Are you making the best marketing decisions?
3 things healthcare marketers need to make data-driven decisions
We all want to make good decisions. But when it comes to health care marketing in a world that’s becoming more data-driven every day, it can be difficult to know where to start—or how to keep up.
Fortunately, Coffey has your back. Nerd out with us and let’s explore what you really need to succeed.
3 must-haves for smart, data-driven marketing
- A clear objective. It’s hard to measure success when you haven’t defined it. Is success when a user opens an email? Visits a website? Downloads a brochure? Know the specific goal for each strategy in your marketing plan—and how you’ll determine success.
But keep an eye on the big picture too. One outcome is just that: one outcome. Keep it in context. In healthcare marketing, the overall goal is engagement and building relationships. So if an email campaign didn’t get the number of site visits you wanted but it garnered a high percentage of donors, it’s tough to call that a failure.
- Accurate and applicable data. All the info in the world won’t help if it isn’t the right info. The best time to start collecting data was yesterday. The second-best time is now. And more data is always better than not enough.
For website traffic, we recommend three to six months of information so that you can understand the natural traffic flow. And the number of visits isn’t enough. Break down that traffic so you can get the big picture. Understand how people are getting to you, how long they’re staying and what they’re doing while they’re with you.
- Metrics and the guidelines to analyze data. You wouldn’t play a game without rules. But a lot of marketers do just that with data. They analyze it without agreed-upon parameters. And things get all willy-nilly when success hasn’t been defined either.
With email, we’ve identified five key metrics that help paint a complete picture of performance. Click-through rate, unsubscribe rate, opt-in rate, after-click activity and open rate all tell you something different about user actions. Check out our in-depth guide to learn more.
With web engagement, specific tools can help you measure success. Event tracking can let you know if visitors download a brochure. Want people to fill out a form? A funnel tracking how users move through the interface can provide powerful information.
Bonus: a moment of Zen. Remember that there’s no finish line with healthcare marketing. User habits and requirements change all the time, and it’s our challenge—and joy—to figure out how to meet people where they are with what they need. All marketing is iterative, so we always have new opportunities to build relationships and affinity.
Work with a healthcare analytics partner
Need help? Coffey’s experts can help you gather information, make sense of it and develop a robust plan of action. Give us a call at 888.805.9101 or email us to talk about how we can help.
