ROI Matters, Even If No One Is Asking

Insights from popular survey reveal the real state of ROI reporting in healthcare digital marketing and what savvy leaders can do about it.

// By Ben Dillon //

A senior marketing leader at a large health system once told me that her ultimate career goal was to get finance to treat her department as a revenue center rather than a cost center. Those of us within marketing genuinely believe that the work we do is critical to the financial health of the organizations that we serve, as well as being important for the actual health of our patients and communities.

Unfortunately, not everyone in the healthcare enterprise is convinced. More than a few of us have been challenged to prove marketing’s return on investment (ROI). But, according to Geonetric’s popular 2019 Healthcare Digital Marketing Trends Survey, the majority of health systems don’t routinely deliver that proof for their digital marketing efforts. The survey, which had 307 total respondents, including 267 healthcare marketers at provider organizations, shares insights into many facets of digital marketing in healthcare. The findings around ROI and the ability to demonstrate financial impact stand out in the survey data, especially as marketing leaders are working to demonstrate the value delivered from marketing investments in an environment of tightening health system budgets.

Here, Ben Dillon, chief strategy officer at Geonetric, takes a closer look at survey results around ROI. Even if measuring it is difficult — or no one is even asking for it — is measurement of financial impact ever really optional for marketers?

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