It is one thing learning the theory and technical side of a campaign, but once it is all up and running, how do you determine whether it is working. What stats should you be measuring and what should you do if your campaign is and is not working. In this article I am going to cover everything you need to know to find out if your marketing campaign is working.
What is your campaign objective?
To determine whether your campaign is working or not, you need to have a clear campaign objective set out before the start of your campaign. For the most part, our campaigns are geared towards generating new leads and ultimately, new patients. However, marketing isn’t always about immediate gratification, we run campaigns to generate exposure, or to develop our brand. These campaign variants can’t always be measured by ‘new patients’ directly so rely on other metrics to determine the success. By determining your campaign objective, you can set KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) to help you see how well your campaign is running.
What KPI’s should I be tracking?
KPI’s will vary depending on your campaign objective. For this article I will focus on the two main campaigns that we run at Halsa and run you through what our objective and KPI’s are for each campaign.
New Patient Lead Generation Campaign
The most popular campaign type we run; this campaign objective is focused on generating new leads/patients. There are lead generation campaigns that do not focus on new patients such as free report campaigns, however, for this example I will be focusing on a new patient focused lead generation campaign.
The KPI’s for this type of campaign are your ‘cost per lead’, ‘conversion rate’ and ‘cost per acquisition’. Your cost per lead is how much you are spending to acquire each lead (total spend ÷ total leads) and your cost per acquisition is the amount it has cost you to generate a new patient that has come in, and paid for, an initial consultation (total spend ÷ total acquisitions). Your conversion rate is rate that leads come in and pay for their first appointment (Total Acquisitions ÷ Total Leads)
A great place to aim for with this style of marketing campaign is to get your cost per acquisition to be equal to, or less than your offer cost. If you hit this goal, you will either be breaking even or making a profit on the front end. If the new patient then stays in care, from that point on, everything is profit. With that being said, if you are not hitting this goal, don’t be put off. Chiropractors tend to work with great profit margins and can have high average lifetime values of over £1000. If your practice falls into this bracket, then do not be afraid to spend extra to acquire a new patient. If you are confident with your LTV (Lifetime Value) this puts you in an incredibly powerful position, allowing you to spend more than your competitors to acquire a new patient, which should give you the lions share of patients in your area. ‘Who is willing and able to spend the most to acquire a new customer always wins’ – Dan Kennedy
How do I set these KPI’s
Due to the nature of chiropractic clinics, there is no set figure every clinic should aim for. Cost per leads will vary based on numerous factors such as location, competition in your area, population density, demographic and the price of the offer you are putting out. Cost per acquisition is also very subjective as it is based more on the clinics business circumstances such as profit margins, LTV’s, cash flow, competition etc. Like I mentioned previously, in an ideal situation, your cost per acquisition will be equal to or less than the cost of your offer (typically £20-£60) and your cost per lead will therefore be your offer price multiplied by your conversion rate (typically 50% or 0.5). This calculation will give you an ideal KPI for cost per lead and cost per acquisition, however these figures will not always be attainable for some clinics given the factors mentioned above (higher competition etc.).
The most accurate way to initially set these KPI’s is to work backwards. Start with your cost per acquisition by figuring out a number based on your sales history and your LTV, that you would be comfortable spending to acquire a new patient. Once you have an acceptable cost per acquisition, take your typical conversion rate (new leads to new patients) and multiply your cost per acquisition by his number. If you do not have any data on conversion rate, I would suggest using 50% (0.5) conversion rate as a benchmark. In my experience this is a typical conversion rate from this kind of campaign. By working this out, you will have a maximum number you are comfortable with for both cost per lead and cost per acquisition, anything below these numbers would indicate the campaign is working.
When it comes to any kind of data analysis, spreadsheets are your best friend. Here is an example of a simple spreadsheet that will work out how your campaign is working on the go. Simply input your total spend, leads and acquisitions and the spreadsheet will work out the rest (perfect for people with teams).
I have included the formulas in red for you to follow. If you are an inner circle member and want direct access to this spreadsheet, just message or email me and I will send it over.
Optimising
Optimising campaigns is essential in marketing and constantly testing will assure your campaigns are always improving. However, pick the and choose when and when not to optimise. People often come to me asking what they can change to make their campaign run better, but when we run through their numbers, we find that the campaign is already working great. That is not to say that you shouldn’t always strive for better results. However, if you are not very confident and competent in your marketing, by changing something that is already working, you may disrupt your campaign and make it perform worse. My advice would be to only make large changes if the campaign is not hitting your KPI’s. When your campaign is hitting or outperforming your KPI’s I would double down, increase your spend and make the most out of the momentum you have.
With a lead generation campaign, you can troubleshoot your campaign by using your KPI’s. If you are not hitting your cost per acquisition goal, then look at your cost per lead and conversion rate. If one of these is not hitting your goal, you have identified your issue and can work on a fix. If both are not, then you know both aspects of the campaign need work.
Event Campaign
Events tend to ‘scare’ chiropractors because there is a larger upfront commitment and your velocity on return in slower. Therefore, it is essential that you have a grasp on your KPI’s so that you can spend in confidence.
The KPI’s for this type of campaign are your ‘sign ups’, ‘show up rate’, ‘show ups’, ‘acquisitions’, ‘conversion rate’ and ‘cost per acquisition’. Just like the lead generation campaign, the ideal place to be with a campaign like this one is break even (or better). That means that you sell equal to or more than your total spend on the day of the event.
How do I set these KPI’s
For this campaign, you can use the same method to acquire your cost per acquisition as you did for your lead generation campaign. If you have done lots of events previously, you can go back into your data and look at the lifetime values of people who came from similar events. This may give you added insight that could allow you to raise or force you to lower your cost per acquisition goal. Unlike the lead generation campaign, with an event you can set a budget before you kick of the campaign. A good budget to start with is somewhere between £250-£500 but don’t be afraid to raise this once you get a good handle on your numbers. Once you have these two key figures the other KPI’s write themselves. Here are the formulas to work out your remaining KPI’s.
Acquisitions = Campaign budget ÷ cost per acquisition
Conversion rate = Differs Doc to Doc, typical good conversion rates are between 50-75% (0.5-0.75)
Show ups = Acquisitions ÷ Expected conversion rate
Show up rate = Differs practice to practice based on efficiency of follow up, typical good show up is 60-80% (0.6-0.8)
Sign ups = Show ups ÷ show up rate
Optimising
When it comes to optimising an event campaign, the same holds true, if the campaign is working, try to avoid making changes. If the campaign is working well, then don’t be afraid to increase the campaign budget midway through, as long as you have capacity, you should try and take advantage of a good campaign and completely fill your event (full rooms often can help with conversions).
When it comes to trouble shooting, again you can do this from the top down. If your cost per acquisition and total acquisitions are not where you want them to be, go through your KPI’s and identify which are the ones letting your campaign down and work on these areas.
That is everything you need to know to make sure you’re on top of your numbers and know exactly when your campaign is working, allowing you to spend with confidence. Now, in marketing there is a million different numbers you can track, but filtering out the noise and focusing on these KPI’s will allow you to simplify the process and know exactly when your campaigns are working well and when there not, what area you need to work on.
Love and Light,
Ry
