Generating patient leads for a CA-based gender-affirming practice
Challenge
Align Surgical Associates is one of the few surgical practices in the United States 100% dedicated to providing gender-affirming surgery to its patients. The practice opened its first location in 2018 in San Francisco and later opened an office in Los Angeles, California, to accommodate more patients and expand access to gender-affirming surgery. With its doctors spread across California and new surgeons joining the practice, Align Surgical Associates tasked Landis with generating new patient leads and building awareness in California and beyond, especially for the new LA office and surgeons. All while on the national scale, the number of anti-trans bills was skyrocketing, threatening people’s ability to access gender-affirming healthcare.
Strategy
Landis worked closely with Align Surgical Associates to revamp its marketing communications program, including the website, messaging, social media channels and digital marketing, to appeal to prospective patients as well as referring providers.
Tactics
- Utilized a limited proactive media relations approach due to online trolls and negative reactions from anti-gender affirming entities.
- Created content and digital marketing campaigns targeting states that have passed or proposed anti-gender-affirming care laws to create awareness and generate leads from outside California.
- Combated a false “report” about gender-affirming surgery regret by joining efforts with the World Professional Association for Transgender Health to contain the spread of the report and limit exposure of it in mainstream media.
- Positioned one of the new San Francisco-based surgeons as the expert on surgical regret in gender-affirming surgery using a recent study she authored on patient regret as supporting evidence. The study highlighted that few patients (<1%) experience actual surgical regret after gender-affirming surgery, which negated the “detransition” narrative that was sweeping across right-wing media.
- Developed a launch plan, including a press release, tailored digital marketing materials and more to generate interest and awareness of the LA office and its two new surgeons.
- Performed in-depth keyword and audience analysis to determine how to best position content while making it searchable. Used geo-targeting for procedure and surgeon-specific ad campaigns to provide relevant messaging to audiences in key markets throughout the U.S.
- Refreshed website content to modernize the content language, look/feel and user experience. Launched a blog to provide user-friendly educational content to patients and referring providers.
- Hosted an Open House event for referring providers to introduce Align and share a bit about the practice while establishing valuable referral connections.
- Identified key events, such as Trans Pride LA and SF Trans March, for Align to participate in and assisted with planning, promotion and content creation.
- Launched newsletter to highlight Align news and events and keep patients and referring providers abreast of what’s new and exciting at Align.
- Established relationships with regional LGBTQ+ organizations and invited several to join Align on Instagram Live for a co-hosted discussion on various topics as they relate to gender-affirming surgery, trends in the industry and more.
- Identified opportunity to capture leads in Ontario, Canada through its out-of-province program. Developed geo-targeted digital marketing program and FAQs to target prospective Canadian patients.
Results
Lead Generation
- 2.5k leads generated since Landis started with Align.
- 68% increase in leads when comparing YTD metrics with the same period one year prior.
- More than 1,200 leads generated for new doctors (2 in LA, 1 in SF).
- Generated leads and traffic of higher relevance and quality through targeted campaigns.
Awareness
- Increased Instagram following by 14.6%.
- Hosted three Instagram Live events focused on education. Partnered with SF LGBT Center, the only non-profit in San Francisco serving all members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, for one of the three events.
- 55 attendees came to Align’s first Open House event for referring providers.
- Received positive feedback from patients and other providers on the website/social media rebranding and new content.