Great Methods for Digital Lead Tracking

Building a practice isn’t easy. Not only must you ensure your staff, equipment, and facilities are ready to provide the best possible service for your patients, but you also have to get patients in the office! This is where your marketing comes into play.

You may have people in the office working on your website, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts, social media profile management, and digital paid advertising or you may hire a third-party to handle these efforts for you. No matter who does your marketing, there is one thing in common – you are spending your hard-earned money for it. 

So how do you know whether or not those dollars are being put to good use? You have to track your leads!

Internal Platforms 

Let’s say that you signed up for an SEO service and a few months later you start to see an uptick in patients. Can you contribute those to SEO work that has been done?

At Sesame we have a call tracking feature (Sesame First Call) that tracks phone calls coming from organic searches. Calls are recorded for offices to easily know if people coming in from search results are converting and becoming patients. This tool also applies to other Sesame services like Pay-Per-Click (PPC), Social Media, and Social Media Advertising.

Google Analytics + Other Platforms

What if you don’t have call tracking features available to you but you still want to make sure your marketing dollars are working? The answer is simple: ask your marketer how they’re tracking performance!

Your marketer should be using Google Analytics or another prominent web analytics tool to track performance. In honor of performance transparency if you ask for access or at least a performance breakdown that person or company should be happy to provide it. 

Ask Patients How they Found You

It typically takes less than 30 seconds to ask patients how they found you and they are almost always happy to offer up that information. Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions as well. 

The most typical answer you will hear is “online” or “on the Internet”. While that is true most of the time (as around 90% of searches for a new doctor begin online), that also doesn’t tell you much. 

The broad spectrum of “the Internet” could include a general Google search, paid advertising, or even on a social media platform. Asking if they recall exactly how they found your information is important to really know how you are performing. 

If the patient doesn’t recall or offer that information, then simply move on. However, doing all you can to reconcile your marketing efforts with the money you are spending on them goes a long way when it comes to ensuring your practice’s success. 

 

By consulting internal platforms used by marketers, well-known tracking platforms like Google Analytics, and asking patients how they found you online you can gain a strong understanding of how your digital channels are performing. In turn, you can focus attention on different channels based on performance. 

Please feel free to reach out to the Sesame Team if you have any related questions or needs!

 

—Phil Horton, Sr. Search Manager, Sesame Communications