Building a Budget
And Making It Work For You
Anna Mueller | Minnesota Eye Consultants
Results Rule
• “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the
trouble is I don't know which half.” - John Wanamaker
• The difference between good marketing and great
marketing is accountability and measurability.
• You can produce the best marketing campaign in the
world, but if the tracking doesn’t support it, its like it
never existed.
Hope is NOT a Strategy!
Benefits of a Marketing Budget
• Gives you a plan to work from. Helps you put stakes in the
ground.
• Supports the performance of cost-per-lead/conversion
analysis.
• Integrates marketing efforts.
• Reflects spending planned per month, quarter, year.
• Allows assessment of revenue impact of campaigns.
Budget Basics
• Determine how much you have to spend.
• Understand your marketing environment and
landscape.
• Understand your target patient.
• Track your spending and track your results.
– What makes sense to YOU?
Questions to Ask
• Who are the customers you’re trying to reach through
advertising and marketing?
• What stage of business are you in? Do you need to
attract new customers, or create a strong brand that
keeps the old ones coming back? What are your
objectives?
– Top of mind brand awareness or lead generation and
conversion?
• How often do you need to reach your audience?
Questions to Ask
• What do you think is the most compelling way to reach
them? Through what medium?
• How much do you think your competitors are spending
on marketing?
• How much have you spent in the past, and did you get
results?
• How much can you realistically spend?
How Much?
• Most practices determine the amount of dollars to be
committed as a percentage of revenue (ranging from
1% to 7-10%).
– Ophthalmology industry standard is 3-5%.
– You should have a sense of how much your competitors
are spending.
– How does your physician group/board view marketing?
• Priority or after thought?
Putting the Pieces Together
Once you have your annual amount, the challenge then
becomes one of allocating among the many marketing
channels available to you.
 Traditional Media – Television, Radio, Print
 Internal Marketing/Patient Experience
 Internet & Website
 Social Media
 Direct Mail
 Referring Physician Program
 Community/Grassroots
 Public Relations
 Events/Expos/Health Fairs
Smarter Planning
• Leave wiggle room for unexpected opportunities.
• Balance brand building and call to action.
• Consider hiring a media buy consultant if you
manage marketing internally.
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Experts, know the media market and spending.
Have established relationships with local media.
Know how to place ads to hit your target every time.
Eliminate all the ad sales calls!!!
Presenting Your Budget
• Have options – present tiers of
budgets/plans that focus on different goals
and achieve different outcomes.
• Back up your plan with data: historical
spend and results of past spends, industry
benchmarks, competitor spending.
Measuring ROI
Marketing has evolved from a primarily creative discipline to analytical one.
• Internal Tracking systems and processes.
• Marketing automation solutions.
• Cost per lead (and conversion!) analysis.
• Each advertising element measures differently.
• Which touch point gets credit?
– Direct or Indirect revenue attribution.
Cost per lead is great, but what about
Cost per conversion?
Sometimes, the last thing we need is another
lead – we need to be able to convert the leads
we already have!
• Call to consult conversion rate?
• Consult to surgery conversion rate?
• Targeted Goals?
Calculating Cost Per Lead/Conversion
Tracking Options
• Ask the patient at any and every opportunity:
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During phone calls and appointment scheduling
Pt satisfactions surveys
Online forms
When they check in for their appointment
• Different telephone numbers listed for different ads
• Online lead tracking system, i.e. MD Prospects
• Advertising Calendar with phone volume overlay
Lead Tracking System
Advertising Calendar
Take Home Tips
•
Be vigilant about tracking how each patient finds you.
•
If some part of your marketing plan is not working out as well as you expected,
tweak it. What channel drives action? Which one doesn’t?
•
Invest in tools and/or people that can achieve the results you need.
•
Create monthly reports – to keep you on top of things; but also to have ready to
present to the board when/if asked.
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Big budget doesn’t mean better results.
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Plan what you know.
•
Accept that there will be risk and uncertainty in any worthwhile plan.
Questions?
Contact Me | p: 952.567.6055 |
e: [email protected]