealthcare Leadership Awards, which recognize achievements in healthcare websites and digital initiatives. 

If a website redesign or project is on the horizon for your team in 2025, consider these examples for healthcare websites and digital experiences that raise the bar! 

FirstHealth of the Carolinas – Website Redesign

Pinehurst, NC-based FirstHealth of the Carolinas worked with Geonetric in 2023 to redesign its website in a way that showcased its visual branding, simplified the site structure, accommodated the more than 40% of visitors who came to the site using a smartphone and helped it stand out from its competition.  

The result was a user-friendly, responsive website that made navigating and searching the site a breeze while highlighting FirstHealth’s commitment to whole-person care through imagery and strategic messaging.  

In the first year since its launch, the FirstHealth site racked up more than 402,000 engaged sessions, 582,000 mobile users, and 4.3 million page views. 

The 140-location, 6,100-employee health system was honored for its redesign with a Platinum MarCom Award in the Mobile Website category, a Gold MarCom Award in the Website category, an honorable mention MarCom Award for its provider directory, and a Gold eHealthcare Leadership Award for Best Overall Internet Site. 

Adventist HealthCare – Cancer Center Microsite

Adventist HealthCare, a 63-location, 6,200-employee health system based in Gaithersburg, MD, was experiencing rapid growth of its cancer service line by establishing new partnerships and treatment centers.  

Adventist reached out to Geonetric to create a dedicated microsite that would tell the story of the system’s comprehensive cancer services, grow with the organization, and satisfy all stakeholders. 

The resulting microsite guides users on their care journey with location profiles, lists of the cancers Adventist treats, classes and events, provider profiles, and resources for survivors. All of these features are set against a calming color palette and simplified navigation so visitors know exactly where to go for the information they need. 

Adventist’s cancer center microsite was honored with a Gold MarCom award in the Microsite category. 

Benefis – Internet & Intranet Redesign

The time had come for Great Falls, MT-based Benefis Healthcare System to update not only its website design but the platform it used to manage it. Its current website had become technically and creatively outdated, which didn’t align with the health system’s expanding presence across the state. 

Benefis worked with Geonetric to launch a revamped site that had a modern look and user experience, new EPIC/MyChart functionality that replaced an old patient portal, and messaging that clearly showed which communities the organization serves. 

The new Benefis.org features an intuitive user interface, simplified navigation and search, mobile responsiveness, and scalable content like Location profiles that can grow along with the organization. In the first six months after its launch in February 2024, the website brought in a 200% increase in average click-through rate, a 253% increase in organic traffic to Locations, and a 25.3% increase in average Google ranking. 

Around the same time, Benefis wanted to replatform its old BenefisConnect employee intranet to a solution that could increase engagement and allow its team to update the site without assistance from the IT department. 

The new BenefisConnect also launched in February 2024, and saw a 42% increase in average engagement time, a 63% increase in user engagement events, and an 18% increase in page views. 

For their website work with Geonetric, Benefis earned MarCom Award honorable mentions for Intranet and Website Redesign, as well as Gold eHealthcare Leadership Awards for Best Overall Internet Site and Best Mobile Website, and a Silver eHealthcare Leadership Award for Best Digital Internal Communications. 

VHC Health – Careers Microsite

Like many healthcare organizations in the post-pandemic era, Arlington, VA-based VHC Health needed a boost for its employee recruitment efforts. VHC worked alongside Geonetric to create a new home base for job seekers, as well as the recruitment team’s SEO, SEM, and paid advertising efforts. 

The new VHC Health careers microsite showcases bold branding, a modern design, images of real employees, and an information architecture that seamlessly guides job candidates to the information they’re looking for. On the back end, comprehensive keyword research, on-page optimization, and Schema code help improve VHC’s findability for candidates searching for healthcare jobs online. 

The content on the microsite offers job seekers information about current openings, employee perks and benefits, workplace culture, individual employee experiences, professional growth opportunities, and the application and hiring process. All of these elements work in tandem to show why VHC is a great place to work for anyone seeking employment in the Arlington area. 

