Hello! My name is Todd VanDuzer and I am the co-founder of both Duzer Group marketing agency, Natural Med Doc, and Elite Vein Clinic. Elite Vein Clinic is a medical practice that specializes in helping patients live an active life again by treating a vein disease called chronic venous insufficiency.
I started Elite Vein Clinic in October of 2020 in Scottsdale, AZ with Dr. Nima Azarbehi, with ZERO medical background and only $31,191.30 in startup costs.
In our first year in business we were able to:
- Earn $1.27 million gross revenue EXCLUSIVELY using digital marketing.
- Purchase and remodel a 2,100 square foot building.
- Purchase 2 ultrasound machines, 5 medical chairs, a spider vein machine, a laser perforator machine, and all necessary medical supplies.
- Build a staff of 12 employees & contractors.
- Open up two additional locations in Phoenix and Chandler.
- Begin to pay ourselves a close to market value rate by June of 2021.
In this case study, I will walk you through exactly how we grew a brand new medical practice using digital marketing, sales, and system optimization.
Our Goal & Strategy:
Our goal for Elite Vein Clinic was straightforward: help as many patients as possible eliminate vein disease.
In order to achieve this, these patients needed to find us. We accomplished this through three primary marketing channels:
- Search Engine Optimization (Google Search)
- Paid-Per-Click (Google Ads and Bing Ads)
- Facebook/Instagram Ads
However, if you have ever hired or tried running paid ads or SEO yourself, you’ve likely realized this is easier said than done.
To Ensure Success You Need:
- A Brand Focused, Conversion Friendly, SEO Optimized Website (yes, that is a mouthful)
- Sales / Patient Onboarding Process
- Lead Tracking Systems
- The Right Tactics & Strategies to Optimize Your Ads & SEO
Most marketing agencies or employees you hire will focus on only one area. Even if they excel in that one area, often times it is not enough to get you the results you are looking for.
Having mastered this process with Duzer Group clients and businesses, Elite Vein Clinic practiced what we preached and implemented these 4 steps.
Brand Focused, Conversion Friendly, SEO Optimized Website:
1. Branding & Mobile Friendly Design
The first area of focus was developing brand standards. This included the development of the logo, font standardization, color scheme, CTA (call-to-action), and establishing the look and feel of the website.
We also wanted to ensure the website was responsive, looking good on mobile while still adhering to the two principles you will learn below (conversion-friendly & SEO optimized for mobile).
“We have found that on some marketing channels, up to 73% of users click on ads browsing their mobile devices.”
The brand standards also set the groundwork for the in-person marketing material.
2. Conversion Rate Optimized
After establishing brand standards, we developed a conversion-friendly website.
See Image Below And Corresponding Numbers For More In-Depth Explanation.
1) Clear & Concise Navigation: This helps prospective patients find what they are looking for. Less is more — many practices tend to overwhelm patients with dozens of tabs explaining their services.
“A confused buyer is a no-buyer”
2) Easy to Find Phone Number: We made it very easy for our patients to locate our phone number and call us.
Based on data from several vein clinics, 67% of patients called rather than filling out a web from. Make it easy for your patient to reach you!
3) Value Proposition & Clear CTA (call to action): We made our website vein specific. This way we could speak directly to the patient’s needs. In addition, we made it very easy for our patients to click and get started right away.
4) Credible Icons: We displayed our credible icons, helping to demonstrate our authority in space.
5) Direct Question to Patient: We asked the patient a direct question with answers that most likely apply to them if they have vein disease. Again, this helps them understand that they’ve come tot the right place.
Additional Items: In addition to the above, our home page focused on:
a) Social Proof – Sharing Google reviews and video testimonials from satisfied patients.
b) Logos, pathos, & ethos or emotional, logic, & fear based reasoning to help the patient understand why they need to move forward.
c) FAQ – to answer the most common objections or concerns that patients had.
“Remember a confused buyer is a no-buyer. Make your website & value proposition “not confusing” and buyers will rush to the door.”
3. SEO Optimized Website
The final principle of the website was ensuring it was SEO optimized.
This encourages search engines like Google, Bing, & Yahoo to display your website on the first page.
We could write a 20-page paper on all the tactics and strategies that go into ensuring your website is SEO optimized, but for time’s sake, we will boil them down into three principles:
1) Proper Keywords – After doing in-depth research using search engine keyword software and leveraging our vein clients’ performance data, we identified the top keywords that resulted in high engagement with our target audience and implemented them on our website.
2) Technical SEO Additions – We installed the correct plugins: Yoast for title tag optimization and XML sitemap development, Schema Pro for local rankings, and Toolset for internal linking optimization. We also added the website to Google Search Console and Google My Business.
3) Ongoing Link Building: Although this is more aligned with our strategy and/tactics to increase our SEO presence,(something we continue to this day), I figured I would mention it here.
When Larry Page and Sergey Brin started Google, one of the primary areas when developing the algorithm besides “keywords” was websites linking to others. They created this thesis because, historically, peer-reviewed articles with the most credibility and esteem in the academic community were cited the most in future research papers and books.
They applied these same principles to websites. Those with “hyperlinks” pointing to them from similar websites (health blogs, doctors sites, etc.) and high authority (CNN, universities, The Huffington Post, etc.) would help the “keywords” on the website “rank: (or show up on Google toward the top of the results list).
Therefore, when we launched, we developed “Big & Hyper-Local Citations”, (directory links like Yelp, Yahoo Local, Merchant Circle, Health Net amongst dozens of others), PR releases through publishers, & Google Cloud links.
Once we established our foundational links we continued to build links through cold outreach methods for “niche specific,” “high authority,” and“high traffic volume”websites with anchor texts (hyperlink words that link to page) that match the keywords we are trying to rank for.
Now, if you are confused, please don’t feel dumb.
It has taken me over a decade to master SEO. We have two full-time employees on our staff that solely focus on helping Elite Vein Clinic and our clients rank on the first page for desirable terms.
Ranking is not easy… but as you will soon see below, it pays HUGE dividends and is the #1 most profitable channel in marketing if you are willing to be patient and stomach the initial investment.
“Like all things in life, great things take time. Those willing to wait and invest in the long term end up ahead because most are not willing.”
After completing the website, we implemented a sales and lead tracking system to fully understand the success of our SEO and paid ad traffic campaigns.
Sales / Patient Onboarding Process:
Before we started running ads, we knew that generating hundred of prospects wouldn’t matter if we didn’t have:
1) A good follow up / sales process
2) An easy onboarding process
Using tactics taken from the Jordan Belfort’s Straight Line Persuasion course, among others, we developed a sales/onboarding script that helped:
- Build Rapport: Get the patient to like you & see you as the authority figure.
- Gather Information: Ask questions to understand the patient’s needs better.
- Determine Needs: Restate what you learned and get the patient to agree you understand their needs.
- Propose a Solution: Based on what you learned, the solution of performing a reflux study or ultrasound to determine if they have vein disease.
- Get the Patients to Love the Solution: Get the patient to agree that is exactly the solution they are looking for.
- Schedule Them For Their Appointment! Get their insurance, schedule their appointment, and send a prompt thank you email.
By following this script, we saw a higher show rate than some of Duzer Group’s vein clinic clients, a higher conversion rate, and have since received dozens of compliments from our patients on how they felt so “heard” and“understood,” and that they enjoyed how well we educated them.
In addition, we developed a mini CRM (customer relationship management system) using Google Sheets and several fun formulas (and colors!) that helped our health advisor with the follow-up process.
We followed up with patients seven times over the course of 3 months. We then followed up again 12 months later, using these sheets & filters to view only pertinent information important information.
Lead Tracking System:
To ensure our marketing efforts were properly tracked, we implemented conversion tracking through:
Google Analytics – A tool to track website traffic.
Google Tag Manager – A tool to manage all the tags and tracking software on the website (this is best practice for when trying to do in-depth tracking & analytics)
Google Data Studio – This tool integrates with Google Analytics & allows you to develop custom reports with the most important data taken from Google Analytics & other tools.
Integrated the Facebook Pixel – Facebook’s tracking code that integrates with their platform.
Microsoft Clarity – Tool that allows us to see users’ interaction with the website. Helps with determining the success of our landing pages / website to see if the user is taking the desired action based on our hypothesis & test.
Callrail – Tagging software that allows us to record from which sales avenue (Facebook, Google Ads, SEO, Yelp, etc.) the prospective client found our business. This includes phone calls. How? That’s a story for another day. 😉
We then linked our tracking system to a Google sheet using a tool called Zapier.
If patients filled out the web form or called in for the first time, they were automatically added to the sheet through Zapier. Each person added to the sheet was tagged via CallRail to know precisely how the patient found us (Facebook, Google SEO, Google Ads, etc.).
With this data we were able to better understand our:
- CPM – Cost per 1,000 impressions
- CTR – Cost per click
- CPL – Cost per lead
- CPC – Cost per in-person consult
We determined which campaigns succeeded — and which did not based — on this data. If a campaign was successful, we would invest more money into that campaign since we had high confidence that it would continue to produce a significant return on our initial investment.
The Right Tactics & Strategies:
Everyone claims to have the best strategy for Facebook, SEO, or Google Ads.
However, I don’t believe there is a best. Every niche is different, and every audience responds differently to your ads.
Success is found when you follow specific principles and continually test new hypothesis, track your results, and document your findings.
Sure, you need to understand how to navigate the:
- Google Ad Word Platform
- Google Tag Manager
- Google Analytics
- Google Search Console
- Google Data Studio
- Wordpress
- Facebook Ads Manager
- Microsoft Clarity
- Callrail
You also need to understand how to write copy with:
- Hook: Something that catches people’s attention.
- Story: The bulk of the ad, the story you are telling that demonstrates, inspires, educates, and/or entertains the user.
- Offer: The CTA (call-to-action) you would like the user to take. (For example, in our case, this was usually to book a free phone consultation with our health advisor.)
