Patient Engagement for Growth Aesthetic Practice Marketing Perspectives and Priorities

Transcription

1 Patient Engagement for Growth 2018 Aesthetic Practice Marketing Perspectives and Priorities

2 Table of Contents Foreword 01 Executive Summary 02 Respondent Profile 04 Priorities & Marketing Approaches 08 The Case for Follow-up 21 Staff Perspective 26 About erelevance Corp. 29 About Modern Aesthetics 29

3 Foreword by Paul Winnington, Editorial Director, Modern Aesthetics Aesthetic providers recognize the value of follow-up from a medical perspective. After all, every specialist knows that a flawless procedure can still turn out sub-par if the patient ignores post-operative instructions. Failure to follow up can threaten the beautiful outcome. Yet when it comes to their own aesthetic practices, core cosmetic doctors have a tendency to under-value follow-up. They invest years in training to hone their skills, create welcoming medical/aesthetic offices, and monitor their reputations online. They hire warm and caring staff, stay in touch with patients online and through social media, and even participate in community outreach, all in efforts to engage with new and existing patients. The Patient Engagement for Growth: Aesthetic Practice Marketing Perspectives and Priorities survey report from erelevance shows that 74 percent of aesthetic practices regularly communicate with patients. Among respondents, a common goal is to derive repeat business from existing customers. But simple communication isn t enough. Key is to drive patients to act. Unfortunately, 60 percent of practice staff indicated it is a challenge to follow up on marketing responses, and 40 percent of key decision makers don t know if their staffs are challenged to follow up on marketing responses. Eighty percent of staff said that either lack of time or expertise makes it difficult to follow up on marketing. There s lots of good news in this report. Aesthetic practices are leveraging social media and finding avenues of outreach to engage patients more than ever before. The challenge is to find the solutions that will help practices meaningfully follow up on leads in order to engage and convert potential and one-time patients to life-long clients. 01

4 Executive Summary While quality patient care is always the necessary foundation of a successful aesthetic practice, long-term practice growth requires an understanding of sophisticated patient engagement. That means knowing how to drive consumer demand while keeping advertising costs low and optimizing marketing lead conversion. Nearly all aesthetic practices surveyed for this report indicated that providing great patient care was very important. But how are today s aesthetic healthcare practices maintaining the highest levels of patient care while meeting business growth goals? Based on online survey responses from nearly 150 U.S. aesthetic practices, this report explores and seeks to understand that question. 1. Most aesthetic practices lack the time, expertise and tools for the sophisticated marketing necessary to meet their goals for growth. 68 Percent of respondents said they either don t have enough marketing expertise or don t have marketing expertise. Yet, only 18 percent said they outsource their marketing to experts. 80 Percent of aesthetic practices say they highly value a database that is continuously cleaned and enhanced to improve marketing effectiveness, yet only 60 percent use a system to do that. 80 Percent of practice staff surveyed said lack of time and marketing expertise were their biggest challenges. While several notable themes emerged from the data, two key takeaways include: Percent of survey respondents said growing their practice is very important.

5 2. Stopping revenue losses from unconverted marketing leads is important to practices, but the staff responsible for following up on these leads feels ill-equipped to do so effectively. When asked if their staffs are challenged to effectively follow up on the marketing responses, 43 percent of aesthetic practice key decision makers surveyed said they don t know. Yet, data show that practices make, on average, only.8 attempts to follow up on marketing requests less than once per lead. Only 8 percent of respondents said the tools they currently use to track followup are very effective. 73 Percent of key decision makers surveyed responded absolutely yes or sounds interesting when asked if they would be interested in a service that did the follow-up to connect marketing responses to their practices so their staffs could easily schedule appointments. The full report follows with details that put into perspective practices marketing attitudes, goals, tactics and results. 03