VHC’s careers microsite earned a MarCom Awards honorable mention, as well as a Silver eHealthcare Leadership Award for Best Landing Page or Microsite. 

Ready to get started on your own award-winning healthcare websites?

Whether you’re looking to launch a microsite, revamp your employee intranet, or undergo a complete redesign and replatform, Geonetric is ready when you are. Our team of designers, developers, content pros, and digital marketing specialists have more than 25 years of experience creating healthcare websites that take the patient experience to the next level. 

Learn more about our healthcare website design services here, then reach out to our team when you’re ready to get started on your own award-worthy digital experiences! 

Believe it or not, we’re just a few weeks from the start of 2025. And while you undoubtedly have plenty of projects on your plate for the new year, it’s time to think about executing new tactics to increase conversions, build patient loyalty, and grow your brand. 

These healthcare marketing tactics are especially vital as consumer preferences and habits shift toward digital platforms. Today’s patients expect personalized web experiences, convenient online appointment scheduling, and comprehensive content that answers their questions. 

Your organization can get ahead of the curve by prioritizing one (or more!) of these tactics in the coming year:

1. Personalization

Your patients are looking for tailored digital experiences that speak directly to their needs and challenges. By investing in personalization, healthcare organizations can create more relevant and engaging digital ads, landing pages, and patient portals to help build patient connections and improve trust. 

One way you can ease into personalization is by creating content that aligns with the service lines potential patients are researching and where they’re coming from when they arrive at your site.  

For example, say you want to highlight your orthopedic care department. You could create digital ads focused on younger patients, with imagery that depicts young adults playing sports and a specific landing page that talks about sports medicine and other ailments younger patients might face. As part of that same campaign, you could create a series of emails and custom landing pages that target older patients, and the reasons why they may seek out orthopedic care. 

Personalization doesn’t have to be overwhelming or feel invasive — giving patients a tailored experience that offers the answers they’re looking for is an effective first step. Learn more about personalization with these FAQs!

2. Digital Advertising

Haven’t been investing much in your digital advertising program? Now is a great time to start!  

Paid ads help capture potential patients’ attention at critical moments in their care journeys when researching options on search engines or social media. By pairing effective ad content, engaging images, and helpful landing pages, you can drive new patients to your site and show them why your organization is the best choice for the care they need. 

You can also maximize the impact of your ads by tracking their performance and A/B testing different ad copy or images to see which messages resonate the most with your audience.

3. Findability

Findability is one of the healthcare marketing tactics we talked a lot about in 2024 — and that’s definitely not going to change in 2025 as artificial intelligence (AI) continues to gain prominence. 

Plan a strategy for the coming year to stay findable and visible to prospective patients regardless of whether they find you through a traditional web search, Google’s AI overviews, an AI answer engine like Perplexity, or another method of search. 

The key here is to consider everywhere your organization is visible online — your primary site, subsites, business listings quality, social media engagement, and paid advertising — as an opportunity to guide a user to the information they’re looking for, even if that user is an AI algorithm.  

You can start boosting your findability in 2025 by making sure all of the content on your web pages is easily scannable and follows a standardized structure, ensuring your location pages and provider profiles are up-to-date, and utilizing Schema structured data to serve up the most essential information to any AI bots that scan your site.

4. Social proof

Patients trust the experiences of other patients. In healthcare, where trust is essential, incorporating social proof — reviews and recommendations from other patients — can be a powerful way to build that trust with prospective patients and foster a supportive community. 

You can build up a strong base of user-generated content by prominently displaying patient testimonials or success stories on your site, highlighting any awards or accolades your organization has received, and even utilizing user-generated content like this blog of patient- and staff-submitted stories created by Geonetric client Bronson Health.

5. Iterative website updates

You may have a complete website redesign on your to-do list for 2025. But even if you don’t and don’t anticipate having the resources to entirely revamp your site in the coming years, it doesn’t mean your site has to just sit and grow outdated. 

Iterative website design allows you to tackle individual parts of your website as you’re able. This could be as simple as regularly updating the information on your location profiles to keep it current and solve patients’ pain points, creating a microsite for a certain service line or topic you want to highlight, or building a blog or content hub to provide helpful information and boost your search engine optimization.  

