Client Success: Southern Star Medical
Southern Star Medical’s grand opening a success—albeit in the nick of time. Here’s what happened
Southern Star Medical, a trusted go-to for the residents of Southern River, Perth, treats everything from common injuries to chronic disease management.
Amazingly, the new practice’s website was up and running in three short days AND they achieved their ‘trusted go-to’ status in three short months, something many businesses take years to accomplish.
Here’s how HeartBeat Digital and Southern Star Medical pulled it off.
The need was for speed
A major challenge occurred in the lead up to the practice’s October 2022 opening date when, along with the pressures that launching a new business brings, their then website developer fell short.
Left with only a few design PDFs and mere days until doors opened, executive decisions saw Southern Star Medical’s original marketing team terminated, exacerbating the need for a website and online presence.
It’s at this point they turned to HeartBeat Digital.
“As well as social media, we needed a website built and working by the Monday,”
explains Practice Manager, Laura Johnson in reference to the Wednesday prior to opening.
In other words, for a successful opening, the team required a functioning website, complete with an online booking portal, services pages and staff bios—in 3 business days.
That’s something typically measured in months, not days.
The HeartBeat Digital team stepped up and got it done, albeit with a few strong coffees.
Digital Marketing Lead, Mick Carney understood the seriousness of the situation; ‘offline’ businesses find it almost impossible to attract new customers.
With team collaboration, Mick succeeded in building a stunning functioning website in time for the opening deadline. The practice was officially online.
The results speak for themselves with Southern Star Medical’s website optimised for all devices and conveying important healthcare information to visitors, along with online bookings.
But the hard work had just begun.
“Heartbeat had done a fantastic job getting the website up and running at lightning speed, we were really impressed”.
Ms. Johnson ratched up HeartBeat Digital’s involvement in her clinic’s marketing.
“We decided to task Mick and his team with all of Southern Star Medical’s digital marketing”.
This required a heavy online presence utilising social media, PPC (pay per click) advertising and SEO.
Heading up social media, HeartBeat Digital’s Benedicta Genoveva developed a strategic content plan which positioned the practice as a caring, modern healthcare provider perfect for Southern River’s young families and outdoorsy lifestyle.
Working collaboratively with the client and using post scheduling at optimal frequency, the social media team reached a combined (Facebook and Instagram) new audience of approximately 27,000 user accounts and 120 organic followers.
That’s all from a zero base, pretty impressive in just 90 days.
Key elements of success included social posts curated and designed to support Southern Star Medical’s brand and marketing goals, including patient engagements and bookings.
To divert online traffic to Southern Star Medical’s website, and ultimately the online booking portal, Ian Morrison, HeartBeat Digital’s Advertising Specialist, drilled down into data from several sources.
Armed with this data, Ian set up an ad campaign targeting specific search terms and audiences on Google.
The result was 681 HotDoc bookings within three months, an amazing result in anyone’s books.
Building trust and longevity also means organic results, and that requires expert SEO.
This is where Alan Hall’s SEO (search engine optimisation) wizardry comes into play.
Knowing that ranking high on Google’s search results pages means trust and clicks, Alan formulated a content strategy with strategic keyword placement in Southern Star Medical’s service pages and other areas of the website.
Collaborating with Southern Star Medical, the Heartbeat Digital team created the content necessary to house keywords aimed at driving traffic through SEO.
Results showed an average of over 2,500 monthly website sessions viewing an average of 3.15 pages per session over the first three months of operation, numbers that significantly helped put patients in Southern Star Medical’s brand-new facilities.
The practice also saw increased Google search results rankings:
- Top 3 ranking for “doctors southern river”
- Top 10 ranking for “southern river GP”
These results beat several established competitors.
Not bad considering the practice started with a blank appointment schedule.
“It’s all a matter of connecting the right tools, people and strategies,”
says Lachlan McPherson, HeartBeat Digital Owner & Founder.
“Our team was fortunate to have the chance to not only establish our client as a trusted go-to, but also be part of their journey, that’s what we’re all about.”
Results
If you skipped ahead, here are the results after THREE MONTHS of digital marketing optimisation:
- 681 HotDoc (appointment) Bookings
- 607 phone calls
- Over 2,500 website sessions viewing an average of 3.15 pages per session per month (Nov, Dec 2022, Jan 2023)
- Top 3 ranking for “doctors southern river” (beating several established competitors)
- Top 10 ranking for “southern river GP” (beating several established competitors)
All in all, these results totalled a 237.32% ROI (18 Oct 2022 to 23 Jan 2023) from Southern Star Medical’s investment in digital marketing.
Our calculators put this at an 8,930% annualised ROI.
Looking ahead
With Southern Star Medical’s ultimate goal of keeping its community fit and healthy through compassionate care, the future’s looking bright.
Keeping up-to-date health information only a phone tap away from new and existing patients with active online engagement are key pillars of the practice’s years ahead.
Throughout this journey, the Southern Star Medical team has collaborated very closely with HeartBeat Digital to exchange ideas and discuss online enhancements.
Stay tuned, the rest is yet to be written!