Case Study - Chase Medical Research

Targeted Digital Strategy Increases Clinical Trial Participant Recruitment Over 330%

Chase-hero

The Challenge

Increase Qualified Leads for Specific Clinical Trials

Clinical research organizations face unique challenges because they’re responsible for finding participants for several different trials at once.

Additionally, some trials are harder to book than others because of strict participant criteria. Some sponsors will provide marketing funding for trials while others will promote the trial through central marketing, or they won’t provide support at all.

Juggling multiple trials, budgets, and marketing channels all while meeting recruitment goals can be a real struggle. To make matters worse, marketers at many sites are understaffed and constantly trying to do more with less.

Old Chase Medical Research website prior to redesign

A Dated Website

Prior to 2016, Chase Medical Research  had a dated website that was difficult for users to navigate and didn’t prioritize lead generation. The website was also not mobile friendly, meaning it didn’t properly format for viewing on mobile devices.

Low Conversion

With over 75% of their traffic visiting from mobile devices, this was a major issue. Marketing activities focused primarily on blogging to drive organic traffic to the website. While traffic increased over time due to blogging efforts, conversion rate remained relatively low.

Rudimentary Facebook Advertising

Facebook ads for different trials shared very similar creative (copy and images). Messages were not tailored to each audience resulting in missed lead goals, a higher cost per lead, and therefore a higher cost per booking.

"A significant amount of our marketing budget has been moved to Facebook and we are leaving behind the older, more costly methods of TV, radio and print ads. We have been open to trying different types of Facebook posts and paid ads, including video, flat ads, and slideshows. This willingness allows us to learn and pivot quickly to direct our marketing effectively. With the assistance of Whittington Consulting the tracking and interpretation of the results is continuous."

Brenda Drake Chief Financial Officer at Chase Medical Research

Our Solution

A Highly Targeted Patient Recruitment Strategy

Chase Medical Research partnered with Whittington Consulting to update their website and to drive more qualified leads at a lower cost per lead.

Chase-Image-w-HEX

A Modern Conversion-Focused Website

We started with the website, the center of any company’s online presence. We asked the question—"As a potential trial participant or sponsor, what information would I want?"

By focusing on to the needs of Chase Medical Research's target audiences, we were able to create a more strategic, user-focused website.

In order to accomplish this, we overhauled the navigation to make it quicker and easier to get pertinent information. We added prominent, contrasting Calls-to-Action (CTAs) to aid in visitor conversion—for example, visitors might download the “Everything You Need To Know About Clinical Trials” eBook or book an appointment. We also incorporated forms on website pages to track interest in enrolling trials.

Targeted Facebook Advertising Strategies

When it came to Chase Medical Research's Facebook advertising campaigns, it was time for an overhaul. Previously their messaging, targeting and visuals were generic so we tailored ad creative to speak to the needs of those individual audiences.

We also researched demographics and interests of ideal patients and targeted them by interest, per therapeutic area.

The targeted user experience carried through to the landing page. Copy and visuals felt consistent with the ads. This reduced friction from the ad to the landing page and point of conversion.

By focusing ads on trial-specific demographics, we were able to reach more qualified audiences, acquire more leads in a shorter period of time and reduce cost per lead.

Test and Adapt

To determine the most effective ads for each therapeutic area, we tested several variables.

This testing helped us determine the best combinations for increased conversion and to reach new qualified leads. We then reported our findings to CMR, and adapted each trial's ad strategy to maximize spend.

  • Messaging: language that evoked emotion vs. messaging with terms such as “free” or paid”
  • Images: conveying emotions through people vs. graphic illustrations
  • Landing Pages: various lead forms, headings, visuals and copy
  • Audience: interest based audiences vs. Facebook custom audiences vs. "lookalike audiences" (audiences that resemble Chase Medical Research's patient database)

The Result

A Digital Advertising Strategy That Increased Online Patient Intake By Over 330%

In the first six months, Chase Medical Research generated 426 leads from paid ads compared to 99 in the previous six-month period, exceeding their goals for the first two quarters.

Due to our efforts, Chase Medical Research continues to increase the number of bookings through Facebook ads each month. Our new digital advertising strategy not only increased their number of leads per month but also increased the number of bookings from paid social by 366%.

Chase Medical Research was booking more trial participants and spending less to acquire bookings, which was a huge success. The cost-per-booking decreased by $1,238.91 compared to the previous six-month period.

"The involvement of Whittington Consulting has allowed us to increase our Facebook leads by over 330% in a six month time period, and reduce our cost per lead by 60%. Other areas have improved as well, including our email marketing conversions, which have improved by 39% in the past six months. We aren’t stopping here. It’s clear that this is a continuous process of refinement and ingenuity."

Brenda Drake Chief Financial Officer at Chase Medical Research

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