Healthcare consumerism has accelerated people’s desire to make informed choices about their healthcare, both to drive their own decisions and also to be more educated when collaborating with providers.
A CDW Survey showed that 74% of respondents would take a more active role in their own healthcare choices if they had better information online.
We also know that educating members increases satisfaction ratings and helps strengthen engagement, not to mention higher Medicare Star Ratings.
We have seen that getting members to engage with content takes setting the right goals for that information ahead of time. Merely writing good content is not enough. Members also need to find the information easily, and you need to be able to drive the right messaging to achieve your goals.
Here are 5 genius tips for creating high performance health engagement content:
Tip #1 – Write with the End in Mind
Provide relevant, useful information that is easy to read and understand. Skip the industry jargon and write for the consumer, not the administrator or physician. It’s critical to include some kind of action they need to take, so that you can continue them on the member journey that occurs after they’ve read your content. This can be a request for information, email signups, wellness information downloads, clickthroughs or even social media shares.
Tip #2 – Use Data to Help Fine Tune Your Content
Don’t just write your content and leave it. Use data from Google Analytics and other tools to watch how your members are engaging with the content. If they’re leaving the page after 30 seconds, you’ve got some work to do. If they’re not responding to the call for action, that needs to be strengthened. Watch the content and duplicate what’s working well.
Tip #3 – Personalize Delivery to Meet Your Member Preferences
Keep in mind that different member segments find and curate information in different ways. Make sure that your content is mobile-friendly for the younger audiences. Use tools like font enlargers for older readers.
We know as a general rule in content, video and photos will incur much higher engagement. Be sure to use those for all your member segments and include them in actual touchpoints if you can.
Tip #4 – Optimize your Content
Be clear on the keywords and phrases that will make your content “searchable” to your members. Use those keywords and phrases appropriately, and with the correct frequency, to maximize your search results. Don’t just rely on email or links on your website to help members find the content. Use SEO tactics, at least at a basic level, and involve your web designers to help you do so.
Tip #5 – Keep Your Content Fresh
Be sure to write new content on a regular basis and include new information. Update old information as needed – remember everything lives forever online so it’s important to maintain credibility by being current. If older content performs well, refresh it with new information for use in your next campaign.
This may seem like a lot of work, but it pays off in the long and the short run.
When health plans and providers inform rather than lecture it fosters shared decision-making, better choices and more trust. But creating strong content takes time and a careful plan for the right approach to generate the member engagement that drives your campaigns forward to success.
