How to Improve Patient Engagement With Meaningful Content: Strategies for Healthcare Marketers

Do your patient engagement strategies move patients to act? Do patients feel seen? Heard? Understood? Effective engagement centers around how well patients understand, connect with, and act on the information you provide throughout their care journey. If your content isn’t doing exactly that, it’s time to take a closer look to see if your messaging is moving them forward or just checking a box.

Strategic, well-crafted communication has the power to bridge knowledge gaps, reduce anxiety, and reinforce trust at every touchpoint. From appointment reminders to post-op instructions to digital health campaigns, content is very much part of the care.

In this edition of Vital Signs, learn how your team can elevate engagement through personalized messaging, the right tools and channels, intentional timing, and ethically grounded trust-building strategies. We’ll also cover how to measure the impact of meaningful patient communication, so your efforts are both empathetic and effective. There’s a lot to go over, so let’s dive in.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

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Why Patient Engagement Matters

Patient engagement (PE) has become a top priority across the healthcare industry, and for good reason: it works. As patients gain access to more information online and become better educated about their conditions and options, they expect to play a more active role in their care. Gone are the days when patients were little more than passive recipients of treatment. Now they’re active partners in the process.

Studies show that when patients are engaged they:

• Are more likely to follow treatment plans and adhere to protocols.
• Experience better health outcomes and fewer hospital visits.
• Report higher satisfaction and trust in their providers.
• Gain a better understanding of their health, improving health literacy.

“Patient engagement can improve both treatment outcomes and consequently patient satisfaction and health, as well as the productivity of the service provider.”

Marzban S, Najafi M, Agolli A, Ashrafi E. Impact of Patient Engagement on Healthcare Quality: A Scoping Review. J Patient Exp. 2022 Sep 16

Putting patient engagement into practice: Meet Maria

Let’s walk through a quick example:

When Maria was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, her clinic didn’t hand her a stack of brochures and send her on her way. Nor was she forced to rely on Dr. Google or Reddit “experts.” Instead, she was welcomed into an experience designed by her provider to support her, guide her, and keep her involved at every step. Every message she received was an invitation to stay informed, curious, and connected.

Here’s an example of what it might have looked like in practice.

• At diagnosis: Maria is introduced to a digital guide that explains her condition in simple, reassuring language. She also receives a short welcome video from her care team.
• In the first few days: She gets an email with beginner-friendly resources like a blood sugar tracker, a grocery list, and tips for adjusting to her new routine.
• During week one: A quick check-in text offers encouragement and links to answers for common questions patients have early on.
• By week two: Her portal recommends a short article on talking with family about her diagnosis, along with a relatable patient story.
• After one month: She receives a follow-up message celebrating her progress and offering guidance on setting goals for her next checkup.

As a result, Maria stuck to her care plan. But most importantly, she began to feel like her care team wasn’t just treating her; they were working in partnership with her.

Building loyalty, one interaction at a time

This level of engagement is no longer a luxury. The industry is shifting away from quick, transactional encounters and toward something more enduring: relationship-based care. In this model, communication doesn’t end at discharge. It continues throughout the patient’s journey, adapting to their needs, concerns, and moments of uncertainty.

For healthcare marketers, thoughtful PE is the connective tissue between patient trust and brand performance. A well-timed message or resource can change how a patient feels about their care as well as the organization that provided it. Over time, those micro-moments build loyalty and strengthen your reputation. Most importantly, they drive measurable results.

How to Create Content That Resonates with Patients

Obviously, you already know meaningful content matters. You also know that creating communication that truly resonates takes effort. It’s not enough to repurpose provider talking points or drop clinical information into a PDF. If the goal is to create something that sticks with patients, prompts action, and builds trust, the approach needs to go much deeper.

It’s time for a mindset shift: from content as a deliverable to content as a relationship-builder. What does that look like? Here are some actionable ideas to get you started.

1. Understand the patient perspective

Behind every health search or appointment is a real person. Often anxious. Often confused. Often just trying to make sense of what comes next. To create meaningful content, you have to step into that mindset.

Start by listening. Advisory boards, frontline staff, and even call center notes can uncover the questions patients are too overwhelmed or too embarrassed to ask. These insights are gold. They help you shape content that feels empathetic instead of clinical. Clear instead of complicated.

Additionally, consider the emotional state of your audience. A newly diagnosed patient is not just looking for information. They’re looking for reassurance. Someone managing a long-term condition might be facing decision fatigue, burnout, or fear. The tone and structure of your content should reflect that.

