How to Mine Your Data to Discover Marketing Gold

How to Mine Your Data to Discover Marketing Gold

Increase both clarity and your patient base

By Brian Hay, PT, DPT, MS

Marketing in the healthcare setting can be challenging. Physical therapy, in particular, offers such a wide scope of services that it can result in marketing efforts and initiatives that lack the coordination, connection, and clarity of the results owners expect. One way to create clarity in your marketing plan is to mine your marketing data. Mining your marketing data, then syncing that data with your efforts will result in marketing gold, ultimately increasing your patient base. In this article, we will explore how marketing data can result in an increase in the patients you want to see in your clinic.

PROSPECT MINING: UNDERSTANDING HOW PATIENTS ARE FINDING YOU

Patients often find their way to physical therapy through many different avenues. It is important to understand how your consumer base is finding their way to your clinic. Having a clear picture of how patients are finding your clinic will be the first step in being able to identify a return on investment (ROI) on your marketing efforts. I recommend having a strategic way to source this information from your patients. A simple, “How did you hear about ‘[Your Practice Name’]?” question built into an intake can be helpful. Is it through physician recommendations, signage, word of mouth, online or print advertising? Then the key to turning this information into data is to develop a tracking method where the information can be quantified.

Once the information is quantified, it can be used to determine baselines and changes in trends as you implement different marketing strategies. For example, if you invest time and money in creating a blog or podcast will you see an increase in your patients reporting finding you online? If you are investing in local radio or TV commercials, are patients stating they heard about your practice via your advertisement?

DIGITAL GOLD DATA MINING

Website and SEO

With the rise of online information and the abundance of medical treatment options for patients, physical therapy practices must adapt to digital marketing strategies to generate new patient leads.

Understanding your website analytics is an easy way to see how consumers are responding to the information you have on your website. Using a tool like Google Analytics can help provide insight into site visitors’ trends and behaviors. These key analytics can be helpful in improving your search engine optimization (SEO), making it easy for potential patients to find your business online and adjusting your content based on their actions.

Key Website Analytics

• User Metrics — Number of website visitors, new or returning. Effective website strategies should show an increase in visitors over time.
• Top Landing Pages — Provides information on what patients are searching for when they find you and which pages are getting the most traffic.
• Bounce Rate — The percentage of visitors that visit a page and leave the site. This could be indicative of a technical issue or users not finding relevant information to their search.
• Average Time on Page — When a user spends more time on a page, that is often an indicator that the user is engaged and interested in the content on the website.

Understanding the meaning of these key digital gold mines and strategically acting on the data is essential to develop, maintain, and grow a website that is engaging, informative, and reflects the look and feel of your practice.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising

Tracking engagement and conversions in paid campaigns is the key to maximizing the return on your advertising dollars.

Key Data Points

• Average Click-Through Rate (CTR) — This is the percentage of people that clicked on your ad divided by the total number of impressions. An increase or decrease in your CTR will help determine if a business should change, pause, or invest more in a particular PPC campaign.
• Average Cost Per Click (CPC) — The amount that a business is paying for each click on an ad campaign. Understanding your CPC will help you with budgeting. Combined with the action that is taken when the ad is clicked will help you calculate the ROI of your advertisement.
• Conversion Rate — ((Conversions/Number of Ad Integrations) x 100) — Getting people to your website or finding your ad online is half the battle, getting the person to become an actual patient is second half. Whether you are running a campaign yourself or through an agency, determining how you track a conversion (i.e. someone clicks to “Schedule Appointment” or clicks “Contact Us”, etc.) is essential.

KEEP DIGGING FOR DATA GOLD

As physical therapists, we must continue to adapt to modern marketing strategies to increase our patient base. By utilizing marketing data, physical therapists can identify their target audiences, create appealing content, utilize SEO, and measure their results to make informed, data-driven decisions. Enjoy your data mining!

Dr. Brian Hay, PT, DPT, MS, has served as Communications Officer and as Regional Director at Highbar with over 20 clinics and growing in RI & MA. Brian has been a practicing PT for 19 years as well as serving as a member of APTA Private Practice Marketing & PR committee for the last 2 years.