It’s just good business: You offer a wide range of products, so you focus your marketing on the ones that bring in the most profit.
You won’t see restaurants advertising starters and table water—mains and strategic meal deals get the spotlight.
Airlines most certainly prefer return flights over one way tickets. And the big banks? They clearly make more on home loans than opening everyday personal accounts.
Diverting marketing budget to products and services that bring in the most revenue is just good business, and there’s a name for it—billing optimisation.
In this article, explore billing optimisation and find out:
- Billing optimisation in the healthcare industry
- Which products and services are most profitable (hint: it’s not just those with the biggest markup)
- How to find your ‘most profitable’ offering
- How to get billing optimisation working for your business
At HeartBeat Digital, we help businesses turn on billing optimisation, turn off ineffective marketing campaigns and turn up business growth
But it can be tricky. Optimising your billing is no set-and-forget switch on a computer screen. HeartBeat Digital owner and founder, Lachlan McPherson explains;
“Billing optimisation is a powerful tool, we’ve seen clients add tens of thousands of dollars to their monthly revenues.
“At first glance, simply ratcheting up advertising budget on products and services with the biggest gap between cost price and retail price might work.
“But zooming out, how many people are not only interested in those services, but can and will take up that service?”
There’s also the reputation piece.
“Billing optimisation is about business sustainability too, so consider products and services that you want to be known for. You probably don’t want to alienate people who might have a lower budget,” explains Lachlan.
“This helps explain why you don’t see brands only advertising their top-tier products, they instead focus on what the bulk of their audience can and will purchase.
“For example, Toyota gives a lot more air time to Camrys and Corollas than its LandCruiser Sahara.”
Billing optimisation in healthcare is no different
Most practices offer services ranging from checkups and blood tests to cosmetic surgery, vaccines and disease management.
However, it’s the ones who utilise billing optimisation strategies that grow to offer the latest diagnosis and treatment technology to their communities resulting in appointments filled.
From our own experience, it’s services like skin checks and some cosmetic services that often tick the boxes.
- Needed by a large proportion of the community – yes
- Low overheads – yes
- Requires expensive equipment and highly skilled specialists – no
- Alienates people due to high costs – no
- Time consuming and/or complicated preparation – no
However, there’s more to it when defining ‘most profitable’.
Here’s how to work it out
Know the numbers, find opportunities
It’s impossible to make billing optimisation decisions without knowing numbers like the costs to your business as well as market interest.
Prepare for a surprise (or a shock). Many businesses, and we’re speaking from experience here, are stunned to find just what their numbers say about profitability on their products and services.
The good news is that digital marketing allows you to quickly retool or adjust to suit and see results.
Expect your numbers to paint a picture of where you are and where you should and could be with great opportunities.
Which numbers?
Billing Statistics
This means viewing a breakdown of your billing history and filtering it. For example, products and services that are paid for on credit, or those which see most demand on specific dates or even times.
Cubiko, a platform specifically for this, allows your data to show you which products and services are gaining momentum as well as any hidden opportunities (there are always many).
Website Statistics
Google Analytics, one of many platforms out there that offers crucial insights, shows data like:
- Time people spend on each page of your website
- Where they access pages from (ads, search, social media, etc.)
- Certain metrics like age, gender or interests of website visitors
Search analysis and search intent are also great resources
How many people in your region are searching for dermal fillers for example? Are they simply researching such services or do they want to make a purchase?
Big numbers behind search terms like ‘what are dermal fillers’ and ‘are dermal fillers safe and effective’ indicate people in the research phase.
Terms like ‘dermal fillers price’ or ‘dermal fillers near me’ suggest intent to buy.
You’ll also need to know how many people are in the market for each product/service you offer and what percentage are qualified (actually likely to convert into a sale).
Other considerations when deciphering your most profitable offering:
- Competition
- Keyword difficulty (are many other businesses vying for audience attention?)
- Ability to advertise (some campaigns don’t meet legal requirements, eg., tobacco products and certain prescription medicines)
- Cost per click (how much you pay for ads on websites or social media, based on the number of clicks the ad receives)
Continue to know the numbers
Since trends and needs come and go, you’ll need to regularly check your metrics.
For example, skin checks typically see higher interest in the later half of summer into autumn as people ensure their skin’s health after time in the sun.
In the finance industry, personal loans see traction before and after Christmas. Domestic travel of course peaks in school holidays.
It’s not only seasonal. Many businesses find revenue on certain offerings changes over time, this can be due to factors like:
- Rising or falling costs
- Staff expertise
- Equipment depreciation
- Availability
- Location and demographics
The key is regular monitoring.
Employ a flexible strategy
With regular monitoring, flexibility is the next ingredient in a winning billing optimisation strategy.
This means the ability to pivot marketing budget from say, skin checks in early autumn to flu shots in late autumn.
Doing so can make a huge difference and again, it’s not just seasonal, think of a factory ramping up operations after installing new equipment.
Google Ads and other online advertising allow for relatively quick transitions as they can be dialled up or down.
There is a machine learning component as well, but in general, setting up new targeted ads means:
- Research analysis in audiences
- Defining keywords and search terms
- Competition analysis
- Crafting ads suited per target audience
- Building landing pages (a standalone web page where people who click on ads go to)
A lot goes into it, but a lot comes out of it too.
Hire professionals
If deep diving into metrics with online analytical tools and setting up ads on Google, social media and third-party websites seems destined for the too-hard basket, professional help is available.
“Sometimes, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing,” says Lachlan.
“Letting ads and an online presence go unchecked can end up costing more than it’s worth, and even worse, damage a brand’s reputation.
“Having professionals do the heavy lifting means you’re left to do what you do best—ensuring your customers are delivered quality products and services through a well-run organisation.”
At the end of the day
When done right, billing optimisation can have a massive impact on revenue streams, increase and strengthen a brand and help position an organisation as a trusted authority.
The key is ‘when done right’.
As we’ve discovered, it takes analysis, planning and monitoring to implement an effective billing optimisation strategy.
Add in time and experience, and the winning formula can be a tall order for many SMEs out there.
HeartBeat Digital offers expertise in billing optimisation strategies that also combine the benefits of modern websites, strong SEO and social media marketing.
Get in touch with our experts for your billing optimisation plan and more.