6 Respondent Profile Patient Engagement for Growth: Aesthetic Practice Marketing Perspectives and Priorities is based on 2018 survey data collected by erelevance Corp. in partnership with Modern Aesthetics. Data was collected from online survey responses from 149 aesthetic practice owners, operators and staff in the United States. Following is a breakdown of key demographic characteristics. 04

7 Role/Title 2% 7% ADMINISTRATIVE/RECEPTION NURSE PRACTITIONER, AESTHETICIAN, PHYSICIAN S ASSISTANT 8% OTHER 69% PHYSICIAN, OWNER, PARTNER 14% PRACTICE MANAGER, OFFICE MANAGER, PATIENT COORDINATOR, MARKETING MANAGER 05

8 Type of Practice 5% 2% CLINICAL DERMATOLOGY ONLY OBGYN 7% OBGYN AND AESTHETIC SERVICES 29% MEDSPA 17% CLINICAL AND AESTHETIC DERMATOLOGY 19% COSMETIC PLASTIC SURGERY 21% OTHER 06

9 NUMBER OF PATIENTS TYPE OF PATIENTS PURCHASING DECISIONS OVER $1000/MONTH 50% MORE THAN 3,000 56% MOSTLY AESTHETIC 52% FULL APPROVAL 28% 1,000 TO 3,000 30% MOSTLY CLINICAL BUT WANT TO GROW AESTHETIC SERVICES 40% RECOMMEND, PURCHASE APPROVAL BY OTHERS 21% LESS THAN 1,000 14% MOSTLY CLINICAL 8% NONE 07

10 Priorities & Marketing Approaches Patient care, reputation, growth and revenue loss from unconverted marketing leads are top considerations. Patient care and reputation are paramount to respondents, with 98 and 95 percent, respectively, indicating they are very important. Growing the practice is very important to 61 percent. About half of respondents cited making more money and stopping revenue leakage from marketing leads that aren t converted to revenue as very important. Expanding aesthetic services (40 percent); paying off equipment (29 percent); and having more leisure time (23 percent) were relatively lower priorities for those surveyed. 08

11 100% PROVIDING GREAT PATIENT CARE PERSONAL/PRACTICE REPUTATION GROWING THE PRACTICE 100% % MAKING MORE MONEY HAVING MORE LEISURE TIME STOPPING THE REVENUE LEAKAGE FROM MARKETING LEADS THAT AREN T CONVERTING TO BUSINESS PAYING FOR EQUIPMENT LIKE LASER DEVICES (LEASED OR PURCHASED) EXPANDING AESTHETIC SERVICES VERY IMPORTANT IMPORTANT NEUTRAL NOT IMPORTANT 09

12 100% REDUCING MY WORKLOAD MORE EFFECTIVE WAYS TO DO MY JOB WORKING FEWER HOURS 100% BEING COMPENSATED ON THE NUMBER OF CONSULTS BOOKED OFFLOADING MARKETING FROM MY PLATE VERY IMPORTANT IMPORTANT 10 NEUTRAL NOT IMPORTANT

13 Patient Communication 4 7 % 74% Most practices surveyed (74 percent) said they regularly communicate with their patients, while 26 percent said they do not. 11

14 Lack of Internal Marketing Expertise 68 percent of respondents said they don t have enough marketing expertise (30 percent) or they don t have marketing expertise at all (38 percent). 18 Percent said they outsource their marketing. 15% OTHER 38% WE DONT HAVE MARKETING EXPERTISE 18% WE OURSOURCE OUR MARKETING 12 30% WE DONT HAVE ENOUGH MARKETING EXPERTISE

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16 Existing Patient Marketing Programs 40 Percent said they are unhappy with the results of their marketing to existing patients, and 31 percent said they are happy. 35 Percent of respondents indicated they send more than one per month to patients, and 30 percent said they send one per month. Half of those surveyed said they have a monthly marketing budget of under $5,000, while 20 percent indicated their budget is over $5,000 per month. 31% 40% WE ARE HAPPY WITH RESULTS WE ARE NOT HAPPY WITH RESULTS 30% 35% ONE BLAST PER MONTH MORE THAN ONE BLAST PER MONTH 50% 20% OUR MONTHLY BUDGET IS UNDER $5000 OUR MONTHLY BUDGET IS OVER $

