If I ask you to suggest me a doctor, you would most probably recommend the doctor that you and your family go to. You would also most probably say, “My doctor is the best!”
Word-of-mouth is the main source of marketing for healthcare industry that lags behind in technology adoption by several years, especially in the adoption of digital marketing. However, KKTOrthopedic Spine Centre is changing that.
KKT not only introduced innovative and evidence based non-invasive technology for spine treatment in Pakistan but it has also pioneered in the use of data-driven digital marketing, a technique previously only considered for e-commerce in the country.
Over the past six months, the company generated leads coming-in at a pace of 12 minutes apart that increased patient inquiries and profitability by several folds.Thanks to some savvy digital marketing and data analysis.
Jawad Qureshi is the CEO of the company and a former investment banker at Wall Street. He founded the company in 2012, after he himself went under KKT treatment for his spinal disorder. After successful treatment, he collaborated with KKT International to bring that technology to Pakistan.
“Bringing latest treatment and healthcare experience to my homeland was my main objective of foundingKKT in Pakistan. Our clinics offer top quality facilities not only to patients but also to our doctors and staff. We introduced Patient Management Advocates (PMAs) that ensure that each patient receives timely and personalized care throughout their treatment cycle. Whereas, our doctors are actively engaged in clinical research,” Qureshi said. “Defining and tracking success has been our main focus from the onset. Indeed, as Peter Drucker famously said, you cannot improve what you cannot measure.”
Data driving the success for KKT
“Our success lies in being data driven,” Akmal Sheikh, COO of the company said. “We measure operational performance across various metrics at our clinics. For instance, we measure the time taken by each patient undergoing various procedures, such as consultation with doctors and physiotherapy. Data help us optimize scheduling to reduce waiting queues for our patients. Furthermore, data from digital marketing is informing us to shape our business strategy. Based on the gained insights we are setting up our fourth clinic in Karachi city.”
Generating a new revenue stream
Bilal Farooq is theforce behind KKT’s online lead generation that resulted in a new revenue stream that superseded the traditional ways of acquiring new patients.Farooq is a Stanford University trained professional performance marketer and also a shareholder in KKT.
“After my mother was successfully treated with KKT, I realized the impact this technology can have in improving lives. I decided to use my expertise as a performance marketer to use digital media to reach out to patients who have lost hope of recovering from their spinal disorders.” Farooq explained.
Content, Search and Social
Media Marketing
“Content is indeed king in healthcare. Leveraging content for lead generation has also been important because KKT is a new technology. Most of our patients are tech-savvy, armed with 3G/4G enabled smartphones, well informed and thoroughly research information available online before making a decision to book appointment with us. Therefore, investing in text and video content for awareness has paid dividends. Content creation is also data driven. Search query data from paid search marketing has been an invaluable source to gain insights that drive targeted content creation to provide answers to patient queries. Search query data has also led an initiative to develop content in local languages, especially in Urdu and Pashto.” Farooq added.
“In addition to leveraging content, search and social channels have been key to online success of KKT. Scaling up lead generation through paid search marketing is challenging in Pakistan because of low search volume and as most conversions come in from long tail keywords. Social media channels are important aspect of a patient’s online journey and bring in over 80 percent of leads for KKT.”
Secret to high quality lead generation
“Understanding the art and science of digital advertisement is the secret to high quality lead generation. For instance, dissecting the Facebook ad to understand that the aesthetics of the creative generate interest, whereas language of the ad copy supports consideration by the prospect. As we have experienced, aesthetics are a major driver of the lead quality. Therefore, we continuously A/B test elements of the creative to improve relevancy between the target audience and the landing pages,” Farooq explained.
 “Art and science of lead nurturing is an equally important aspect of our marketing strategy. We have devised a four-step lead nurturing solution that includes an effective response system and tracking mechanisms to improve solution’s performance.”
Importance of mobile devices
“Over 60 percent of online traffic comes-in from mobile devices. As 3G and 4G services improve and as penetration of smartphones continue to increase, mobile traffic will continue to remain a pivotal element of digital marketing strategy. Therefore, mobile is a critical part of KKT's lead generation strategy. Decreasing page load times and optimizing mobile responsiveness of landing pages has been essential in increasing conversion rate on mobile devices,” Farooq explained.
Future of healthcare
marketing in Pakistan.
“Due to highly underfunded and inefficient public healthcare system, patients prefer private healthcare services. About 70 percent of patients use private healthcare services and spend over $7 billion per year, which is expected to grow significantly. Spend on digital channels for healthcare marketing will increase.KKT Pakistan is proud in leading the healthcare sector in technology adoption both for marketing and spine care. Our mission is to continue to introduce timely and evidence-based world class healthcare services to our patients that have been deprived of the care that they deserve, and I promise to bring our services to every nook and corner of this country!” Qureshi emphasised.