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Hey again — it's Steve with Healthcare Marketing Vitals!

Last week we talked about messaging lessons from telemedicine giants and somehow didn’t mention Hinge Health.

This week they filed to go public with an IPO—probably to get our attention.

And it worked.

Because when a digital health startup files for an IPO valued at $3+ billion, it's worth studying their marketing & positioning playbook.

Their journey reveals crucial lessons for healthcare practices of all sizes. Their success wasn't accidental. It was engineered through strategic marketing choices we can all learn from.

In This Week’s Email:

• [3-4 min] How They Did It: Hinge Health's Marketing Masterclass: 5 Strategies Your Practice Can Steal

• [1-2 min] By the Numbers: Practice call stats you should know

• [30 sec] In the Know: Three healthcare marketing stories worth your time

• [30 sec] Paradigm Shift: The Blueprint Method

SPOTLIGHT

Hinge Health's Marketing Masterclass: 5 Strategies Your Practice Can Steal

3-4 min. read

Hinge Health just filed for IPO, potentially valuing the digital musculoskeletal (MSK) care provider at over $3 billion. That's billion with a B.

For context: Hinge Health launched just 9 years ago and has grown to serve over 2,200 employers and benefit plans, while delivering care to more than 1 million members.

That’s not normal. And I certainly wouldn’t suggest you look at your 9-year-old business (or child) and wonder why they’re not worth $3 billion yet.

What's fascinating about Hinge Health isn't just their success.

It’s how transferable their marketing strategies are to both local practices and large hospital systems alike.

Heads up, this is a simplified, partial analysis. If you want more detailed analyses and breakdowns in the future, where I get into every aspect of their language and imagery, reply and let me know.

Strategy #1: Lead with Simplicity and Clarity

Look at Hinge Health's messaging in the image above this section: "Ready to quit pain?" and “virtual physical therapy and more.”

They don't market themselves with jargon about "digital musculoskeletal interventions."

Their homepage immediately states the benefit: "Take control of your pain. Recover from injury. Even prepare for surgery. Join Hinge Health for expert care that fits into your busy life."

The clarity is refreshing in healthcare, where many providers hide behind clinical terminology.

The best part is their CTA (call-to-action) button at the top of the page: “Reduce your pain now →”

It’s clear, and a no-brainer for their target audience.

Your Practice Takeaway: Audit your website and marketing materials. Do they clearly state the patient benefit within seconds? Or do they focus on credentials and technical descriptions of services? Remember that patients start by seeking outcomes, not procedures.

Strategy #2: Make Convenience a Clinical Feature

Hinge Health positions convenience as a clinical benefit, not just a nice-to-have:

• "No commutes. No waiting rooms. Just pain relief."

• "With the Hinge Health app, you can do your exercise therapy anytime, anywhere."

• "Your exercises are designed so they can be done in about 15 minutes or less."

This positioning transforms what could be seen as "lesser care" (virtual vs. in-person) into a superior experience.

Your Practice Takeaway: Don't apologize for convenience features or treat them as administrative details. Position them as clinical advantages that improve adherence and outcomes. Extended hours, online booking, and telehealth options should be marketed as part of your clinical approach, not just operational perks.

If you do something extra for your patients that your competitors don’t, position it as surprising that others don’t do things that way because of how it helps the patient (caveat: that it truly does benefit them).

Strategy #3: Use Specific Numbers to Build Trust

Hinge Health prominently displays data that builds credibility:

• "52% of surgeries avoided"

• "68% average reduction in pain per participant"

• "42% fewer participants starting opioids"

• "Results backed by 10 years of data and 1M+ members treated"

These specific numbers feel much more credible than vague claims like "proven to reduce pain."

Additionally, they’re presented clearly and directly. No one has to sift through long blocks of text to find key data Hinge Health is trying to get across.

It’s front and center.

Your Practice Takeaway: Start tracking key metrics that matter to your patients. Even if you start small with simple before/after pain scores or functional assessments, specific numbers build more trust than general claims of effectiveness. They stand out and stick in patients’ minds.

