Getting Personal with Your Marketing

By its very nature, health care is personal. However, health care marketing and communications have not always aligned with the patient's specific needs, preferences, and desires. Traditional marketing relies on blanket distribution of the same flyer to the target neighborhood or geography to promote a discount. Or an email promotion might be blasted out to everyone in your practice's database, regardless of whether it was relevant to them.

There is more content competing for eyeballs than ever before. Similarly, there have never been more tools to manage and maximize a practice's content. These are among the key drivers behind personalization. Simply put, blanketing one's patient base with generic promos is no longer sufficient to see what "sticks."

Make the most of your resources with personalized content tailored to segments of your community. View patients not as a collective or mass. See them as communities within one's broader community. Tailor content accordingly. Relevant communications resonate and drive results.

PERSONALIZATION, DEFINED

The American Marketing Association characterizes personalization as the use of consumer insights to enhance the effectiveness and relevancy of the advertised product or service. As noted by the AMA, personalized marketing/communications strategies are targeted, tailored, and "one-on-one."

The case for breaking down content into various "buckets" that resonate with targeted demographics is considerable. In its most recentThe State of Personalization 2023 andThe State of Personalization 2024 reports,^1,2 cloud communications company Twilio notes that:

• 56% say they will become loyal patrons if the firm or practice personalizes content that "speaks to them."
• The above metric reflects growing demand and a 7% year-on-year increase in 2023 in the number of study subjects who said they would become loyal patrons due to personalized experiences.
• 62% of business owners surveyed reported improved consumer loyalty and retention as a result of their efforts to personalize communications.
• As of 2024, 89% of key business decision-makers surveyed believe that personalization is invaluable to their company's success in the next 3 years, and 85% are currently planning to adjust or optimize their marketing strategies to personalize content to the unique needs and preferences of Gen Z consumers.

Do not miss out on this opportunity to:

• Build patient loyalty.
• Acquire new patients during challenging economic times.
• Maintain a competitive edge as new practices enter the market and seize data-driven personalization strategies.

GETTING STARTED

Personalization has matured to the point where content is now "hyper-personalized." This means we now have the tools to target potential patients in "real-time." Communications may be delivered to them that are particularly timely or even relevant to their location at a given moment. So, when they are in the neighborhood, a friendly reminder could be sent to schedule a maintenance injection or an annual screening. It is essential to strike a balance. You want to be helpful and provide meaningful content about your practice. However, you do not want to be perceived as "annoying" or intrusive. Plus, there are the inevitable challenges and concerns around privacy and data security.

Additionally, it is important to take a step back. See the big picture. Before we can "dive" into increasingly personalized or hyper-personalized content,³ we must first get comfortable with wading in the personalization pool. Here are a few general pointers to get started:

• When reviewing content, consider how it supports patient relationships beyond the "skin deep" or superficial level. Loyalty in the context of personalization is all about deepening your understanding of the patient. In turn, you engage with them on a more personal level. This notion helps to build trust. These patients are more likely not only to return to your office but also to refer your team to their family members, friends, colleagues, and peers.
• Make the most of your communication channels and platforms. To personalize content effectively, it is essential to understand where your patient segments prefer to consume this material. Be sure to generate high-value, tailored content for the social platforms or other communication spaces these segments patronize.
• Ensure a seamless experience. Deliver content whose tone and substance align, regardless of whether it is posted on your website, YouTube, or Instagram. Consistent messaging is fundamental to brand communications strategies. Being mindful of this approach also helps to avoid brand confusion and further your practice philosophy and mission.
• Support a scalable experience. Personalization sounds costly, time-consuming, and resource-intensive, right? Personalized content is actually of great value because it works. Additionally, you do not need to start from scratch with your content. For example, you can take existing content and reuse it. The personalization part may come into play because you are more mindful of how that information is being distributed. Instead of sending an email blast to everyone about a new laser, target specific segments or buckets that are more likely to find this new therapy beneficial. You can also use existing solid content as a good foundation to adjust it so it "speaks" more effectively to specific segments. By adjusting rather than building anew, you are intelligently using existing resources.

A FINAL NOTE

Personalization in all of its forms depends on deriving insights about your patients. We know this can be a daunting task because there are so many different analytics and data-collection resources to lean on. Part of starting on the right foot with personalization is also leaning into established resources in the medical communications space. We are aware of the opportunities and pitfalls associated with data-driven insights and marketing. In turn, we welcome "getting personal" with your team—answering questions and addressing concerns to remove barriers between your practice and effective, tailored content.

1. Twilio Segment. The State of Personalization Report 2023. Published 2023. Accessed June 26, 2026. https://segment.com/pdfs/State-of-Personalization-Report-Twilio-Segment-2023.pdf
2. Twilio. State of Personalization Report. Accessed June 26, 2026. https://www.twilio.com/en-us/resource-center/download/state-of-personalization-report
3. Moussa M. Harnessing Hyper-Personalization in Modern Marketing. Canadian Marketing Association. Published March 27, 2024. Accessed June 26, 2026. https://thecma.ca/topic/articles/2024/03/27/harnessing-hyper-personalization-in-modern-marketing

Naren Arulrajah

• President and CEO, Ekwa Marketing, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada