Cross-Channel Cohesion Drives Qualified Leads

Cross-Channel Case Study

Nicklaus Children’s Hospital

Nicklaus Children's Hospital is a beloved, Miami-based pediatric hospital system, whose mission is "to inspire hope and promote lifelong health by providing the best care to every child." 

The Challenge

NCH already had a mature, cross-channel digital marketing program that included paid social, programmatic, paid search, and SEO efforts. However, recent developments in the digital marketing landscape posed new advertising challenges. Between a general inconsistency in search demand for healthcare services, and the sunsetting of many healthcare-service-specific keyword targeting abilities on Meta platforms, NCH knew they needed to leverage their existing program to tackle these evolving circumstances head-on. Their ultimate goal was to create more awareness around their specialties, drive new patient appointment requests, and strengthen their brand voice in the market. 


The Approach

We embarked on transforming NCH’s marketing program by giving their cross-channel presence a major facelift throughout four core areas.


1. A PAID SEARCH REFRESH

INSIGHT: Rise partnered with NCH to identify that, due to frequent competitor overlap in auctions, certain keywords in their search account weren’t performing well against larger brand goals. Therefore, they needed the right paid search approach to maximize their budget and regain their competitive edge. 

SOLUTION: To earn more impression share, we focused first on a refresh of the NCH paid search account keywords. By prioritizing core search keywords for various service lines based on business importance and seasonality trends, we significantly improved user experience metrics like bounce rate and time on page. We also focused on keyword specificity in our ongoing keyword audits, to increase search visibility for those seeking pediatric care and related services. Finally, we redrew keyword bidding strategies, reprioritizing budget toward the best performers.


2. A FUTURE-PROOFED SEO APPROACH

INSIGHT: Due to inconsistent search behavior for healthcare services and systems overall, NCH needed to improve their SEO strategy to maintain website visibility and approachability for all users. 

SOLUTION: Through a combination of technical and organic SEO tactics— such as metadata optimizations, monitoring core vitals, and conducting periodic analyses of hreflang tags— we were able to reduce user friction on the NCH website and provide an optimal cross-device experience for both Spanish and English-speaking users. This mix of tactics allowed us to increase overall brand awareness within the market, and improved the organic search experience for all.


3. A BRAND NEW PAID SOCIAL STRATEGY

INSIGHT: With Meta’s new targeting standards, NCH could no longer gather data from keywords they historically analyzed. Therefore, they needed a refreshed way to collect and analyze data that could shape truly audience-centric paid social strategies. 

SOLUTION: With these new targeting rules in mind, we implemented additional routine creative refreshes and increased iterative testing to lay the foundation for strong creative performance. Using practices like multivariate testing to determine the best combinations of messaging and creative, we were able to tailor NCH’s strategy to speak directly to their target audience’s needs. 


4. AN EXPANDED PROGRAMMATIC REACH

INSIGHT: NCH already had an active programmatic bidding strategy, but they needed to optimize their strategies to be privacy-first while decreasing CPC and increasing conversions. 

SOLUTION: We identified new audience segments based on third-party data (an especially important, less restrictive source of healthcare data that helps protect brands from touching sensitive or non-consented data points). This helped us create not only an improved programmatic bid strategy, but also the most prudent allocation of this channel’s ad spend based on key audience attributes and behaviors. We used triple-lift PMPs, household extension ads, and click retargeting to drive improved performance.  


VISUAL EXAMPLE: THE REFRESHED CREATIVE MIX


 Pictured: Elements of both the paid social and programmatic refreshed creative mix.  


The Result

Across all service lines within this cross-channel campaign, NCH saw stunning results:

+300%

Increase in PPC & PRG leads YoY

+36%

Increase in SOC leads YoY

68%

Savings on PPC & PRG CPL YoY

41%

Savings on SOC CPL YoY