Generating ROI is the number one challenge facing most healthcare marketers.
We’ve created campaigns for virtually every possible service line imaginable. Our clients count on us for performance. “Crossing your fingers” is no strategy for success!
These days, we follow a 6-step process to ensure our clients can easily track conversions and measure ROI.
We call it the “Hardwiring ROI Setup Checklist”, and we’re pleased to share it with you.
HARDWIRING ROI SETUP CHECKLIST
1. Choose the right CTA (call-to-action)
2. Conduct a “Secret Shopper” analysis on service delivery
3. Add tracking for all links
4. Establish a long-term nurturing strategy
5. Market test the strategies
6. Agree to a dollar value for each new patient/procedure
Let’s look at each more in-depth.
1. CHOOSE THE RIGHT CTA (CALL-TO-ACTION)
What’s the logical next step your audience will take to learn more about, engage with or contact your brand?
That’s the question we ask in determining the right CTA for the campaign.
The answer might be:
- Sign up for a webinar
- Book an appointment
- Talk to an expert
- Opt-in for email and downloadable content
For services that require immediate solutions (such as urgent care or a cancer diagnosis second opinion), we typically recommend CTAs that match the prospective patient with a provider for counsel or immediate treatment.
For services that have longer sales cycles, like complex, non-life-threatening surgeries, we typically recommend CTAs that require a lower level of engagement between prospect and provider, such as opting in to receive information on solutions.
The reason for this is prospective patients are often in the fact-finding stage of the buying cycle. They’re not likely to value or want to speak with someone directly for care and solutions. They prefer to receive information passively, such as with a newsletter, downloadable content or attend a webinar.
2. CONDUCT A “SECRET SHOPPER” ANALYSIS ON SERVICE DELIVERY
Invest in secret shopping to avoid poor customer experiences and wasted marketing dollars.
This step in the checklist is the easiest to do, is extremely important, but often most neglected.
That’s why we recommend:
- Calling the phone number featured in the advertising
- Evaluating the call/website interaction experience
- Testing email automation campaigns
3. ADD TRACKING FOR ALL LINKS
Step 3 also falls into the category of “easy to do, easy not to do”.
We use a myriad of link tracking tools. Funny enough, some of our favorites are also free and easy to use, like:
- Bit.ly
- Google dynamic phone numbers
- Google Analytics
These are free tools (or low cost) but truly help marketers track engagement, conversions, and ultimately, ROI.
Work with your agency and web team to ensure tracking is properly implemented and tested before the campaign launches. You don’t want to wait for your first tracking report to find out there’s no data coming through.
4. ESTABLISH A LONG-TERM NURTURING STRATEGY
A healthcare marketing campaign is successful if it converts at least 1% of the target audience. But that doesn’t mean the remaining 99% of the audience isn’t likely to become a patient. The timing may not be right.
That’s why we prefer to build in long-term lead nurturing strategies for campaigns.
Two examples include:
- Marketing automation email campaigns
- Display ad re-targeting
These tools ensure users who have demonstrated interest continue to receive your message.
Marketers are pushing back on the cliché notion that ROI must be earned within one fiscal budget year. The truth is, health care has a complex sales cycle and often takes years to win a new patient from a campaign.
5. MARKET TEST THE STRATEGIES
These days, $100 can buy you a real-time focus group to test your campaign’s messages, visuals, offers, landing pages and calls-to-action.
Before you commit your marketing strategy against all channels, use Facebook or Paid Search to test your campaign and conversion opportunities. We’ve also used usertesting.com for quick feedback on a site or landing page experience before pushing “live”.
Take the results from your test and apply them to your marketing campaign.
6. AGREE TO A DOLLAR VALUE FOR EACH NEW PATIENT/PROCEDURE
Surprisingly, most marketers still don’t have access to the information they need to properly attribute financial revenue for their campaigns.
Because of that, we recommend getting an agreement with stakeholders up front on a dollar value for each new patient/procedure for the promoted service.
The simple math looks like this:
- A new hip replacement procedure is worth $X to the health system
- Marketing generates 100 new leads
- Of those 100 leads, 10 have patient encounters during the fiscal year
- 10 x $X value for procedure (-) marketing spend = ROI
While there are no guarantees that your next service line marketing campaign will yield the ROI you seek, you can hardwire ROI into your campaign using our checklist.
Leave us a note in the comments and tell us your biggest challenge in tracking ROI. We’ll use your feedback to create new tools and resources for you.
