Teamwork ImpactsYour Marketing ROI
By Brenda Beukelman, MBA
Determining the ROI on marketing campaigns involves much more than establishing a unique URL or phone number on your materials. The devil is in the details. The measurement of the campaign is really a choreographed dance between marketing, the consumer, and clinic/hospital staff. Each has a defined responsibility in creating the process and the measurable outcome. Often times, the roles outside of marketing are overlooked, stacking the cards against obtaining valuable and usable data.
The first step is to define the metrics and involve all departments that may come into contact with either the process or patient. Increasing awareness and understanding of the marketing goal, strategy, and need for ROI measurement will help lay the landscape for the campaign.
Think of measurement as a game with four quarters (football or basketball, you pick!). Each quarter has a specific strategy, resulting in victory if executed effectively. In ROI measurement, the game plans starts with the marketing team, then passes the ball to the clinic/hospital staff, then throws to the patient, and finally, the ball goes back to the clinic/hospital staff or marketing, depending on your plan.
The first quarter is comprised of marketing – establishing the metrics, developing the campaign, and creating the process for the next three quarters. For example, the goal of increasing new patient visits is established, a new mover campaign is created, including a direct mailer with an offer of a first-aid kit given to all new patients at the clinic at time of appointment. Marketing needs to work with operations to establish the variables and types of information to collect. Marketing is responsible for putting the plan and campaign in motion, thus kicking off the game.
The second quarter begins with a hand-off from marketing to the operational staff. Their role is to make the campaign come to life the moment the patient calls and/or arrives for the appointment. The promises of the campaign are made or broken here. This is the patient’s first impression of your service delivery. The response a new patient gets from your organization needs to match the offer of the campaign. If you are inviting new patients, establish an internal code to indicate they are new, so staff are aware and deliver on the campaign; in this case, greeting the patient upon arrival with a friendly welcome and the first aid kit. Also, the staff is responsible for implementing the process of gathering the patient’s information in a usable database or format. Unfortunately, hash marks on a piece of paper do very little to quantify the success of the campaign. (Yes, that is a real example!)
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The ROI process works best with ongoing programs and interdisciplinary teams. The team concept involves fluid interaction among marketing, research, media, finance, and others. Team work is essential, as is expertise from research analysts. Source: Maximizing Marketing ROI, 2001 Best Practice Report, American Productivity & Quality Center and Advertising Research Foundation. |
The third quarter is the nail biter. This is the one you have no control over. The continuation of the game is dependent upon the patient. Will they or will they not follow through on the call to action? Marketing continues the campaign and the Operations staff is standing by. No matter how ready, willing and able the team may be a percentage of patients will fall out at this point. There are as many reasons for a patient to miss or cancel an appointment as there are ailments. Anticipate the abandonment rate and capture it to give a complete view of the campaign activity.
The final quarter returns the ball to operations for fulfillment of the patient experience. Here is where the patient charts are marked, indicating they were responders to the campaign. The metrics are populated and revenue to-date can be calculated. (Remember the horizon is long when capturing a campaign ROI.) This is also a very good opportunity to measure wait times, evaluate the patient flow, and even record any feedback from the new patients. This information needs to be gathered and documented for inclusion in the final analysis.
In conclusion, the interaction between all teams is critical in determining an accurate and reliable campaign ROI. Often, marketing is viewed as having sole responsibility and burden of proof in regards to return on investment. While they can effectively articulate what they would like to measure and recommend methods or a process, implementation responsibility is held by the other team members. Sharing both the vision of increased patient revenues and a desire to collaborate will define the winning team. For quote box: “The ROI process works best with ongoing programs and interdisciplinary teams. The team concept involves fluid interaction among marketing, research, media, finance, and others. Team work is essential, as is expertise from research analysts.” Source: Maximizing Marketing ROI, 2001 Best Practice Report, American Productivity & Quality Center and Advertising Research Foundation.
