Email newsletters are one of the most effective and efficient means for practices and healthcare professionals to communicate with patients. But sometimes, trying to come up with content to fill those empty pages can seem almost overwhelming. We’ve gathered the top five content areas that you should use when creating content for your patients to help you fill that white space with something useful and meaningful in your next newsletter.
1. What’s New at Your Practice?
Talk about your practice! Recognize anniversary dates or milestones such as how long you’ve been in the community or at your current location. Welcome new patients to your practice, or recognize patients who’ve been with you a long time. Share important policy information, holiday hours or closings, changes in parking or office remodeling. It’s also good to include a message from the doctor from time to time. Patients want to see their care providers as real people with real lives, so don’t be afraid to talk about kids, grandkids, hobbies, and activities.
2. Equipment/Procedure Latest Updates
If you get a new piece of equipment, let your patients know what it’s for and how it continues your focus on patient wellness. Are you using a new procedure? Give them the details as to how it works and why you’re using it. If you attended a conference or workshop to improve your skills or learn new methods of treating patients, share that information. Patients want to know that you’re staying up-to-date on the latest equipment, health news and techniques. It builds confidence in your skills and authority and builds loyalty as a result.
3. Have Fun and Be Engaging
It’s good to have some light-hearted content in your newsletter, too. You can even get your patients to participate! Include things like a Top Ten list, a funny poll and motivational quotes (or funny ones!). Patients also like reading about recent studies or surveys related to your practice or information about products or procedures they’ve seen on television and have questions about. You may also want to include information about your website and social media channels as well. Going above and beyond, users are resonating more and more with podcasts, short videos, patient stories, and more. Consider including different types of content for your patients to stay informed and engaged with your patient newsletters
4. Patient and Staff Highlights
Your office is staffed with people, and your patients want to know who those people are. Consider selecting an employee spotlight for each issue of your patient newsletter. Let the employee introduce themselves, talk about who they are and what they like, and build a digital rapport with patients that will carry over to their in-person visits. Another great idea is a patient spotlight. You may even want to include “before” and “after” case studies to show the successful treatment of a patient in your office! This creates an opportunity for you to show that you see your patients as human beings, not numbers. You can include photos (with patient consent, of course).
5. Frequently Asked Questions
Answer questions that are asked all the time (then keep a list of them as an FAQ you can post to your website or social media channels). You can also include links to articles that may be useful, sites that you find helpful, or other resources for learning more about your area of expertise. If there is a procedure that is common in your practice, take the time to explain it here. If there is a recommendation that you give patients regularly, make sure it’s clearly explained in your newsletter.
Newsletters don’t have to be a source of frustration. With a little advanced planning and a good eye for information, you can provide your patients with useful, informative, and fun information that helps you build strong communication and enhances patient loyalty. And, of course, don’t be afraid to iterate your approach by looking at open rates, click-through rates, and patient feedback. The KPIs and metrics for your patient newsletters will help you refine the messaging over time to make sure your patients are getting the full value.
