When I was at LasikPlus I was asked to speak at the 2012 Merkle CRM Summit in New Orleans about how LasikPlus was using digital marketing, social media and mobile marketing to acquire new patients. This is that presentation.
3. Marketing Goals at LasikPlus
A.
C.
E.
Acquisition
Customer Satisfaction
Education
In this presentation I will show what we’ve
done in the past and the steps we’ve made to
grow our digital business while driving
appointment volume.
#Team2020
#CRMSummit2012
Introduction about myself why I was invited to speak. I’m here today because Merkle asked me to come talk about how in a heavily regulated field like healthcare a company like ours can optimize digital marketing to grow our business but still work within the rules
Ice breaker about lasik and some of the fears people have. What lasik really is…. Happy Medicine that transforms lives.
Mobile makes up 14% of total appointment and 11% of the spend in Q1. in Q2 (April 1 – June 4) mobile is 19% of the spend and 17% of appointment, showing the importance of continue to grow a mobile presence along with adding additional spend to the channel mix.
Taking a look at how digital marketing is changing at LasikPlus pre-bt and now
Old website: clunky, too many calls to action, not enough of the right information people are looking forNew website: mobile version with merkle, new site design and features coming june 2012, more clear paths for acquisition AND education (allowing for education seekers to easily begin to schedule at any point of their research.
SEM Then: Buckshot approach, trying to be everywhere all the time, not at all targeted on “ready to buy” keywordsSEM Now: Laser focused, after keyword research we now know the phrases more likely to bring in “ready to buy” visitors, the more relevant we are for these terms the more volume grows. With the new website we will be able to expand the keywords we select as well to be more targeted for more keywords.
Social media then: stale, corporate, boring… called community members LP fans and only referred them back to our confusing website, limited responsesSocial Media Now: engaging, refer to community members by their first names, respond to posts within 24 hour, more interactive with photos, videos and polling questions to help generate more engagement. Better Google+ and Twitter integration with a separate voices, growing YouTube channel with more videos and introducing more throughout 2012
Because of HIPAA healthcare social media marketers need to be careful what information they share and disclose to commenter's in posts on public facing walls
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 which protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information. Basically we can NOT share too much information with or about patients when they post in our communities, so we will take the conversation offline to protect their privacy
Like any web based marketing the battle of personalization vs privacy is one we fight everyday. When we receive a comment in any of our communities, good or bad, we will run the patients name (if available) to make sure they are one of ours. This allows use to have a more personal conversation with them online, but to protect their privacy we will always take that conversation offline to protect their privacy and remain compliant with HIPAA
In order to provide the best community management possible we don’t look at HIPAA as a roadblock but rather we use it as a guide to understand how we can provide the best information possible for past, current and potential patients. Knowing where the line is we are able to work in the preferred channel of each patient and at the proper time bring the conversation to our call center reps, vision center staff or even the doctors.
What makes us different from the others in our space is our level of engagement. We aren’t content with just having likes… we want comments and more than that we want conversations. The best feeling I get as a community manager of our boards is to see the interaction and engagement between community members on our posts and more importantly on their posts. So like Captain Picard’s famous catch phrase we take it to heart and ENGAGE.
I’ve mentioned taking the conversation offline several times now, and it is an important part of our strategy, because unlike other industries we can not always solve your problem in a response. Doing that can get us into some hot water with the HIPAA police. So we put the conversation in the hands of our experts to provide an exceptional customer experience.
Of course since this is digital marketing so after privacy concerns have been addressed we encourage our community members to take the conversation back online and share the rest of their patient journey with LasikPlus. This is an important step in our relationship with our community members, because when they come back to us online and leave comments, reviews, pictures, .etc it speak volumes about how we take the extra step to answer their questions and come to a resolution.
Are likes important? Yes… but we aren’t in the business of building likers we are trying to build LasikPlus brand evangelists who will go forth and using word of mouth share how satisfied they are with their decision to not only have lasik, but to have lasik with us. I chose this slide because I like to say we are always looking to add more folks to the cult of lasik, because our best marketing comes from the experiences of our patients and how we have been able to change their lives with our happy medicine (patent pending, of course).
Now that our foundation for digital marketing has been built what is next for lasikplus? Well with the help of Merkle we are looking to incorporate mobile into everything we do, from a mobile website, to search and display to partnering with smaller companies with built in audiences to the freedom seeking active lifestyle patients we are looking for. We are even discussing what kind of an app would be most appropriate for LasikPlus and how best to leverage smartphone and tablets.
The first order to business for our growth is Video, we are planning on having more video of our patients living their lives free of glasses or contacts, videos of our doctors answering some our most frequently asked questions. We are even going to be running a video contest at the end of this year to give away free lasik and a couple of really cool prizes to the lucky winners.
The biggest battle we fight is misinformation… thanks a lot Final Destination 5. So thought content marketing and blogging we are going to help lift not only ourselves but the industry by providing content that is open and honest about what lasik is, about risks that come with any surgerical procedure, how much lasik costs, it’s more affordable than you might think, and most importantly how you will benefit from lasik and all the great things in your life that will open up to, besides being able to see the alarm clock in the morning.
The biggest disservice to our industry is the $299 per eye coupons. First to even qualify for that price you most likely don’t even need lasik. But what it does is open up the idea that you can use a coupon for your vision. As we battle lasik misinformation we will also be battling the concept that your vision is something you should be looking around for the best deal. Are we the cheapest lasik provider? No. Are we the most expensive? Not that either. But what we we offer as a difference is the ability to go almost anywhere in the country and have access to one of our vision centers. And we are right there where past, present and future patients are online to provide answers and support for any question they can ask.
Again with the help from Merkle we will continue to refine and optimize how we target potential patients and look to enter new segments of population to continue to grow our reach online and off.