6 Ways to Drive Patient Volume, Revenue

4.  Master media mix, message, and movement.

As a marketing columnist, there is one message I see constantly, and chances are, patients see it constantly too. Nearly each hospital and healthcare organization flaunts a title with the words: best, top, excellence, or world class. Healthcare is a machine constantly churning out reviews, evaluations, and consequently, cliché claims to fame.

While identifiers (Example: "top ten percentile in patient satisfaction") do hold value, a marketing message needs to show instead of tell how that value affects the patient.

"If you're saying you're the best, it doesn't mean anything," Luginbill said. "It's narcissistic. If you want people to pay attention [the message] has to be about them."

Marketing without a call to action is like a cookie without milk. The audience is left craving something that is missing. Luginbill describes "awareness" a term thrown around the marketing world, as an empty calorie word. Sure, it sounds good, but what does awareness really mean? What does it get you? What's the return?

5. Opt-in marketing is not optional.

The key to driving patient volume is engaging patients in the conversation about their health. Risk assessments and tear outs can be productive tools for engaging patients and leading them toward opt-in opportunities.