Ho Ho Holiday No-Shows: Tips to decrease missed appointments

[by: Amanda Midence]

Decorations are up, and the holiday spirit is in the air! You have the next month jammed packed with family gatherings, dinners, and shopping and so do your patients.

No-shows are already a concern at most sites and during the holidays, it can sometimes become a common occurrence as patients are traveling, shopping for Christmas and spending time with their families. During the holidays, your site is also competing for attention with all the major retail, online stores, and restaurants. Holiday advertising is crowding social media, TV channels, radios, and online streaming services. Consequently, your site’s no-show rate starts to increase.

How to keep your patients engaged with your site?

Now more than ever, it’s important to provide quality content for your patients. Quality will always break through the clutter and buzz of advertisement. And contrary to what you might think, crafting quality content doesn’t have to translate into more expenses for your site. After all, posting on social media is free.

Use organic social media.

• With Twitter’s extended character count, provide facts about the conditions you are aiming to treat and have meaningful exchanges with your followers. Make use of relevant hashtags to increase your community involvement and social presence.

• Host informative FB or Instagram Live events and promote them through all your social channels. Even if your patients are busy at the time of the event, they can always watch it later!

• Send your current database an email blast wishing them safe and happy holidays. Let them know you care for their well-being.

• Engage them with interesting facts and helpful tips to stay healthy around the holiday season.

Breaking through the clutter is challenging but possible. Take the time to craft content your audience finds helpful, and they will stop scrolling and engage with your site. If you have no idea what kind of content your audience is expecting from you, ask your current patients. They are your best research source!

Social media might not be a high-priority on your to-do list. We get it, you are extremely busy! But social media management is our highest priority. We collaborate to build the best strategy for your site and aim to create the best content and design. This holiday season, stop worrying about your no-show rates, let us help your site engage current and future patients!