Keep in mind: Patients often enter the journey already overwhelmed, especially in the early days of a diagnosis. Cognitive load is high. The best content assumes this and meets it with clarity, not complexity.

2. Build empathy-driven and trust-building content

Content that builds trust starts with the assumption that the patient is not just a recipient, but a human in a moment of vulnerability. Tone, imagery, and structure all play a role in whether someone leans in or tunes out.

Subtle but powerful choices:

• Use testimonials and real-life patient language to lower emotional barriers.
• Design with “skimability” in mind. Patients may not read top to bottom, but they will scan for reassurance.
• Choose images that reflect your audience’s lived reality. (So long, stock photos of smiling families.)
• Avoid fear-based messaging unless clinically necessary. When people are scared, they need reassurance and grounding—not more urgency.

Keep in mind: Many organizations try to “educate and empower,” but forget that emotional resonance is a prerequisite for comprehension. If content doesn’t feel safe or relatable, it won’t get read, no matter how accurate it is.

3. Tools, tone, and timing for authentic engagement

Here’s where marketing meets operations. Unfortunately, it’s also where a lot of well-intentioned content strategies fall short. Delivery timing, content tone, and tech enablement all need to align to create a seamless patient experience.

Let’s break it down:

Component	What To Consider	Why It Matters
Tools	Are your CRM, EHR, and CMS systems integrated to personalize outreach based on patient behavior?	Disconnected systems delay or derail timely content delivery.
Tone	Is the content being written in a voice that aligns with patient expectations (calm, clear, competent)?	Tone affects perceived credibility and emotional safety.
Timing	Are messages triggered by real milestones (diagnosis, discharge, annual visit), not just campaign cycles?	Timing determines relevance. Irrelevant content damages trust.

Keep in mind: Don’t underestimate the operational lift of real-time relevance. Automated campaigns without clinical data can misfire. Or over-segmentation without workflow support can stall production. The most effective content journeys happen when marketing is aligned not just with brand, but with care delivery.

Personalization and Segmentation Strategies

Patients expect relevance, not generic information. That means delivering content that reflects who they are, where they are in their health journey, and what they actually need in the moment.

Segment by health journey, not just demographics

Segmentation in healthcare isn’t just about age, zip code, or insurance type. It’s about mindset. Demographics alone won’t tell you who’s overwhelmed, who’s skeptical, or who’s likely to drop off. A newly diagnosed patient processes information differently from someone managing a chronic condition. And someone in prevention mode needs a completely different kind of message.

Build personas that reflect these stages. For example:

• Newly Diagnosed Dana is overwhelmed and searching for clarity. She needs content that simplifies the next steps, breaks down medical jargon, and offers emotional reassurance.
• Chronic Care Carlos has been at this for a while. He wants reminders, encouragement, and content that helps him manage fatigue, not just his symptoms.
• Prevention-Minded Priya is proactive. She’s looking for wellness tips, risk assessments, and motivation to stay on track.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking. This kind of segmentation can feel a little silly. But it really helps you speak directly to what matters most to each group.

Make personalization feel natural, not forced

Sorry, but adding the patient’s name to an email subject line isn’t going to cut it. Personalization should feel relevant, not robotic.

Use behavioral triggers, past interactions, and condition-specific interests to guide what each patient sees. For example, if someone recently clicked on a diabetes guide, follow up with content about nutrition or medication options that fit their stage of care.

Then go deeper. Pull in qualitative input from patient advisory boards, frontline clinicians, or call center reps to shape the tone and feel of your content. Layer in considerations like health literacy, digital comfort, and even mindset. For example, is the patient proactive, hesitant, or avoidant?

The more context-aware your content is, the more human it feels.

Use content mapping to connect needs to touchpoints

Once you’ve defined your personas and their priorities, take it a step further: map their needs to specific moments along their journey. This turns personalization into a plan, not just an idea.

Think about what content each persona needs before an appointment, after a diagnosis, during treatment, or when facing a long-term care decision. Then align those needs with the right type of content such as FAQs, video explainers, checklists, or real patient stories.

Choosing the Right Channels to Deliver Content

To maximize impact, you need a multichannel strategy tailored to your audience segments and communication goals. Let’s break down what works and why.

Patient portals

Use for: Secure access to personalized resources, lab results, and care plans.

Portals aren’t flashy, but they’re where your most engaged patients are. This is where they head when they’re actively engaged and ready to learn. Embed educational content, post-visit instructions, and wellness checklists directly in their health records. Keep it simple and relevant.

Pro tips:

• Inject short-form content in post-visit summaries (e.g., “3 Things to Know After Your Colonoscopy”).
• Trigger portal-based educational modules based on diagnosis codes or visit types.
• Use EHR integrations to schedule content nudges over time, not just once.