17 Top Marketing Channels is still king. is the marketing channel most used by aesthetic practices (used by 70 percent of respondents). Social media and phone are cited as marketing channels used by 64 percent and 61 percent, respectively. Texting (41 percent) and direct mail (20 percent) were also cited as marketing channels used by practices surveyed. 70% 41% TEXTING 64% SOCIAL MEDIA 20% POSTAL MAIL 61% PHONE 16% OTHER 15

18 When Choosing a Marketing Partner, More Business, More Growth Matters Getting more repeat business from existing patients (48 percent) and help to grow the business (48 percent) were cited most as very interesting topics when contacted by marketing companies. 29 Percent of respondents said the promise of a great ROI was very interesting, and 26 percent cited help to nurture and build stronger patient relationships as very interesting. Help to pay for expensive equipment was cited as very interesting to relatively fewer practices surveyed (9 percent). 16

19 100% GET MORE REPEAT BUSINESS FROM EXISTING PATIENTS HELP TO GROW THE BUSINESS PROMISE OF A GREAT ROI HELP TO NURTURE AND BUILD STRONGER RELATIONSHIPS WITH PATIENTS 100% BRING IN MORE REFERRALS BUILD MORE PATIENT LOYALTY TEACH PATIENTS ABOUT THE SERVICE HELP TO PAY EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT 100% HELP TO MINIMIZE REVENUE LEAKAGE FINDING MORE EFFECTIVE WAYS WAYS TO MAKE MORE MONEY VERY INTERESTING INTERESTING NEUTRAL NOT INTERESTING I DON T UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS MEANS 17

20 Marketing Goals Goals vary with one standout: generate more business from existing patients and lower advertising costs. The marketing goals of practices surveyed varied widely, with one exception: 28 percent of respondents cited generating more repeat business from existing patients and lowering advertising costs as a marketing goal. Generating more business from existing patients and increasing staff efficiency and generating more repeat business from existing patients were each named by more than 10 percent of respondents as goals (16 and 14 percent, respectively). When asked to name their marketing goals, less than ten percent of those surveyed cited the following as goals: keep patients coming back (9 percent); keep patients coming back with less work on staff (9 percent); reduce staff workload and unlock more business from existing patients (9 percent); make more money from existing patients (9 percent); minimize revenue leakage and increase business from existing patients (5 percent). 18

21 28% GENERATE MORE REPEAT BUSINESS FROM OUR EXISTING PATIENTS AND LOWER OUR ADVERTISING COSTS 16% GENERATE MORE BUSINESS FROM OUR EXISTING PATIENTS AND INCREASE OUR STAFF EFFICIENCY 14% GENERATE MORE REPEAT BUSINESS FROM OUR EXISTING PATIENTS 9% KEEP PATIENTS COMING BACK 9% KEEP PATIENTS COMING BACK WITH LESS WORK ON OUR STAFF 9% REDUCE STAFF WORKLOAD AND UNLOCK MORE BUSINESS FROM OUR EXISTING PATIENTS 9% MAKE MORE MONEY FROM EXISTING PATIENTS 5% MINIMIZE REVENUE LEAKAGE AND INCREASE BUSINESS FROM OUR EXISTING PATIENTS 19

22 Patient Database 20% VERY HIGH VALUE 80% HIGH VALUE The Value of a Clean Database While 80 percent of aesthetic practices say they highly value a database that is continuously cleaned and enhanced to improve marketing effectiveness, only 60 percent use a system to do that % DO NOT USE A SYSTEM TO CLEAN DATABASE 60% DO USE A SYSTEM TO CLEAN DATABASE