Strategy #4: Target Multiple Decision-Makers

Hinge Health's website demonstrates a sophisticated understanding that healthcare decisions involve multiple stakeholders:

• Individual patients seeking pain relief

• Employers concerned about healthcare costs and productivity

• Health plans focused on reducing claims

• Benefits consultants advising clients

Each stakeholder gets dedicated messaging addressing their specific priorities.

And they all have their own pages.

Your Practice Takeaway: Map out everyone who influences your patient flow. This might include referring physicians, school nurses, caregivers of elderly patients, HR directors at local companies, or insurance brokers.

Create targeted messaging for each group rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach. Consider having pages geared toward referral partners on your website and in other materials, as well as different mediums (video, pictures, articles) to communicate to all audiences.

Strategy #5: Remove Financial Friction

Hinge Health hammers home "$0 cost to you" in virtually every ad and throughout their website. By working through employers and insurance, they've eliminated the payment barrier most healthcare providers struggle with.

Their marketing emphasizes this repeatedly because they know cost uncertainty stops many patients from seeking care.

Your Practice Takeaway: While you almost certainly cannot offer $0 cost care, you can reduce financial friction.

Consider:

• Transparent pricing prominently featured on your website

• Insurance eligibility verification tools

• Payment plan options highlighted in marketing materials

• Clear explanations of value relative to cost

Even if your services aren't the cheapest, eliminating financial uncertainty can significantly impact conversion rates.

Additionally, mitigating that hurdle might be what drives someone who is on the fence about seeking treatment to take that first step.

The Bigger Picture

What makes Hinge Health's approach something we can learn from is how they transformed a traditionally in-person service into a digital-first experience without losing the human element.

More specifically, how they adapted to changing expectations around convenience and then dialed in their audience’s wants and needs in order to create effective messaging.

Their marketing emphasizes both ease (via technology) and human connection: "Get guidance from your physical therapist to improve your mobility. Stick to your goals with support from your health coach."

Luckily, your practice doesn't need venture capital or sophisticated technology to implement these strategies.

You just need to think differently about why your practice, specifically, is so valuable to them, and how you communicate your value.

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BY THE NUMBERS

The Phone Call Revolution in Healthcare Marketing

1-2 min. read

While many marketers focus solely on digital conversions, new data reveals the hidden power of phone calls (properly tracked for attribution) in healthcare patient acquisition:

The Surprising Dominance of Phone Calls:

• 88% of healthcare appointments are scheduled by phone

• Only 2.4% of healthcare appointments are booked online

• 76% of patients call at some point during their healthcare journey (up 9% from last year)

• Calls convert to 10-15x more revenue than web leads for healthcare providers

What's Driving Patients to Call:

• Most common reason: Gathering information about services and purchase process

• Second reason: Discomfort sharing personal health information in web forms

• Third reason: Preference for personal interaction on healthcare matters

• Callers convert 30% faster than web leads and have a 28% higher retention rate

Digital's Role in Driving Calls:

• 5% of all Google searches are health-related

• Search drives 3x more visitors to hospital sites compared to non-search

• Patients who book appointments ran 3x more searches than those who didn't

• Nursing homes, physical therapists, and chiropractors receive the most post-search calls

The Cost of Poor Call Experiences:

• 65% of consumers have cut ties with a brand after just one poor customer service call

• 32% of consumers say phone calls are the most frustrating customer service channel

• 80% of consumers say the overall experience is as important as the healthcare service itself

• When providers personalize phone interactions, 49% of patients feel the practice cares about earning their business

What This Means: Despite our digital-first world, the phone call remains the critical conversion point for healthcare practices. Most patients research online but convert by phone—creating both a major opportunity and potential vulnerability in your marketing funnel.

The practice that optimizes for calls—not just clicks—will have a significant advantage in patient acquisition. This means making it easy to call from every digital touchpoint and ensuring those calls are answered promptly by well-trained staff.

Source: Invoca Healthcare Marketing Statistics 2024 Report