Email campaigns

Use for: Ongoing education, nurturing series, and timely health reminders.

Email remains one of the most effective channels for building long-term engagement. Segment by health condition, age, or journey stage and build out email workflows. Think: onboarding series for new patients, seasonal flu reminders, or monthly wellness tips.

Pro tips:

• Build conditional drip sequences based on behaviors (e.g., clicked but didn’t schedule).
• Use smart subject lines that reference care history or upcoming health milestones.
• Integrate with care manager workflows to trigger outreach based on non-responsiveness.

Social media

Use for: Emotionally resonant stories, community-building, health awareness campaigns.

Social is where people scroll, pause, and connect. Use strong visuals, short captions, and human-centered stories to grab attention.

This is your chance to bring your brand voice to life and show you “get” your patients.

Pro tips:

• Use “story loops” on platforms like Instagram or TikTok to simplify complex conditions (e.g., Day in the Life of a Diabetic Patient).
• Spotlight clinicians, not just facilities. Human faces drive engagement.
• Leverage comment monitoring for patient sentiment analysis and UGC ideas.

Video content

Use for: Education, storytelling, and simplifying complex health topics.

Video is a powerful trust-builder. It allows patients to see and hear from real doctors, nurses, or other patients. Use short videos to explain procedures, introduce care teams, or highlight patient success stories. Embed them everywhere: websites, emails, portals, and social media.

Pro tips:

• Produce “What to Expect” video series for common procedures (e.g., MRI walkthroughs).
• Reuse long-form provider interviews as shorts for email, social, and your blog.
• Closed caption aren’t optional. Include visual overlays for accessibility and SEO.

SMS/texting

Use for: Short, time-sensitive messages like appointment reminders, refill alerts, or quick tips.

Texts get seen (and forgotten) fast, so keep them brief. SMS isn’t for education; it’s for action. Link out to more content if needed, but make sure the first line delivers value.

Pro tips:

• Time messages based on known patient behavior (e.g., 6 p.m. for working adults).
• Use A/B testing to optimize CTA wording (e.g., “Confirm Now” vs. “Schedule Later”).
• Create integrated SMS and landing page flows for screenings or wellness campaigns.

Printed materials

Use for: Older populations, offline audiences, or deep-dive guides.

Print still matters, especially for patients who aren’t digitally savvy. Use brochures, one-pagers, or mailed newsletters to reinforce key messages. Include QR codes or phone numbers to bridge the gap between print and digital.

Pro tips:

• Include QR codes tied to personalized digital experiences (not generic homepages).
• Use localized data and visuals for community trust (especially in rural markets).
• Bundle print into discharge packets, pre-surgical kits, or onboarding folders.

Effective content delivery means meeting patients on their terms. Your distribution strategy should be as intentional as your content strategy: aligned by journey stage, literacy level, device use, and emotional context.

Measuring Engagement and Trust-Based Outcomes

In healthcare, your measurement strategy has to account for both performance metrics and signals of trust. A strong framework blends traditional healthcare KPIs with deeper patient-centric indicators to show what’s working, what’s resonating, and what’s driving real action.

Traditional KPIs: Establishing performance benchmarks

Before diving into optimization, make sure your foundational KPIs are being tracked, segmented, and reported in a way that reflects your content’s strategic role. Many in-house teams assume the basics are covered, but gaps in data hygiene or inconsistent reporting can lead to missed insights.

Ask yourself:

• Click-through rate (CTR): Are you segmenting CTR by channel, audience type, and device? A generic “average CTR” won’t tell you whether content is underperforming in mobile environments or if certain headlines fall flat with specific patient groups.
• Time on page: Are you benchmarking this against content type and user intent? Patients reading a step-by-step guide for a procedure should behave differently from someone skimming wellness tips. Tracking averages without context can lead to misinterpretation.
• Bounce rate: Is bounce being reviewed in context with page type and entry source? High bounce on a landing page may be fine if the CTA is a phone call. But on a key education page, it could signal poor structure, load time issues, or weak internal linking.
• Engagement rate across platforms: Are you aggregating this data across content themes or formats? Is short-form video outperforming infographics? Are condition-specific posts getting traction in the right communities? Without cross-format analysis, you’re missing the patterns that drive smarter content planning.

Too often, these numbers exist in isolation or live in a report that no one acts on. Establish a clear system to flag anomalies, compare benchmarks across audience segments, and tie these KPIs back to business goals like appointment scheduling, portal activations, or campaign ROI.

