Welcome to part eight of my blog series on crisis management, marketing and communications. Today, I am exploring how to get the right message across to patients in your newsletter.
With the industry shut down by the COVID19 crisis, The Fertility Hub has been busier than ever! I have over 30 years media and marketing experience, with the last 16 years spent marketing to IVF patients. I have never experienced anything like the last 57 days!
The patient pool is plentiful, but there has been a limited supply of clinics available to offer treatment. Thankfully, now many USA, UK and European clinics are able to reopen. This blog is timely, as now is the right time to reach out to patients with a newsletter updating them on your situation.
Have a good reason to send a newsletter
Throughout this crisis, we have all been bombarded with emails about COVID19 from the most unlikely sources. Clothes companies now care about my welfare! It’s important not to come across as insincere and jumping on the band wagon. This type of marketing is insensitive. The worst is the scheduled emails that ignore the crisis altogether!
As a healthcare provider, you do have a very genuine reason to keep in touch with patients. With treatments suspended and now reinstated this is important information patients need to hear.
Operational changes
Your newsletter needs to share:
- The good news that the clinic is reopen
- Reassurance that the clinic is COVID19 secure
- COVID19 screening for patients and staff
- Highlights of guidelines your clinic is adhering to
- Reduction of patient numbers
- Research on COVID19 and pregnancy
- Hours of opening
- Where telehealth continues to replace face to face visits
- Policy changes regarding payment
Clear and easy to read layout
Avoid long heavy text newsletters. Patients are on information overload with changing guidance and operational changes in their own lives! Keep your newsletter clear and concise. Bold headlines, images and just a paragraph of text that links to the full article on your website works best. Patients can then scan the newsletter and click on what interests them.
Share other useful information other than COVID19
COVID19 is important, but patients also need a break. Don’t forget to share the good news! Many patients have had positive pregnancy tests and lots of IVF babies have been welcomed to the world! Do you have educational seminars planned? Include all the activities you have planned in the coming month that patients can get involved in.
Get patient feedback
Ask your patients how you can support and help them access treatment. Ask them what they would like to see your clinic implement in these unprecedented times. It is really important to adapt your operational procedures and marketing methods now. It is not business as usual, everything has changed and your clinic must move with times.
Sign up for our newsletter
The Fertility Hub produces two newsletters per month, one for patients and one for healthcare providers in assisted reproduction. Sign up for our IVF providers newsletter here.
New initiatives at The Fertility Hub
During the current crisis our team have been working hard to live up to our name! A hub of information for both patients and healthcare providers. We are currently working on a number of initiatives to help cement the relationship between IVF provider and patient. Within the next week we will be announcing a very exciting initiative – watch this space! Please see our current campaigns below.
The Fertility Hub Payment Plan
During this time, we have launched The Fertility Hub payment plan. This has been welcomed by patients who are worried about affording treatment. The plan allows patients to book treatment with their clinic of choice in 12, 18 or 24-months’ time. This spreads the cost for patients and brings in a monthly revenue stream for clinics. This also allows time for patients to travel again for treatment.
For many IVF clinics the challenge for the foreseeable future is treading water until both the pandemic subsides and the economy recovers.
Register for our seminar
Registration is now open for The Fertility Hub seminar on Crisis Management, Marketing and Communications. This will be held at 5pm on May 28, 2020. Please register here.
If you would like to discuss any of the content in this blog series or any other areas that you think we can help, please drop me a line, we are here to help you and spread your message to our audience.
Veronica Montgomery, Clinic and Patient Liaison Consultant
The Fertility Hub
Previous blogs in this series
Part one – COVID19 Crisis Management for IVF Clinics
Part two – Marketing and Communications During COVID19
Part three – Financial Implications of COVID19
Part four – The use of PR during the COVID19 pandemic
Part five – Protecting your brand during COVID19
Part six – Online marketing during COVID19
Part seven – Using online seminars to build trust.
