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Learn More

Trilogy Health Services Improves Internal Communications Process with Email Newsletters

Dennis Kroese
HRIS and Internal Communications Program Manager at Trilogy Health Services, LLC

Overview

Client: Trilogy Health Services, LLC
Industry: Senior Care
Solution: Internal Communication
Deliverables: Email Newsletters, Templates & Landing Pages

Trilogy Health Services is a dynamic senior health and hospitality leader with more than 15,000 employees, managing more than 115 senior living communities in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Michigan. While the organization doesn't have a dedicated internal communications department, it does need to share information with a wide array of audiences, including its home office, business offices, sales team, rehabilitation staff, and the many thousands of community employees.

Empowering Staff to Be Email Marketers

When Dennis Kroese joined Trilogy as an HRIS Analyst, the organization was communicating via Outlook emails. "A team member was putting together great resources, but the Outlook emails were long, hard to read, and weren't trackable," says Dennis. "I knew that there had to be an easier and better way to communicate. We also wanted to find out what our readers were paying attention to. With Outlook, it was complete guesswork."

Dennis had studied international business communications and saw an opportunity to help Trilogy solve a critical need by implementing an internal communications tool. Dennis began researching email newsletter solutions and participating in demos. His search led him to EmailOpen, and the functionality and experience of its email marketing platform won him over. Dennis presented a business case for his senior leadership team, and EmailOpen was approved.

Since the solution was brand-new to Trilogy, Dennis began with just one email newsletter, the Business Office Update, and a test group of a few hundred employees, to make sure that it would be well-received. "I submitted our brand guidelines to EmailOpen, and the team showed me different newsletters they had built as examples of what they could do for me," says Dennis. "EmailOpen gave me three different designs based on what I was suggesting. One of the designs really fit the bill for what Trilogy needed. It was just a matter of weeks before we launched the Business Office Update."

"The email newsletter was a huge success," says Dennis. "It's so much easier for our readers to digest and engage with. We can do marketing teases, providing a few sentences and links to the full content. That enables staff to skim email newsletters and find the content that is relevant to them. One of the complaints our users had with Outlook was that they couldn't search for information. With the EmailOpen archive, users can easily search for topics via keyword."

From One to Nine Email Newsletters in Just One Year

One of the ways you evaluate the success of a software platform is the customer service it provides. EmailOpen has that down pat. They are so quick to respond, whether it is setting up newsletters, training users, considering new functionality, or troubleshooting any issues that may arise.

After seeing the Business Office Update, other internal teams at Trilogy recognized the power of having a centralized SaaS-based solution, where they could collaborate on creating useful email marketing communications that were well-branded, engaging, and provided creators with valuable insights on how readers were interacting with content. Says Dennis, "Different teams, including marketing and creative services, came to me and said, 'Can I do this? And the answer, of course, was yes.'"

Now, teams across Trilogy produce nine email newsletters targeting different audiences – and the list is still growing. "I have an outstanding request from a new team I haven't had time to respond to yet," says Dennis, as evidence of EmailOpen's virality at his organization.

EmailOpen works with email newsletter owners to create a branded template that aligns with Trilogy guidelines, looks professional, and accomplishes their goals. The EmailOpen team also train all newsletter owners, so that they understand the full functionality that is available to them.

"One of the ways you evaluate the success of a software platform is the customer service it provides," states Dennis. "EmailOpen has that down pat. They are so quick to respond, whether it is setting up newsletters, training users, considering new functionality, or troubleshooting any issues that may arise."

Dennis says that he suggested EmailOpen add a cross-newsletter calendar, so that Trilogy users could see when other email newsletters were scheduled to be sent. The new feature was incorporated into the EmailOpen solution, enabling all companies that use it to coordinate communications to avoid overwhelming users with content.

Balancing Control and Empowerment

Dennis's role has evolved so that he now serves as Trilogy's HRIS and Internal Communications Program Manager. Dennis personally oversees two email newsletters – the Monday Message for all employees and the Business Office Update.

EmailOpen's tools make it easy for Dennis to gather story ideas. "The newsletters I manage use the article submission form functionality, and that is the only way I accept story ideas. The content gets directly input into the email newsletter, so I can keep it organized," he says. For the Monday Message, Dennis gathers all story ideas by Thursday afternoon, inputs content and visuals into EmailOpen, and sends a draft newsletter to reviewers on Friday. With integrated reviews, Dennis can easily incorporate comments and edits, ensuring the email newsletter is ready for distribution Monday morning.

EmailOpen can share content and imagery across newsletters, streamlining the development process. "We have different email newsletters that go to different groups," Dennis says, "but they may need to read the same articles. I can easily copy an article from one email newsletter to another, and it takes on the new design automatically."

Ensuring Easy Subscriber Management

Dennis also values EmailOpen's integrated subscriber management. "When we used Outlook, people missed out, because they didn't receive the email or it went to spam. EmailOpen allows us to easily update recipient lists using a dedicated daily file feed from our HRIS," says Dennis. "The solution automatically updates itself if people move in or out of certain positions." That means that new hires or individuals taking a new role get relevant content as soon as they take their positions.

Building Engagement with Great Content

All of Trilogy's business-focused email newsletters get exceptionally high read rates, ranging from 60% to 85%, with click-throughs ranging from 20% to 50%. "Our Business Office Update email often gets an 80% read rate within 24 hours. I am extremely proud of that," states Dennis.

"Trilogy Health Services is very data-driven in its ongoing efforts to be the Best Healthcare Company in the Midwest, especially considering the dynamic, constantly changing environment in which it operates," concludes Dennis. "It is great to be able use EmailOpen's reporting capabilities to prove that our investment is yielding such great business results."