Why Digital Implementations Fail — and How to Ensure Yours Doesn’t 

You’ve decided it’s time to replatform and redesign your website. Your team has identified your organization’s digital needs, vetted platform options, and ultimately selected the solution that you’ll use to manage your website going forward.  

Now it’s time to implement. 

In Geonetric’s more than 25 years in the digital experience space, we’ve heard from numerous healthcare marketers whose previous content management system or digital experience platform implementations ended in frustration, missed goals, and the eventual need to start all over. 

Your implementation should establish a solid foundation for your website and allow you to expand it over time. So why do many digital implementations fail to do so? 

Your digital needs changed 

Before starting to research CMS or DXP options, you or your team likely sat down to create a list of must-haves and nice-to-haves for your next solution. Depending on how long it took to research, demo, and ultimately select and implement that platform, it’s possible that your original goals fell out of alignment with what the platform could actually help you accomplish. 

How to avoid it 

Unless you have a crystal ball, it can be hard to predict exactly how your organization’s digital needs will change. Stay ahead of the curve by selecting a platform that can grow with your organization and offers features that make it easy for your team to add new service lines, locations, pages, and microsites; integrate with new third-party patient portals and apps; and incorporate geographic- and user-based personalization. 

The platform isn’t healthcare-specific 

You don’t need to be reminded that healthcare marketing is full of unique challenges and complexities. And if the platform you selected wasn’t designed to address those concerns, it’s harder to get it up and running in a way that works for your organization. Features like provider directories, location profiles, alphabetical service listings, and wait-time indicators are easier to implement when your CMS or DXP was created with healthcare in mind. 

How to avoid it 

When your platform is designed to work for healthcare organizations, you’re less likely to hit major roadblocks during the digital implementation process. In fact, the implementation process will be smoother overall because you already know the platform you chose can handle the features your organization needs. 

Geonetric offers two healthcare-focused platforms to the organizations we work with: our VitalSite® CMS and Optimizely One, a leading DXP.  To learn more about each platform and which one best meets your digital needs, check out our blog post on whether a DXP or CMS is right for your organization. 

Your team can’t use the platform 

If the platform you selected for your organization requires IT assistance or help from an outside agency to make even the most basic updates, you could end up frustrated before the site even launches. In healthcare, that frustration will only grow when you end up waiting for updates on time-sensitive items like outbreak alerts, weather-related closures, and wait times. 

How to avoid it 

The solution here is two-fold: first, choose a platform that’s user-friendly and doesn’t require coding to make changes. This allows every member of your team, regardless of their technical ability, to quickly make changes to your website at a moment’s notice. Second, ensure your platform or implementation partner provides training and support for your team as you build and launch the new site.  

Once your site is live, you should feel knowledgeable in how your platform works and confident to make updates on your own.  Your digital implementation partner should also offer continued support and training, so your team understands how to use updates and new tools to their full potential. 

You don’t have an experienced digital implementation partner 

When it comes to choosing a CMS or DXP for your team, selecting the platform is only half of the equation. Without the right implementation partner, you could end up hitting roadblocks when it comes to third-party healthcare integrations, compliance and privacy regulations, or site governance as your organization grows.  

How to avoid it 

You’ll want to make sure the platform is backed by a partner with healthcare experience that can plan the implementation process for your organization’s unique needs, provide the training your team needs to use the platform to its fullest potential, and stay connected with you even after launch to ensure everything is going smoothly. With a healthcare-focused partner at the helm of your CMS or DXP implementation, you can leverage your new platform to its fullest potential and know it’s already set up for future growth. 

Set yourself up for success 

With the right platform and digital implementation partner, your next website redesign and implementation can be the first step in a digital transformation that helps your organization reach its goals.  

Geonetric is ready to help you take that first step with our more than 25 years of digital experience and industry-leading platforms. Reach out to our team today to schedule your free demo of VitalSite or Optimizely, and learn more about how we help healthcare organizations achieve their full digital potential!