Trust-focused metrics: Capturing emotional and behavioral indicators

Engagement is only half the story. Trust is what drives ongoing participation in care. These metrics help assess whether your content is building credibility and connection.

• Patient satisfaction surveys and sentiment analysis: Go beyond the scores; use qualitative feedback to analyze tone, empathy, and comprehension, especially for content tied to care decisions.
• Return visits and re-engagement actions: Monitor whether patients revisit articles, open follow-up emails, or access related resources; recurring interactions suggest meaningful value.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS) and trust signals: Tie NPS to specific content touchpoints, like post-discharge instructions or health education campaigns, to understand their impact on brand trust and patient confidence.

Optimization tactics: Closing the feedback Loop

Once you know what’s working (and what’s not), build systems that continuously adapt based on data, feedback, and clinical context.

• A/B test formats and tone: Don’t just test subject lines. Test emotional tone, voice, and content density; more clinical language may perform better in portals, while conversational tone often wins on social and email.
• Track feedback loops via surveys or call center logs: Use patient questions and complaints to pinpoint unclear messaging or missing content; if multiple patients call after viewing the same piece, revise it.
• Iterate based on care cycle stage: Tailor content to match the patient’s point in their journey; early-stage content should focus on clarity and emotional support, while ongoing care content should emphasize action and self-management.

Keep in mind your content shapes perception, builds trust, and guides real decisions. To prove ROI and earn internal buy-in, your measurement strategy needs to reflect that full scope.

Compliance, Privacy and Content Ethics

As you personalize content and scale outreach, you must stay grounded in HIPAA-compliant content practices, data transparency, and ethical messaging. Beyond avoiding legal risk, this is about protecting your brand’s credibility.

HIPAA in practice

Every piece of content needs to be vetted for protected health information (PHI) exposure. That includes email, SMS, portal messaging, and dynamic landing pages. Coordinate with compliance teams before launching anything tied to a CRM or EHR system.

Ask: Could this message infer a diagnosis, appointment, or condition, even indirectly? If so, pause and review.

Use data transparently

Personalization builds engagement, but only if patients understand and consent to how their data is used. Be upfront about targeting practices, offer clear opt-ins, and avoid hyper-specific content that may feel invasive. Let patients manage preferences instead of forcing all-or-nothing subscriptions.

Ethics build brand trust

Compliance is the floor. Ethical content—grounded in clarity, empathy, and medical accuracy—is what earns long-term trust. Avoid fear-based messaging, ensure medical review, and represent real patient diversity in your visuals and stories.

Real-World Examples and Success Stories

Across the industry, leading healthcare brands are proving that meaningful, personalized content can move the needle on both engagement and trust.

Sutter Health: SEO-Driven Content Strategy

Sutter Health revamped thousands of Doctor Profile pages across its Northern California websites to improve visibility in organic and local search results. By consolidating content, implementing canonical tagging, and executing a robust local SEO strategy, Sutter Health addressed structural issues that were limiting performance across localized domains.

The results:

• 50% boost in organic traffic to doctor profiles
• A 212% increase in site visits year‑over‑year
• Improved findability for location- and specialty-based patient searches

Englewood Health: Text Messaging Improves Screening Compliance

In 2023, Englewood Health launched a two-way SMS campaign to address a persistent care gap: overdue mammograms. The initiative targeted more than 7,000 women who had missed their recommended screenings thanks to disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. The messages were personalized, emphasized the importance of early detection, and included a direct link to self-schedule an appointment. The goal was to make compliance as simple and frictionless as possible.

The results:

• ~20% of recipients scheduled a breast imaging appointment
• Breast cancer was detected in 0.5% of patients who responded
• Program expanded to include lung and colorectal cancer screenings

Leading Multispecialty Hospital: Digital Campaign & Content Optimization Drive Patient Engagement

A large multispecialty hospital implemented an integrated marketing strategy combining SEO-optimized content, targeted health campaigns, and improved on-site conversion paths.

The results:

• 50% increase in website traffic within six months
• 35% growth in patient inquiries through digital channels
• Significant lift in social media engagement and campaign reach

Get Expert Help with Patient Engagement-Focused Content

Whether you’re refining a portal message, launching a new campaign, or reevaluating your entire content ecosystem, ask yourself: Are we creating content that connects? Measuring the right outcomes? Keeping the patient at the center of every decision?

Still unsure? We can help! Connect with the healthcare marketing team at PriceWeber to audit your content strategy, identify high-impact opportunities, and build a roadmap that drives deeper patient engagement. Contact us here or call us at 502-499-4209 to get started.