The Patient Brand Evangelist Posting UGC - the Next Hospital Marketing Frontier

People Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Do you know who your patient hospital brand evangelists are, and are they posting User Generated Content (UGC)? I ask this question for a fundamental reason.  In an age where it’s challenging to define differentiation clearly and me too messaging amongst hospitals, in a pandemic that shows no signs of ending soon, how is a healthcare patient to make a choice?

I realize that many healthcare leaders will dispute the above statement.  However, hospital marketing -traditional, digital and social, fall into one of four general buckets, ‘it’s all about you”, “look at at our technology,”  “our facilities and locations,” and “look at our awards.” In an age of pandemic uncertainty, the marketing and communication efforts focus on features, not patient benefits.

Consider for a moment. 

1.       Patientsare now engaged in shopping behavior. 

2.       Patients are paying over one-third of the cost of care out of pocket. 

3.       A patient usesthe internet, social media, etc., focusing on reviews and recommendations are written by other patients.

Content image by Werner Moser from Pixabay

Maybe we should call this the age of User Generated Content.

Patients trust other patients’ UGC more than the published brand content. That is, patients, trust believable patient UGC.

That is why UGC is becoming critical to hospitals and other providers as healthcare continues its rapid evolution. Patient UGC is also the new word-of-mouth marketing too.

What are the characteristics of a believable patient user-generated content?

First, it’s authentic and in the patient’s own words, not a writer at an agency or the marketing team. Second, a good patient UGC makes an emotional connection with prospective patients. Third, the patient’s UGC needs to be on voice or video. Fourth, the patients you select match the patient buyers’ persona you have created. Fifth, timing is everything in patient UGC; find patients who have had a recent good experience.

You can pull out statements or transcribe entire interviews for marketing communications brand documents or website, or snippets for social media, but ultimately, seeing is believing. Providers understand why their demonstrated support for the vendor can accomplish. 

How do you ask for patient user-generated content?

Ask image by Deam Moriarty from Pixabay

It can be a challenge obtaining patient UGC with internal compliance policies and procedures, HIPAA, and other privacy regulations, but it is not impossible.  Add to all that in some hospitals the reluctance of leadership to let marketing talk to patients. But still, as healthcare evolves, the Internet is making the world a tiny place, making patient UGC and recommendations even more critical.

Ask the patient directly. Don’t hem and haw around the question or ask timidly. Be pleasant and direct. Answer the patient’s questions with transparency and honesty. Second, make it easy for the patient to create the UGC. Tell them exactly how to do it, where it’s done, i.e., a website landing page, and allow them to make it more personal by adding a photo if you’re not doing a video. Third, offer them a small gift as a thank you. Fourth, except for spelling and grammar edits, be clear with the patient it’s their words, not yours. Fifth, don’t forget the Release and Permission to Use for your records.

Take the time to build your patient relationship, design a strategic UGC program for the entire organization, teach people internally what their role is and how to support the strategy. UGC is first and foremost about the patient trusting the hospital. If you can’t get UGC from your patients, you may have more significant experience issues.

The hospital of today operates in a far different healthcare market than even 2020. But the idea and principles are the same. In many ways, UGC is even more important today than yesterday. Brand value, outcome, experience, engagement, and patient UGC are everything today.

Michael is a healthcare business, marketing, communications strategist, and thought leader. As an internationally followed healthcare strategy blogger, his blog, Healthcare Business & Marketing Matters is read in 52 countries and ranked No. 3 on 100 Top Healthcare Marketing Blogs & Websites to follow by Feedspot.com. Michael is a Life Fellow American College of Healthcare Executives.  For inquiries regarding strategic consulting engagements, you can email me at michael@themichaeljgroup.com. 

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The opinions expressed are my own.