In 2023, a major healthcare system with more than 1,200 total beds wanted to further personalize and streamline the patient journey. For a few years, its marketing team had relied on the technology and talent of print and marketing communications firm Strata to target people who had recently moved close to one of its three hospitals or numerous satellite locations.

The healthcare system now wanted to build a new-mover campaign that was more customized toward primary care physician interest and referrals. Again, it turned to the Strata team for recommendations and personalization strategies.

Strata's winning marketing mix

It's the kind of challenge that drives Caitlin Lally, a natural-born marketer whose deep passion for branding and content development helps Strata succeed. She and her teammates work to understand each client's goals and challenges, and to live out Strata's motto to "Make Smart Happen."

Since Caitlin joined the Philadelphia, PA-based print and marketing communications firm in 2019 as its marketing manager, Strata has grown its reputation for boosting brands with a mix of innovation and ingenuity. Today, the company's client-driven solutions help brands of all sizes achieve a wide range of goals, from solving complex marketing and communications challenges to implementing a scalable operational strategy. Caitlin recently chatted with Juliana Pivoto, Dscoop's Community Success Manager for the Americas, on how companies are using data to redefine direct mail, and shared details of Strata's success with the healthcare system.

The healthcare system is using Strata's SmartMove technology, a multitouch program that helps users capitalize on the ideal time and place to reach their target audience — right as they move into a client's surrounding area. Importantly, Strata also helps clients communicate with those targets and build trust and loyalty with them, through integrated marketing communications technology (cloud-based portals that keep communications organized and consistent), multi-channel campaign tactics, and campaign execution and production (including direct mail).

Before 2023, the healthcare system's SmartMove campaign consisted of two direct mail touches (a trifold and a bifold), with one possible version for each piece, along with a premium giveaway offer. Today, thanks to advanced versioning and personalization tactics, the first touch now has up to six versions, and the second touch has up to 12 versions. Those versions vary in imagery, language, graphics and content, based on data known about each recipient, and were printed on Strata's HP Indigos.

The results were eye-opening. In the new campaign's first eight months, referral requests more than tripled compared with the first eight months of the prior campaign, while engagement skyrocketed from 2.8% to 13.2% and the response rate rose from 1.3% to 5.6%.

Meanwhile, Caitlin and her team continue to help Strata's wide-ranging clients improve their brand development and marketing communications, while also educating website visitors with enlightening tips and education.

Congratulations to Caitlin and the entire team at Strata!