Building a Seamless Patient Journey With Omnichannel Marketing Strategies

You don’t need a medical degree to grasp this simple truth: In healthcare, the more informed and involved patients are, the better their results are likely to be. And to make this happen, consistent communications are key. This is the driving concept behind omnichannel marketing, a leading trend in modern healthcare that’s making providers’ communications more patient-centric. By leveraging omnichannel marketing, healthcare providers can deliver a smoother care journey that elevates patient experiences, engagement and outcomes.

“Omnichannel marketing in healthcare isn’t just about reaching patients across multiple platforms — it’s about strategically delivering the right message at the right time, tailored to each individual’s journey,” says Kristi Raines, marketing and PR director, healthcare category expert at Brandon. “By seamlessly integrating digital and traditional channels, we can create a unified, coordinated experience that builds trust, makes patients more engaged with their healthcare planning  and ultimately improves outcomes.”

What is omnichannel marketing in healthcare?

Healthcare omnichannel marketing refers to creating consistent, personalized patient communications across a variety of channels, including email, social media, in-person interactions and mobile apps. The goal is to create a seamless experience that meets patients’ needs across every touchpoint.

An omnichannel healthcare strategy in action

Imagine a patient, Emily, who books an appointment with a healthcare specialist online but never receives a confirmation. Unsure whether the appointment is set, she calls the doctor’s office, is put on hold, and grows frustrated. After the visit, she’s left juggling uncoordinated care instructions delivered via emails, paper handouts and phone calls, leaving her confused and overwhelmed.

Now imagine Emily’s journey with an effective healthcare omnichannel marketing strategy in place. A text message confirms her booking. A mobile app provides pre-visit details. After her visit, follow-up care instructions arrive in one clear, consistent email. This example illustrates how omnichannel strategies reduce confusion and improve the patient experience.

The leading benefits of a healthcare omnichannel marketing strategy

Implementing omnichannel marketing in healthcare offers providers significant advantages that can result in stronger patient relationships and better care delivery. Some of the leading benefits include:

• Improved patient engagement and outcomes: With an omnichannel marketing strategy in place, healthcare providers meet patients where they are, delivering essential information and services through the channels they use most. This encourages patients to take a more active role in their healthcare journeys — leading to better outcomes.
•  Enhanced patient satisfaction: Omnichannel marketing reduces patient frustration by eliminating communication gaps and creating a smoother, more coordinated healthcare experience.
• Increased efficiency: Omnichannel marketing streamlines workflows, reduces redundancies and allows healthcare teams to focus more on patient care by leveraging digital tools and automated communications.

How to build an omnichannel marketing strategy in healthcare

The key components of developing an effective healthcare omnichannel marketing strategy include understanding patients’ needs, aligning the messaging of all online and offline communications channels, implementing technology to support the strategy and personalizing patient communication methods. Here’s a closer look at each of these major steps to creating a seamless, patient-centered experience through omnichannel marketing:

Step 1: Better understand patient needs

Analyze data from surveys, patient interactions and care outcomes to uncover valuable insights into patient behaviors, preferences and common challenges. This foundation can enable your healthcare organization to better anticipate patient expectations and deliver relevant support at just the right times.

Step 2: Integrate online and offline channels

Align the messaging delivered by your digital tools, including websites, mobile apps and social media, with that provided via offline touchpoints like clinics and call centers. This creates a cohesive experience where patients can seamlessly transition between your organization’s various communications channels without receiving conflicting messages or otherwise feeling there’s a disconnect between them.

Step 3: Tap into technology

Implement tools like customer relationship management (CRM) systems, patient portals and data analytics platforms. These tools can help you track interactions, identify patterns and adapt your strategies in real time, while providing patients easy access to their health information, appointment scheduling and personalized care resources.

Step 4: Personalize patient communication methods

Tailor your patient messaging to fit individual patient demographics, health conditions and treatment plans. For example, a younger patient might prefer appointment reminders via text, while an older patient may respond better to phone calls or mail.

Now is the time for your healthcare organization to evaluate its current strategies and identify opportunities to adopt an omnichannel approach. By doing so, you can create smoother patient journeys that meet modern expectations and foster long-term loyalty. 

Brandon: Your healthcare and omnichannel marketing experts

Is your healthcare brand ready to grow with the help of an ad agency that specializes in healthcare marketing and excels at omnichannel marketing? With a deep, diverse skill set and years of experience in the healthcare arena, the omnichannel experts at Brandon are ready to meet all the marketing needs of your healthcare system, service line, specialty practice or medical device company. To learn more about how we can boost the performance of your healthcare organization’s marketing efforts, reach out to our team of marketing pros.