Meet Your Potential Hospice Audience at Each Step of Their Journey

You clearly understand your patients, their families, your referrers and your community. Your website is full of useful information, but you’d like to ensure you’re truly helping people find what they’re looking for and increase the likelihood that they’ll choose your home health, hospice or palliative care services.

Each person who visits your site, interacts with you on social media or is exposed to your ads comes to you with varying levels of hospice or palliative care knowledge.

Create the foundation for these three stages in your potential audiences’ informational journeys:

1. Information at this stage is meant to attract people and change those unfamiliar with you into visitors. People understand they have a problem or need but aren’t able to put a name to it or clearly define it yet. For example: A family caregiver of a chronically ill mother sees that her mom is losing weight, but won’t eat or drink. She has begun feeling that her mother’s treatments aren’t having the results she’d hope. She wants her mom to be free from pain and be able to rest.At this stage, ask if your communications are:

• Educational?
• Helping them identify the problem?
• Speaking to the audience’s point of view? (As opposed to speaking about yourself.)
• Relevant, engaging and understandable?

2. Content here is meant to convert people by changing visitors into potential patients or referrers. People have defined their problem and are looking to understand the best approach to dealing with it. Example: A nurse at a long-term care facility understands that her patient is at the end of his life. She wants to know what options are available to her patient to ensure he’s comfortable and his family is supported.At this stage, ask yourself if your communications are:

• Defining your solutions?
• Clearly explaining your approach?
• Highlighting your expertise?
• Relevant, engaging and understandable?

3. Information here is meant to make patients out of potential patients. People have decided on the best approach to solving their problem and now want to choose the best place to receive care. Example: A potential patient’s family member has decided she wants to choose a local hospice that takes a comprehensive approach to the end of life. She’s found two that reflect that approach. She wants to understand which best exemplifies her desired approach to the end of life.At this stage, ask yourself if your communications are:

• Comparing your services to others?
• Presenting real scenarios or endorsements where your method has been successful?
• Offering literature that supports your services?
• Provides an easy way to contact you now?
• Relevant, engaging and understandable? Yes, it bears repeating.

Providing your potential patients and families with content that meets their needs each step of the way is a sure-footed way to take them from being unaware to well educated about your hospice services.