In today’s digital landscape, brands are expected to provide personalized experiences to consumers that meet their unique needs and preferences. This is even more true for healthcare organizations when prospective patients are faced with making decisions about care and looking for information supporting their care journey and concerns.
In a field where trust and timely access to information can impact patient decisions, personalized websites offer more than just convenience; they enhance the overall experience and turn prospects into loyal patients. From guiding users to relevant health resources to streamlining appointment scheduling, personalization helps healthcare organizations offer meaningful, patient-centered digital experiences.
Despite the uptick in personalization, it still remains a relatively new concept in the healthcare marketing space. If your organization has never tried personalization before or was unsuccessful in launching a home-grown personalization solution, you likely have some questions.
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about personalization and why now is the time for your organization to incorporate it into your marketing strategy.
What is personalization?
Personalization is a marketing strategy that identifies user groups based on their browsing habits and other broad identifiers in order to provide them with a unique experience.
How can personalization be used in healthcare?
Personalization offers a way to provide tailored experiences that increase patient engagement at several key decision-making moments.
For prospective patients, you can use personalization to deliver content that aligns with the service lines they’re researching and shares why your organization is the best choice in the area for receiving care for that condition.
One example of this could be setting up a heart and vascular care campaign that features two distinct patient experiences: one that shows up when a user arrives at your site after clicking a paid ad and one that’s set to appear after a user visits two specific pages.
This same concept can be put in place for current patients after they visit a certain set of pages or arrive at your site after clicking a link in an email sent out to patients.
Perhaps their browsing habits show they have a new condition they’re seeking care for and are wondering about next steps — your personalized digital experience can guide them through this new care journey and reinforce why your organization continues to be their best choice for care.
Why should we include personalization on our site?
First and foremost, today’s patients expect personalization.
Our 2022 consumer survey found that 68% of respondents agreed it’s frustrating when healthcare websites recommend information or calls to action that aren’t relevant to their unique needs. In that same survey, 79% of respondents said that they agree healthcare websites should personalize their experiences based on their preferences.
But this focus on personalization goes beyond healthcare. A 2024 Deloitte Digital report found organizations that excel at personalization are 48% more likely to have exceeded their revenue goals and 71% more likely to report improved customer loyalty. The organizations that Deloitte surveyed as “personalization leaders” also reported improvements in conversion rate (54%), customer engagement (61%), and customer satisfaction (57%).
Aside from the fact that patients are looking for personalized experiences, personalization is also a great way to “do more with less” and increase the value you get from your existing digital collateral. Personalization campaigns can be set up with existing paid ads and website pages, and designed so the most relevant content appears after a certain set of requirements are met.
If you don’t invest in personalization now, as it’s becoming more prevalent in healthcare, you could miss opportunities to exceed patients’ expectations, differentiate yourself from competitors, expand marketshare, and boost revenue.
What is optimization?
Optimization is a key part of the personalization journey! Optimization refers to the process of testing personalization campaigns to see how they resonate with website visitors.
Optimization could include A/B testing, multivariate testing, and multi-armed bandit testing that only a small portion of website visitors see to determine if the original content or test content is more successful in driving users to an end goal.
For example, on an orthopedic services page, a test might show 50% of visitors the original “schedule an appointment” call-to-action that’s been on the site, while the other 50% receive an optimized version of the call-to-action.
If the test clearly shows that one version is more successful than the other at encouraging a user to schedule an appointment, the test is complete, and we can implement the winning strategy.
Won’t personalized experiences violate HIPAA?
It’s a fair question — wouldn’t taking patients’ browsing habits and identifiers put your organization in violation of HIPAA? The answer is no, if you do personalization right and work with a team that has experience with personalization and HIPAA compliance.
For example, the personalization platform Geonetric uses is HIPAA-compliant, and we have a Business Associates Agreement (BAA) in place that covers our personalization and optimization offerings. Our team also exclusively works with healthcare organizations, so they’re already well-versed in the intricacies of industry regulations that could take other agencies longer to work around.
How can I get started with personalization?
Understanding where to start with personalization while remaining HIPAA-compliant can be overwhelming — but when you work with Geonetric, you have a partner who’s here to support you every step of the way.
As a healthcare-focused agency that’s created more than 500 healthcare websites and intranets, our team has what it takes to navigate personalized patient experiences and data privacy.
Geonetric routinely provides reports and recommendations on how we can evolve your personalization campaigns to meet your changing business goals. We pride ourselves on continuously communicating complex topics in a way that allows the key contacts at your organization to feel empowered to discuss our strategies with internal stakeholders.
If you’re ready to see the difference personalization and optimization can make for your organization and your patients’ digital experiences, reach out to us today!