Memorial Hermann is partnering with aha! to make patient acquisition more personal.
Memorial Hermann Health System is one of the largest not-for-profit health systems in Southeast Texas. The healthcare system recently adopted the digital experience platform (DXP) Sitecore to personalize campaigns with content that speaks more directly to unique audiences. Memorial Hermann worked with aha! to re-launch Memorial Hermann’s bariatrics marketing campaign, NewStart, on Sitecore. The aha! team applied our knowledge of audience personas and the technical implementation of personalization campaigns on Sitecore to help Memorial Hermann realize results such as higher conversion rates compared to Memorial Hermann’s previous NewStart landing page, which did not use Sitecore. We also helped Memorial Hermann create a repeatable model that the healthcare system can use for future campaigns.
The Challenge.
Getting personal. Bariatric surgery can help millions of Americans live healthier lives, but the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery estimates that less than 1% of the 24 million U.S. adults who may qualify actually have a bariatric procedure each year. To help qualifying adults understand bariatric surgery options offered at Memorial Hermann, the health system has relied on a multi-channel advertising campaign driving to a NewStart campaign landing page. One advantage of a modern DXP such as Sitecore is its advanced personalization capabilities. Memorial Hermann saw an opportunity to make its bariatric outreach more effective through personalization. So in early 2021, aha! and Memorial Hermann launched a revamped NewStart bariatric surgery marketing campaign based on Sitecore. NewStart is Memorial Hermann’s first marketing outreach built on Sitecore.
The Solution.
Helping Memorial Hermann build a personalized experience on top of Sitecore first meant identifying the distinct personas that comprise potential candidates for bariatric surgery – not just who they are but their attitudes toward weight-loss surgery. For instance, based on Memorial Hermann’s research, mothers are likely more motivated to undertake bariatric surgery to make themselves healthier for the benefit of their family; but men aged 35-54 are more likely to be motivated to choose bariatric surgery to alleviate other health conditions such as joint pain.
With a firm knowledge of different personas as a foundation, we enabled the new Sitecore-powered back-end personalization engine of the Memorial Hermann site and customized the front-end content (on the NewStart landing page) to make the experience more relevant to different users to address any hesitations that they might have. All the personas receive different calls to action based on what the site learns about their browsing behavior. To ensure a more personal experience on first visit, we also revised the paid search campaign to share content aligned with the main patient personas.
The NewStart campaign leverages Sitecore’s campaign management, personalization, and analytics features to create the experience. In addition to paid search (as noted above), media such as digital display, Facebook, Instagram, and other touchpoints drive visitors to the personalized landing pages. The bariatrics website user experience, visuals, and copy adapt to triggers established by incoming traffic to display a mix of generic and targeted content. With the Sitecore Path Analyzer, Memorial Hermann can gather information regarding onsite visitor behavior including where the majority of users visit, what value they are getting from a page, and the total value per visit. Additionally, Sitecore provides the opportunity for multivariate testing. The Sitecore Profiles (segments) defined for bariatrics present an opportunity for scale for future campaigns beyond this service line.
The Result.
The revamped NewStart page began to deliver results only weeks into 2021. Ensuring consistent, personalized messaging from the first advertising touchpoint through to the landing page led to record conversion volume. Our paid search campaign saw a 52% increase in conversion over the months prior to the relaunch, with conversion for both males and females growing by a similar magnitude. Paid search clicks and conversions increased substantially for both brand and non-brand keywords. All these results were driven by the launch of the personalized ads and landing pages on January 26, 2021.
Memorial Hermann also benefits from having a repeatable model that the healthcare system can use for future campaigns – so our work together will yield far more returns down the road.
About aha!
aha! is a health-experience agency that develops and deepens the connection between patient and provider through empathetic and innovative digital services. Firmly grounded in the principles of human-centered design, their multidisciplinary team applies years of retail engagement experience to the growing digital healthcare industry. aha! enables providers to meet both the inevitable and unexpected with agility, precision, and human touch.