Having someone on your team to develop videos helps as well. We have a stellar video editor who works for Duzer Group, but you can also hire individuals on Upwork or Fiverr for competitive rates.
However, these are generally the same tools, strategies, and education that everyone else has.
So how do you develop a competitive advantage to compete with other ad agencies, marketers, and businesses running ads?
You do the tasks most are not willing to do.
What is that you may ask?
The discipline to follow set principles you continually adapt and, in-short, follow:
- Documenting results weekly.
- Continuously running new tests and hypothesis
- Tracking your results along the way
- Document your findings
By doing these four tasks, you’ll be amazed to see how your results compound over time.
This ensures NO data or learning is ever wasted. It’s clearly documented, and even when you forget eight months later, you can refer back to it to make better decisions.
Working with multiple vein clinics allowed us to accumulate hundreds of thousands of data points that help make our ads successful more quickly than when we started.
Using tools like CallRail & Google Sheets, we can identify the exact cost per lead, cost per reflux study (ultrasound), and have a very accurate idea of our ROI.
This allows us to invest the money in the most opportunistic areas: channels that drive the highest ROI based on our data.
In fact, for Texas Vein Experts, Duzer Group was able to track a conservative $3.1 million in additional revenue we generated for them purely through digital marketing tactics over 12 months.
Check out a video from the CFO of Texas Vein Experts below.
This was only possible with discipline and continual testing.
Our Performance:
At the start of the year, we only saw a handful of patients. By the end of the year, we had close to 50 new patients per month and nearly 100 procedures booked
Our revenue climbed from $18,000 in February to between $100,000 – $150,000 per month by Q3 & Q4.
We accomplished this all using the four steps above.
Throughout the process and with guidance from our mentors, we realized that opening more satellite locations helped with our reach; therefore, we rented a room one day per week in Chandler and Scottsdale.
We also focused on SEO from the start, even though we knew it would take 6-12 months to see the results.
As you can see below, it was well worth it!
Although slow to start, SEO has now become our #1 channel for new patients, accounting for an estimated $70,000 to $90,000 in monthly revenue. Talk about an ROI! 🙂
We pushed hard with paid ads at the start, and diversification across different channels helped us remain resilient and nimble.
We’ve also implemented an interactive quiz and email sequence that we have found massive success with. The quiz, which is featured on our website, helps patients identify if they have vein disease. Afterward, they go through a seven-series email sequence that educates them and encourages them to give us a call for a free phone consultation with our health advisor.
This allowed us to generate low-cost conversions.
In addition, as our team grew during toward Q3 of 2021, we focused on improving systems and key performance indicators (KPIs) to track the progress of all departments.
Using principles from the books Traction, Scaling Up, Rockefeller Habits, E-Myth, and Conquer the Chaos, we developed an organizational chart, defined accountability and specific roles, and then set KPIs to accurately measure the success of:
- Our Billing & Authorization Team
- Operations
- Sales / Marketing
By having these roles defined with specific KPIs, I can quickly identify issues week by week before problems become problems.
Finally, I can confidently say that this success would not have been possible without the team at Duzer Group & and the one we developed at Elite Vein Clinic.
I was very fortunate to have partnered with Dr. Nima – an incredible doctor with a great personality that patients gravitate toward. He took a risk in trusting me with his career, which has since paid tenfold.
We developed a clear mission and core values that our practice stood for from the start. We hired around those values and made sure to integrate them throughout since day 1.
We have developed a trustworthy team that we call our work family as a direct result. We stand by each other, support one another, and succeed together!
With Dr. Nima’s help and the staff’s dedication, we have generated dozens of 5-star reviews.
We are proud to say we are living our mission in helping our patients live an active life again by eliminating pain and embarrassment in their legs.
We never cut corners and always do what is best for the patient.
Yes, we like making money, but helping our patients is paramount: we would not exist without them. This value is and always will be tightly integrated into our clinic.
Our Next Steps:
Internally, Elite Vein Clinic is hiring two physician liaisons who will work on the ground floor and help establish our in-person referral relationships with other doctors.
We also recently brought on a new PA to assist the doctor with our growth.
In addition, Duzer Group’s marketing agency is expanding and looking to take on six more vein clients this year, aiming 7+ figures in revenue per year to these vein clinics’ business.
The synergies we’ve created between Duzer Group, its clients, and Elite Vein Clinic have been incredibly rewarding because we can help more and more patients live an active life again.
If we can continue to share this success with motivated cardiologists and vein clinics elsewhere in the United States, we will live to our mission.
If you are interested, I encourage you to schedule a marketing discovery call and see if Duzer Group would fit your needs.
Schedule your free consultation today!
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2023 Update – Elite Vein Clinic did just over 2 million dollars in revenue for 2022 (Our second full year in business) our strategy continues to work. Our goal is to double again this year. In fact, our client in New York, NYC Vein Docs, where we started their clinic from scratch in June of 2022 is on track to add an additional 1.5+ million dollars to their business this year.
