We were recently asked by a health care provider to research ideas for generating increased exposure online for their services. In this case the client deals with the treatment of addictions.
As always, we started with the following:
"The very best marketing comes from observing consumer behavior and inserting your message into their behavior."
I started our research by visiting Think with Google. Think With Google is a great way to research industry trends and to review actual case studies of digital marketing campaigns. Interestingly enough, I came across the following research:
Relevant Digital Marketing Facts to Consider:
The road to addiction recovery begins with search. Google engaged Compete to survey over 250 treatment center researchers to understand how digital drives research and ultimately appointments. Here are some key findings:
-
91% of patients say that making sure the treatment center accepts their healthcare plan is a top priority
-
41% of patients took 2 weeks to research before scheduling an appointment and more than half visited at least 2 treatment center websites before converting
-
37% of users who booked an appointment with a treatment center researched consumer reviews prior to booking
-
57% of search paths are comprised of treatment and 25% of condition terms. Only 9% are treatment center branded
Obviously a key component to any digital campaign will be to offer a Search (Pay Per Click) component, but I think even more important is that patients "took 2 weeks to research before booking an appointment". This told me that an even more important strategy is to engage in retargeting. While the consumer is spending time researching options and thinking about their decision, retargeting will dramatically increase the frequency of the message in front of a qualified prospect.
Retargeting requires us to place a small piece of code on the client's website. When a consumer visits the site, a cookie is dropped on their computer. Now when the consumer continues their research across the web, our clients ads will be displayed on many of the websites the prospect visits, thereby increasing the frequency of the message.
Advertising is a combination of reach and frequency. And in my opinion, frequency is the most important variable because people tend do business with companies (and people) they are familiar with. It is called the Law of Familiarity.
So now you know why Thrive recommends that clients add retargeting to their marketing mix from the very beginning. In fact, we believe that all clients should implement the tagging portion of retargeting (dropping identifying cookies on the visitor's computer) even if you are not ready to actively advertise.
Clients like Honey Baked Ham can tag clients that visit thier website months before the holidays and then a few weeks prior to Christmas or Easter, turn on the retargeting ads. Consumers are then shown Honey Baked Ham ads at the very time of year that consumers are more likely to buy a ham.
Want to learn more about how retargeting can help your business? Give us a call at 419-776-7000 or email me at jeff@thriveim.com.
Comments