23 The Case for Follow-up 21

24 6 Marketing Campaign Response Follow-up 22 Most aesthetic practice key decision makers don t know if their staffs are challenged by marketing campaign response follow-up. When asked if their staffs are challenged to effectively follow up on the marketing responses they receive, 43 percent of physicians, owners or partners surveyed said they don t know. Yet, data show that practices make, on average,.8 attempts to follow up on marketing requests. That s less than one attempt per lead. Only 8 percent of physician, owner or partner respondents said the tools to track follow-up are very effective, and 19 percent said they are not effective. 73 Percent of key decision maker respondents surveyed said absolutely yes or sounds interesting when asked if they would be interested in a service that did the follow-up to connect marketing responses to their practices by phone so their staffs could easily complete follow-up.

25 The percentage of staff who say it is a challenge to effectively follow up on marketing responses. % % % 0 0% 40% 23 The percentage of key decision makers who say they don t know if their staffs are challenged to effectively follow up on marketing responses.

26 Is Staff Having Difficulty Following Up on Responses and Converting to Appointments? 24% YES, THEY SCHEDULE LESS THAN 50% OF THE RESPONSES 43% DON T KNOW Effectiveness of Follow-up Tools 33% NO, THEY SCHEDULE MORE THAN 50% OF THE RESPONSES 8% HAVE NO TOOLS 3% OTHER 8% VERY EFFECTIVE 62% SOMEWHAT EFFECTIVE 19% NOT EFFECTIVE 24

27 Top Follow-up Methods 59% PHONE 32% 27% ALL OF THE ABOVE Would you be interested in a response follow-up service? 14% 5% TEXT MESSAGE OTHER 5% WE ALREADY HAVE A SERVICE THAT DOES THIS 5% NO, WE FOLLOW UP WITH EVERYONE (THE BEST PRACTICE OF) SIX TIMES OVER TWO DAYS 11% ABSOLUTELY, YES! 62% SOUNDS VERY INTERESTING IF AFFORDABLE 16% OTHER 25

28 Staff Perspective 26

29 What Makes a Service or Product Valuable? When aesthetic practice staff was asked what they have to see in a service or product to encourage the doctor or key decision maker to make a purchase, 64 percent cited help getting more business for the practice, 44 percent said help with patient satisfaction and 32 percent said help reducing their workload. 64% 44% 32% 8% HELPS THE PRACTICE GET MORE BUSINESS HELPS PATIENT SATISFACTION HELPS REDUCE MY WORKLOAD OTHER 27

30 Biggest Challenges According to Staff: Lack of Time and Marketing Expertise 80 Percent of staff surveyed said not enough time and lack of expertise were their biggest challenges. 56% 24% 20% 16% 9% NOT ENOUGH HOURS IN THE DAY NOT TRAINED IN MARKETING OTHER OVERWORKED UNHAPPY CUSTOMERS 28

31 About erelevance Corp. About Modern Aesthetics With the vision to forever change small businesses, erelevance is pioneering the delivery of big-company consumer engagement to small business as an affordable, turnkey service. erelevance s game-changing suite of techpowered engagement services powers the growth of more than 1,300 smallto medium-size businesses driving more demand from customers and prospects, lowering their advertising costs and improving lead conversion. Modern Aesthetics is the source for expert advice on patient care and practice development for cosmetic surgeons. With content by and for clinicians, each edition offers unique perspective and insight regarding the latest developments in aesthetics from skin care to advanced procedures and strategies for clinicians to successfully incorporate them into practice. Privately funded and based in Austin, Texas, erelevance has been recognized locally, nationally and internationally with awards for its breakthrough innovation, including Red Herring 100 North America and Global awards, Entrepreneur magazine s Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America, and the A-list of Hottest Startups, presented by the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and South by Southwest. For more information, visit erelevancecorp.com. 29

32 erelevance Corporation 6011 W. Courtyard, Suite 300 Austin, TX Direct: (512)