From Awareness to Action: Elevating Barrett Hospital’s Community Presence

Client: Barrett Hospital & HealthCare
Location: Dillon, Montana
Industry: Rural Healthcare/Critical Access Hospital

Barrett Hospital & HealthCare is a nationally recognized Critical Access Hospital serving Dillon and surrounding rural communities in Southwest Montana. Known for its advanced facilities, expanding specialty services and deep community roots, Barrett plays a vital role in providing high-quality care close to home.

Over the past year, Kinetic Marketing & Creative partnered with Barrett Hospital & HealthCare to support a wide range of rural healthcare marketing initiatives. The engagement highlights Kinetic’s ability to operate as a full-service marketing partner — providing strategy, creative, digital, traditional and community-focused marketing support tailored to the realities of rural healthcare.

The Challenge

Like many rural hospitals, Barrett faced a dual challenge:

• Awareness: Many community members were not fully aware of the breadth of services and specialty providers available locally, which sometimes resulted in patients traveling outside the region for care.
• Consistency and Capacity: With limited internal marketing resources, Barrett needed a partner who could provide consistent execution across channels while aligning with healthcare compliance and internal approval processes.

Barrett also sought a long-term marketing framework that could scale — from organic social and print to paid digital and recruitment marketing — without overextending internal staff.

The Approach

Kinetic Marketing & Creative developed a collaborative, phased approach designed to build awareness first, then support conversion and recruitment over time.

Strategic Foundation

Kinetic began with strategic planning and discovery to understand Barrett’s goals, audiences and service priorities. This work informed a comprehensive Marketing and Recruitment Strategy, outlining:

• Key target audiences include community members, patients, donors and prospective employees
• Priority service lines and provider storytelling opportunities
• A mix of digital, traditional and community-based tactics designed for a rural market

Not all recommended initiatives were executed but the strategy created a clear roadmap and ensured all implemented tactics aligned with long-term goals.

Services Delivered

Organic Social Media Management

Kinetic began managing Barrett’s Facebook presence in September 2024, focusing on consistent, community-centered storytelling.

Content pillars included:

• Provider introductions and announcements
• Service line education and awareness
• Community milestones and events
• Hospital news and updates

Kinetic handled monthly content planning, copywriting, creative execution, scheduling and performance reporting, ensuring messaging remained approachable, compliant and locally relevant.

Creative and Traditional Marketing Support

Beyond social media, Kinetic supported a range of traditional and hybrid marketing efforts, including:

• Print and digital advertising in regional publications
• Billboard creative and placement coordination to increase visibility along key travel corridors
• Radio advertising to reinforce brand awareness and promote key service lines across the local Dillon market
• EDDM direct mail planning and creative to reach households throughout the service area

These efforts reinforced brand awareness across channels, meeting community members where they already consume information.

Paid Search and Funnel Expansion

With strong organic awareness established, Kinetic expanded into paid search campaigns to ensure Barrett appeared when patients actively searched for care. This full-funnel approach connected awareness-building efforts with high-intent moments, supporting appointment inquiries and service line growth.

Ongoing Collaboration and Account Support

Kinetic functioned as an extension of Barrett’s team, providing:

• Monthly strategy and status calls
• Cross-channel coordination
• Performance tracking and reporting
• Guidance on marketing structure and internal workflows

This model allowed Barrett to maintain oversight while relying on Kinetic for execution and strategic direction.

Results

Facebook Performance Highlights

Comparing September 1, 2024 – November 30, 2025 (Kinetic-managed period) to the same-length period prior to Kinetic’s involvement:

• Posts increased 53%, reflecting a more consistent and intentional publishing cadence
• Post clicks increased 128%, including clicks on links, photos and videos
• Page reach increased 243%, significantly expanding the number of community members seeing Barrett’s content
• Page impressions increased 236%, indicating stronger message frequency and visibility
• Post engagement increased 32.5%, showing improved interaction with individual posts

While overall page engagement rate decreased — a common trend as reach and impressions grow — the increased visibility and post-level engagement demonstrate meaningful awareness gains.

Standout Community Impact

One of the most successful organic posts in Barrett’s 12-year Facebook history featured Dr. Katie Hawkins, a Dillon native who received a scholarship from Barrett, completed her medical training and returned home as a provider.

As of November 30, 2025, the post generated:

• 399 likes and reactions
• 21,602 people reached
• 38,859 impressions

This “hometown hero” story exemplified the power of authentic, community-driven storytelling and reinforced Barrett’s commitment to investing in local talent and care.

Paid Search Performance Highlights

The Google search campaign has delivered strong results across visibility, engagement and lead generation, outperforming healthcare advertising benchmarks while maintaining efficient spend. The campaign continues to align with Barrett Hospital’s goal to increase patient bookings and walk-in visits with a focus on general surgery and urology services.

From August 7 – December 16, 2025, this campaign generated:

• 6,962 impressions and 1,581 clicks
• A consistent 22.51% click-through rate (well above the Health and Medical benchmark 3.27%) 
• 438 calls to schedule appointments at a 27.95% total conversion rate
• An average cost per conversion of $6.16. (significantly lower than the $22 industry benchmark) 
• 37.14% impression share, nearly double that of a major regional competitor. 
• Kinetic’s work drove Barrett Hospital to appear in the absolute top of page position 67% of the time over regional competitors.

The Outcome

Through consistent execution and a thoughtful mix of organic, traditional and digital marketing, Kinetic helped Barrett Hospital & HealthCare:

• Expand awareness of services and providers
• Strengthen community trust and connection
• Build a scalable marketing foundation for future growth

Social media established visibility and credibility. Traditional and community channels reinforced presence. Paid search connected that awareness to action.

Together, these efforts demonstrate how a full-service marketing partnership can support rural healthcare organizations in telling their story, serving their communities and growing sustainably. Download the full case study here.

If your goals include greater awareness, stronger community connections, and meaningful industry visibility, Kinetic Marketing & Creative is ready to help. Start the conversation with our team.