We live in a patient-centric economy — so why not let patients help drive your marketing efforts? Patient testimonials are an engaging, cost-effective way to combat patient skepticism around advertising, attract new patients to your health care business and effectively promote your brand services and benefits.

There is a time and a place for marketing that serves to educate and inform potential customers and establish your practice as a credible thought leader. But at the end of the day, people want to read compelling stories about others who were facing the same problems, challenges and pain that they’re experiencing now. And that’s where patient testimonials can provide real value to your business.

Keep reading to learn 6 helpful tips for gathering and creating patient testimonials. 

How Do Testimonials Benefit Your Brand?

These days, patients are incredibly wary of being advertised to and therefore less likely to trust promotional content created and published by your brand. People trust other people more, even if the other person is a stranger — 84% of people trust online reviews as much as they trust a personal recommendation from a family member or friend.  

Patient testimonials are a natural and authentic way to get the key benefits of your products and services in front of potential customers using a non-aggressive approach. Choosing health care services is largely an emotional and personal decision, and hearing other peoples’ stories and experiences draws upon that emotional appeal.

Patient testimonials build credibility, demonstrate authenticity, and deliver persuasive, patient-centric content that leads new customers to request more information or take an action on your website.      

6 Tips for Creating Compelling Patient Testimonials

1. Ask for them. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not a taboo to directly ask your patients for a testimonial. If you delivered an amazing patient experience and affected a positive outcome, many patients will be happy to give your brand a glowing review. During your ask, be upfront about what you need: would this patient be willing to be part of a video testimonial? Would they be willing to provide a written testimonial or give a testimonial over a phone interview? Work with your patients to discover the best and most comfortable solution for everyone. 

2. Obtain the proper authorizations. Your health care business can’t move forward publishing or sharing patient testimonials without HIPAA-compliant authorizations. Patients must provide a valid written authorization before you can publish a testimonial on your website, social media, print ads, television or anywhere else. Do your research on what you need to be HIPAA compliant before collecting any patient testimonials. 

3. Determine the best medium. There are so many mediums for patient testimonials: audio testimonials, video testimonials, written long-form patient success stories, or snappy quotes. Engaging video testimonials are an excellent choice because they can also be turned into written success stories or used for specific quotes, meaning you can share the testimonial in different forms across multiple media channels. Of course, take your patients into account as well. Some patients may not feel comfortable being in front of a camera, or some may not have the time to participate in a long interview. Some patients may be much more willing to contribute if all they have to do is fill out an online form with questions.    

4. Ask questions that encourage patients to demonstrate specific benefits. The power of a testimonial comes from the fact that it’s a natural and authentic way to promote the features and benefits of your products and services. To that end, a testimonial that doesn’t substantiate your key benefits isn’t as helpful. Weak testimonial: “{Company} was amazing and I couldn’t be happier now!” Strong testimonial: “After {Company} worked with me to set up an affordable payment plan, I underwent {procedure} and now I’m able to {activity} again, which I was in too much pain to do before!” To get testimonials like the second example, ask questions that encourage patients to list tangible benefits they gained, the specific features that set your brand apart, and the definable impact your services had on their lives.   

5. Share, share, share. You worked hard to create quality testimonials — now put them to good use. A dedicated website page is a great place to showcase written patient stories, audio testimonials and videos. Social media is ideal for sharing video testimonials and short, snappy quotes that direct readers back to see the full testimonial on your website. Ads and landing pages are excellent places for impactful quotes that catch readers’ attention.   

6. Monitor the web. Sometimes, you can get an amazing testimonial without doing any work at all. Monitor review sites and social media for mentions of your brand so that you can reshare these organic mentions and testimonials across your online platforms.  

Need Help With Your Marketing? Contact NewGen Marketing Today.

At NewGen Marketing, our executive team has spent decades driving marketing and sales initiatives for industry-leading health care brands. Our strategies are based on performance marketing: we constantly analyze the data from marketing campaigns to determine where we can allocate resources most efficiently into channels that are generating quality leads and conversions. We make sure you’re not wasting a single dollar that you’re putting into marketing spend.
Ready to hire a marketing agency who can drive more to your bottom line? Contact NewGen Marketing today for a free consultation.