While hospital and health system marketing efforts often focus largely on drawing new patients, it is well worth the effort to tailor a portion of an organization's outreach strategy to building loyalty with existing patients, according to the Harvard Business Review.
A strong social media experience can be crucial to enhancing existing loyalty. An analysis of a tourism company's social media posts targeting both consumers enrolled in the company's loyalty program and those not part of the program found that those that were most effective in engaging already-loyal consumers were those that took a relational or intellectual approach, while sensory and emotional posts were largely ineffective.
According to HBR, relational messages are those that strengthen feelings of belonging by connecting a patient or consumer to the larger community surrounding a product or service. These posts typically illustrate inclusiveness or interpersonal connectivity in some way.
Intellectual posts are detailed and full of information, requiring greater focus, consideration and mental processing — all of which existing visitors are willing to give to an organization in which they already have some level of trust. "These posts require investments to both produce and consume the content, but brands see the value, knowing that their curious members are looking to deepen their brand relationship," per HBR.
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