By handling these smaller updates as needed, your next full redesign can start from a strong foundation instead of needing to overhaul an entirely outdated website. 

Ready for 2025?

In 2025, your organization will have the opportunity to meet patients where they are and create experiences that resonate, no matter your resources or budget.

From personalized interactions and targeted digital ads to improving findability and harnessing the power of social proof, these strategies can elevate your organization’s brand, build patient trust, and drive meaningful engagement. As you plan for the coming year, consider investing in these areas to future-proof your healthcare marketing tactics and make a lasting impact. 

Need a hand with your 2025 marketing plans? Geonetric is ready with more than 25 years of healthcare marketing experience and a team of experts ready to take your organization’s marketing to the next level. Contact us today to get started! 

The first week of November marks World Communication Week, highlighting the importance of clear, effective communication in our personal and professional lives. Effective communication is especially vital for healthcare marketers year-round since the health and wellness of our patients often depend on the quality of the patient communications we publish. Clear, empathetic communication between healthcare organizations and patients can drive better outcomes, build trust, and increase patient satisfaction. 

As healthcare marketers, we play a crucial role in shaping the interactions between our organizations and our patients. In honor of World Communication Week, we’re taking a look at how we can improve our patient communications to make them clear, compassionate, and effective. 

Understand patient needs and preferences  

Effective patient communications start with understanding who we’re speaking to. In healthcare, our patient audiences are often diverse, representing different ages, economic groups, cultural backgrounds, levels of health literacy, and comfort levels using technology. 

By tailoring our approach to their needs and preferences, you can create messages that resonate with the issues patients are facing when they visit your website, scroll your social media profile, or sign up to receive emails from your organization. 

Here are a few tips on how you can gain a better understanding of your patients’ needs and preferences: 

Know your audience: Take time to understand your organization’s patient demographics. Use surveys, feedback forms, personas, or patient interviews to understand their needs and expectations. 

Select the right channels: Once you know how patients prefer to receive information, use that to inform your strategy. Some may rely on digital platforms, like email or text messages, while others prefer less tech-reliant forms of communication, like printed materials or direct mail. 

Keep it clear and simple 

When it comes to vital healthcare information, complexity can get in the way of patients understanding your messages. Instead of creating patient communications that are long and full of medical jargon, opt for messages that use straightforward language and are easy to understand and act upon. 

Use plain language: Replace technical terms with simple alternatives. For example, instead of “hypertension,” use the more commonly understood “high blood pressure.” Short sentences and common words help patients grasp the message quickly, regardless of their reading comprehension or health literacy level. 

Organize information for easy navigation: Prioritize critical points by bolding them or using bullet points for readability. Design messages so patients can quickly find what they need, like appointment details, health advice, or action steps. This tip is especially important as more patients use mobile devices to view healthcare websites and emails — organizing your content for readability allows them to scan through the message while on the go and still retain the critical information. 

Incorporate visual aids: Use images, infographics, or quick videos to illustrate complex concepts. A simple visual can go a long way in helping patients understand health information. 

Establish trust 

Trust is fundamental in healthcare. Patients need to feel confident that the information they’re receiving is not only accurate but also beneficial to their well-being. By communicating transparently, we can strengthen this trust and improve patient engagement. 

Explain the “why”: Patients are more likely to follow through when they understand why something is important. For instance, explain the importance of an annual check-up or how a procedure benefits their health in the long run. 

Prioritize privacy: With increased digital communications, data privacy is a growing concern. Clear privacy policies and reassurances about data confidentiality can help ease patient concerns. (Want a surefire way to protect patient privacy while using your marketing data to its fullest potential? Check out Geonetric Privacy Filter!) 

Show empathy: Empathy-driven patient communications are key. Train your teams to be patient, understanding, and compassionate regardless of whether they’re communicating in person or through an online channel — patients remember when they feel respected and cared for. 

Leverage technology to improve your reach 

Digital tools can help you reach patients effectively, at the right time, and on the channels or platforms where they prefer to receive information. By using technology thoughtfully, we can make information accessible, timely, and personalized. 

