High-quality marketing and communications are meaningful to your patients. And what could be more meaningful and valuable than providing useful tips to support your patients’ ability to care for their mouths when they can’t be at your office or are healing, following treatment?
We often get caught up in the minutiae of promoting our latest technology or treatment; however, we overlook some of the content that gets read and is particularly helpful to our patients. This content further endears and builds loyalty among your most valuable patients. This is the type of information that is often sought after by your patients, and the type of content that they will appreciate, as it can be accessed any time they need it with a few swipes and keystrokes.
The unique and wide-ranging benefits
This information also lends itself well to action and continual engagement, which fosters healthy patient partnerships and ultimately a healthy bottom line. You can easily and naturally encourage patients to contact you if they are concerned about their healing. Offering insights on what is normal following treatment aids in the education that supports a patient’s healthy and predictable recovery, while furthering positive and helpful interactions with your team.
You are also advancing the “greater good” by empowering health-literate patients and communities. When patients are health literate, they use your reliable and quality content to manage their well-being better.
In studies, improved health literacy was associated with myriad benefits, including:
• Better overall health
• Lower frequency of comorbidities
• Fewer medication-related errors
• Favourable utilization of preventative services
• Less utilization of emergent/urgent services
• Fewer hospitalizations and less risk of mortality
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Opportunities to educate and provide value
Content that is tips-oriented and how-to-style is incredibly versatile. Applications range from oral hygiene/care tips to after-care instructions. Do not leave pre-treatment instructions out of the mix either. You may highlight specific medications or supplements to be adjusted or discontinued before certain treatments or services. Patients can then consult with this information as their appointment approaches.
These items aid in their healing journey, as they have accessible information to assist with planning for their recovery. They can stock up on things like the right foods, drinks, products, and medications to have on hand. Instead of running around picking up supplies, your patients can immediately focus on their recovery and relaxing. Such insights also distinguish you from the competition, whose patient guides may be, one, overwrought and, two, limited to after-care for procedures like extractions.
When disseminating such content, do not limit yourself to print. As noted, a wealth of formats and methods exist to get your valuable insights across. Consider how some 65% of learners in the general population ascribe to the “visual” learning style, whereas 30% and 5% are “auditory” and “kinesthetic” experiential learners, respectively.
It is always important to meet your community where it is “at” regarding how they consume information. “How to” content is uniquely and particularly well-suited to video content, be that videos on your website or video-centric social channels and websites. You can demonstrate techniques to better floss between hard-to-reach spaces or brush the teeth more effectively. You may incorporate more dynamic visuals into your print content too. For example, illustrations, animation, and graphics may precisely show how much floss should be used to provide a step-by-step guide on brushing and flossing. This may be quite enlightening for patients who have fallen into bad oral care behaviours over time.
Related: Why your waiting room is empty: A generational guide to how patients actually want to book
The anatomy of “how to” content—watch your language!
There is an art to developing tips-oriented content, just as there is an art to developing promotional content or “newsy” announcements. In health literacy circles, you often hear about the use of “plain language.” Make no mistake, this approach should not be construed as lacking sophistication in writing. Do not “dumb it down.” Respect the reader, listener, or viewer. Respect them without overwhelming them. Even information that is not highly technical can be confusing and daunting for patients to sift through when there is simply too much of it.
A good rule of thumb is to channel your communication with the layperson, not the patient who just removed his or her white coat. You have likely mastered the following communication practices at the office, so use your in-office skills as inspiration when crafting meaningful patient guides:
Do – Recognize that less is more. Does that sentence make two or more points? Divide it into two (or more) sentences. Also, lean into “eye-stoppers” whenever possible with print content. These visual cues break up information. Examples include the bullet points listed here, simple paragraph breaks, or logically-divided section breaks. Let your content breathe.
Don’t – Include any promotional content. This is not the platform for that (you have email blasts, press releases, and other opportunities to spotlight your merits). Get to the point and what your patients need to know about the treatment or topic.
Do – Show, not tell. This is where illustrations, graphics, and other highly visual mechanisms are particularly helpful. Whenever possible, demonstrate rather than dictate.
Don’t – Deliver tips and instructions in passive voice. Your content should always be dynamic and actionable. Active voice in the context of instructional content provides clarity too.
Do – Be specific. For instance, say “Contact us if your temperature is greater than 38 degrees,” instead of the general “If you feel feverish, call us immediately.”
Don’t – Be negative. An air of negativity and word choices that intimidate the patient do not instill trust/comfort. It is positivity that empowers, inspires, and motivates patients to make good choices and truly take ownership of their health.
Do – Opt for common words, but not necessarily colloquialisms or idioms. Just because you think a certain phrase, reference, or product is a “household name” does not mean everyone will recognize it. The term “household name” is itself a colloquialism. It is best to avoid these references in educational content, as they may not be relatable to everyone, especially with how language changes. What was fresh and relevant today may not be tomorrow!
By their nature, “how-to” guides and related content have great potential. When properly identified, crafted, and delivered, these items remind patients why they selected your office as their “home” for all things dental care in the first place. It shows that you care and are truly invested in their health. These patients demonstrate their appreciation with their loyalty and by spreading your practice name far and wide.
About the author:
Naren Arulrajah, President and CEO of Ekwa Marketing, has been a leader in medical marketing for over a decade. Ekwa provides comprehensive marketing solutions for busy dentists, with a team of more than 180 full time professionals, providing web design, hosting, content creation, social media, reputation management, SEO, and more. If you’re looking for ways to boost your marketing results, call 855-598-3320 for a free strategy session with Naren. You may also schedule a session at your convenience with the Senior Director of Marketing – Lila, by clicking https://www.ekwa.com/msm/ or simply send a text to 313-777-8494.