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Ask any benefits professional whose company has implemented a wellness program — their big question often is how to find continually new ways to keep employees engaged.

According to Keith Kitani, CEO of Guidespark, an employee communication and engagement company, who writes in Employee Benefit News, the key is: “Think like a marketer to engage employees, drive loyalty.”

In fact, Kitani directly ties the need to engage employees with wellness efforts. He writes: “Thanks to technology, there’s never been a better time to tackle the challenge of engaging employees for organizational wellness.”

Says Kitani: “HR departments can do a number of things with both traditional and new media to reach employees where they’re already engaging. That might mean using an employee LinkedIn group, Facebook group, or YouTube channel in addition to planning email campaigns, webinars, seminars, and sending snail mail. While the details of their communications plans will vary depending on their employee demographics and the programs they want to promote, the most important thing is to connect with your employees as valued internal customers. When you borrow insights and best practices from marketing, your ongoing communications efforts will lead to higher levels of employee engagement and brand loyalty.”

One tip of note: You have data, so why not use it? Kitten writes: “Companies have information about employees that marketers dream of: their ages, where they live, where they work, and how much they make. Combine this with employees’ communications preferences to send messages that are all at once data-driven, targeted, personalized, and engaging. Leveraging data to meet HR’s goals — while adding value to employees’ experience with the company — creates a real win-win.”