As we approach the final quarter of 2023, healthcare marketers may be considering how they can end the calendar year strongly. Awareness campaigns—when used strategically—can position your health system as a knowledge source or leader in your community. And, depending on the services your system provides, they can be a creative way to increase patient appointments.
New-Mover Campaign
According to movinglabor.com, June through August are the peak months during which households move. Moves often necessitate families seeking new care providers, which means early fall is an opportune time to run a new-mover campaign—if you aren’t already running an evergreen campaign throughout the year.
New-mover campaigns can creatively welcome families to the neighborhood while giving them information on their nearest ER and urgent care locations, convenient primary and specialty care providers, or other services your health system offers. Direct mail and social media are great tactics to reach this audience.
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
We would be remiss if we didn’t include the most obvious campaign—breast cancer awareness! This is a prime time to showcase your mammography and women’s health services.
How easily can your patients find, understand, and use the information your health system provides—and your services—to make decisions about their health? At AcrobatAnt, we talk a lot about reframing your marketing mindset to understand the healthcare experience from a patient’s point of view. This is a great time to make that mental shift.
Does your health system provide adequate information to patients about their health? Do you make it easy for patients to ask their providers questions, find providers, or navigate your health system to find doctors?
October is a great time to take inventory and then make a plan to improve. Maybe it’s in-person seminars or live streams on your social channels. Maybe it’s making it easier to ask a doctor a question.
Whatever improvements you make, talk about them! Promote them online, on social media, and via email to ensure patients understand the tools available to them.
A few other awareness days that could spark campaign or content ideas:
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Awareness Month
World Mental Health Day (Oct. 10)
National Mammography Day (Oct. 20)
Global Handwashing Day (Oct. 15)
American Diabetes Month & World Diabetes Day (Nov. 14)
November is an opportune time to promote your endocrinology team, along with educational content on early signs of diabetes, diabetes prevention, and diabetes management.
Lung Cancer Awareness Month & The Great American Smokeout (Nov. 16)
Lung cancer screenings and smoking cessation messages are popular during November. Leverage this general awareness for your health system by promoting your cancer care services and lung screening appointments. Partnering with smoking cessation programs to help members of your community quit can further position your health system as a leader in the community.
Thanksgiving
How about sharing heart-healthy (but delicious) Thanksgiving recipes! This is a perfect social media campaign for November. Create reels of preparing these recipes to further boost engagement and show the end product. You can even get your cardiology team involved by sharing tips for choosing heart-healthy options during the holidays.
Other timely topics:
National Family Caregivers Month
National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
Stomach Cancer Awareness Month
National Influenza Vaccination Week (Dec 4-8)
While you have probably already run a flu vaccine campaign during the fall months, National Influenza Vaccination Week in December is a great time to remind those who have thus far avoided getting a shot. Reminder messages to encourage the community to stay well over the holidays by getting their vaccine could catch those stragglers’ attention.
Utilize Unused Health Benefits
Many healthcare benefits such as flexible spending accounts, dental and vision services are use-or-lose by year’s end. Depending on the services your health system provides, December would be a great time to remind the community to utilize those healthcare services before they lose them—and utilize them with your health system.
Christmas
Another obvious one, but show your Christmas spirit! Share information about any holiday celebrations. Maybe your health system runs toy drives for your children’s hospital, or food/coat drives for those less fortunate. There’s no better time than the holidays to show how much you care for the community.
Additional topics:
National Safe Toys and Gifts Month
National Handwashing Awareness Week (Dec 4-8)
While the year may be winding down, there’s still a myriad of opportunities to create meaningful connections with your target audiences to raise awareness, promote your services, or encourage preventative care. AcrobatAnt is here to help you end your year on a positive note. We’d love to help you strategize to create a Q4 plan that will deliver results for your health system
Contact Angela Harless at [email protected] or 918-938-7912.