Implement omnichannel strategies: Use a mix of website landing pages, text messages, emails, patient portals, and even social media to keep patients informed and connected. Consistent messaging across channels can reinforce important points and ensure that patients stay engaged. 

Automate for personalization: Tools that allow automated, personalized reminders for appointments, medications, or preventive care can be invaluable for effective communication. Simple, timely reminders help patients stay on track with their health needs, especially as health consumers are increasingly expecting personalization from their digital experiences. 

Design for accessibility: Ensure digital content is accessible to all patients. Use clear font sizes, readable colors, alt-text for images, and compatibility with screen readers to make your content as inclusive as possible for your patients. 

Evolve your messaging 

Effective patient communications aren’t static — you should consistently be reevaluating your patient demographics, tactics, tone, and other aspects of your messages to make sure they’re resonating with your target audiences. 

Here are a few ways you can improve your communications over time: 

Establish patient feedback loops: Regularly seek patient feedback through surveys, after-appointment check-ins, or comment cards. This input can highlight areas where communication is working well and where it can be improved. 

Update information regularly: The information you share, especially on easily-editable channels like your websites, patient portals, and social media, should be accurate and up-to-date. Patients rely on these sources, so regular reviews are essential. 

Measure success: Track key metrics such as email open rates, website engagement, and patient satisfaction scores to monitor the effectiveness of communication strategies. These insights can guide adjustments and keep your communication strategy evolving. 

Clear, compassionate, and connected communication is foundational to patient care. By putting patients at the center of our communication strategies, we build trust, improve health literacy, and help patients feel empowered in their healthcare journeys.  

This World Communication Week, commit to a communication approach that’s inclusive, empathetic, and accessible — because every patient deserves to be heard and understood. 

Need help getting your message across? 

If your organization could use a helping hand when it comes to fine-tuning your digital marketing messaging, Geonetric has the know-how you’re looking for.  

With more than 25 years of experience helping healthcare organizations communicate effectively through website content, search engine optimization, and digital advertising, we can assist your team in bringing your communications to the next level. Contact us today to get started! 

Your content management system (CMS) should allow you to do just that: manage your website content. But when your CMS falls short, it’s not just frustrating — it can significantly impact the marketing efforts that rely on your website to deliver results. 

In this eBook, we break down the most common issues healthcare marketers face with their CMS platforms, the impact they can have on marketing goals, and CMS solutions that can help overcome those roadblocks.

Download your copy today to learn if your CMS is helping or hurting your marketing efforts and the choices you have for a CMS that will grow and evolve along with your organization.

When was the last time you really looked at your employee intranet? Log in and try to complete some simple tasks: find and fill out an HR form, check what’s for lunch today, and read the latest company news. 

Were you easily able to find and complete those tasks? Or did you feel like you were sorting through an endless digital filing cabinet that hasn’t been tidied up in years? 

An easy-to-use, streamlined intranet is essential for healthcare organizations, where employees might not have more than a minute or two to search for what they need before returning to work. An effective healthcare intranet should be more than just a place to dump your organization’s documents — it needs to be an intuitive, engaging space that employees want to use. 

So, what exactly are employees looking for from an intranet? Let’s break down the key features that increase engagement and make your intranet the go-to spot for employee information. 

Figuring out what matters 

Before we dive in, it’s important to note that every organization — and every employee — is different. What might work for a standalone hospital in Massachusetts won’t cut it for a 50-location health system based in Nebraska.  

The best way to tell what features genuinely matter to your teams is by surveying your employees to gauge why they visit the intranet, their complaints about your current site, and what they might like to see from a redesign. You can send this survey via email or create a popup on your current intranet for employees to complete when they log in. 

From there, you could go one step further with a smaller group of employees by conducting a card-sorting exercise where they arrange a list of features or content into groups that feel natural for them. For example, an employee might create a group that includes links for their webmail access, timecard, and company updates that they’d like to see under a “Daily Applications” menu when they first log in. 

This interactive experience can provide insight into where your content should live within your intranet structure, driven by the people who use the site the most. 

With that in mind, we can now jump into the features we recommend as the must-haves for a successful healthcare employee intranet.

1. App-like design and mobile functionality

Employees have come to expect seamless, user-friendly experiences in every digital interaction — just like they get from their favorite apps. This means your intranet should offer intuitive navigation, clean design, and mobile responsiveness. 

An app-like design allows employees to find what they need quickly, whether at their desks, on a tablet between patient visits, or on their smartphones during a break. A cluttered or confusing layout will only discourage usage, while a sleek, simple interface makes interacting with the intranet a breeze.

2. Organizational branding

Your intranet should be an extension of your organization’s brand identity and marketing assets. Employees want to feel connected to the organization, and branding your intranet with the organization’s logos, colors, and tone can foster that connection. 

A branded intranet reminds employees of your organization’s culture, mission, and values every time they log in. When the look and feel of your intranet match your public-facing website and communications, it creates a sense of cohesion, as well as a sense of pride and belonging among employees.

3. Personalized content

One-size-fits-all doesn’t work for intranets. Employees in different departments, locations, or roles need content that’s relevant to them. Personalized dashboards, targeted news feeds, and job-specific notifications ensure that users see what matters most to their work. 

For example, someone in HR might need quick access to benefits updates, while a nurse in a direct care setting may prioritize scheduling or compliance training materials. Tailoring the intranet experience to each user’s needs not only improves satisfaction but also boosts productivity.

4. Custom content types

A modern healthcare intranet must be flexible enough to handle diverse content types. Employees expect more than just policy documents or forms — they want access to a variety of resources like: 

• Cafeteria menus 

• HR policies and forms 

• Instructional content and how-tos 

• Company news and announcements 

• Facility maps 

• Staff directories or org charts 

• A calendar with upcoming events 

Providing these custom content types in an organized, easy-to-find format ensures that employees can access everything they need in one central location.

5. Powerful search function

There’s nothing more frustrating than needing information but being unable to find it. A robust search function is critical for a successful intranet. Employees should be able to quickly search for files, directories, policies, and company news with ease. 

Advanced search features like filters, autocomplete and suggested content make finding the right information fast and efficient. This kind of functionality transforms your intranet from a simple document repository into a true knowledge hub, saving employees time and increasing organizational efficiency. 

6. Up-to-date information

Keeping your intranet current is essential. Outdated content can lead to confusion, misinformation, and a lack of trust in the platform. Employees need to know they can rely on the intranet for the most accurate and up-to-date information. 

Regular content updates, automated notifications for changes, and content expiration tools can help ensure your intranet remains a trusted resource. Whether it’s policy changes or company-wide announcements, up-to-date information builds confidence in the platform.

7. Robust resources

Employees need access to a wide range of resources to do their jobs effectively. Whether it’s training materials, compliance documents, or how-to guides, your intranet should be a central hub for all of your organization’s necessary resources. 

Organizing these materials in an easily accessible way — whether through searchable databases, categorized sections, or resource libraries — makes the intranet an indispensable tool for your employees. A well-stocked intranet can cut down on time wasted searching for information, leading to a more productive workforce.

8. Opportunities for engagement

An intranet shouldn’t be a static tool — it should foster interaction and engagement. Employees want to communicate with their colleagues, share feedback, and participate in company culture. Including features like discussion boards, comment sections, feedback forms, and even social elements like employee recognition or polls can transform your intranet into a collaborative space. 

Engagement features encourage employees to not only consume information but also contribute to the ongoing dialogue within the organization. It builds community and encourages open communication across all levels of the company. 

Ready for an improved intranet? 

A well-designed, feature-rich healthcare intranet is critical for fostering employee engagement, improving productivity, and maintaining efficient internal communications. From app-like design and organizational branding to personalized content and engagement features, each of these elements plays a crucial role in making the intranet a valuable tool for employees. 

If you’re ready to level up your intranet to make it a go-to hub for your employees, Geonetric is ready to help.  

Check out this case study to learn how we helped Ohio and West Virginia-based Holzer Health System overhaul its intranet and bring in more than 41,200 unique user sessions in the first three months after its launch. Then, if you’re ready to take the first step to an improved intranet, contact our team to schedule an introductory call!