Cleveland Clinic: Online PR Case Study
Summary
The Cleveland Clinic Bariatric and Metabolic Institute (BMI) asked Fathom SEO to develop new ways to attract additional traffic to the website. For example, we helped increase email and phone inquiries in one month by 185%, developing and promoting an online consumer surgical weight loss guide.
About Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic is one of the top three hospitals in the United States, and 11 of its specialties rank among the nation's Top 10, according to the 2006 U.S. News & World Report "America's Best Hospitals" survey.
Cleveland Clinic, located in Cleveland, Ohio, is a not-for-profit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Cleveland Clinic was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. About 1,500 full-time salaried physicians at Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Florida represent more than 100 medical specialties and subspecialties. In 2005, there were 2.9 million outpatient visits to Cleveland Clinic. Patients came for treatment from every state and from more than 80 countries. There were nearly 54,000 hospital admissions to Cleveland Clinic in 2005.
The BMI team is comprised of professionals from many disciplines: surgeons, anesthesiologists, physicians, psychologists, specialized nurses, special fellows (bariatric surgery doctors receiving advanced training), dieticians, coordinators, clerical personnel and more. Obesity surgeons provide a wide range of weight loss procedures and have performed hundreds of operations.
Website Strategy
The website has multiple purposes, including branding and health education. It's also used to reach new patients who connect with Cleveland Clinic via email and phone calls. The website enables them to ask questions and make appointments.
Challenges
BMI marketers continually look for new ways to appeal to more Internet visitors (and have them call or connect with the BMI staff through emails). The website has plenty to offer potential patients and their families, including content covering every angle of surgery - patient perspectives, risks, surgical options, expertise and more.
Techniques
Fathom SEO leveraged the extensive website content and helped create BMI's "Surgical Weight Loss Guide." We made it available as a PDF any visitor could download after filling out a short form. In addition to featuring it as a link on the website, Fathom SEO created a news release that was distributed throughout the Internet.
Results
Within a month, phone and email requests increased 185%. Based on that success, the BMI team plans to work with Fathom SEO on similar online marketing initiatives.
