How leveraging Waystar's new acquisition directly influenced performance
The Ask:
Acquisitions can come quick on the roadmap to scale in fintech. Beyond product, marketers need to be prepared to integrate new offerings effectively into existing programs if they’re to extract the value they represent. Already targeting 20,000 hospital systems with Waystar's end-to-end Revenue Cycle Management platform, we were well under way increasing market share when Waystar acquired eSolutions to integrate medicare payments into their stack. Our target market broadened instantly. The new challenge at hand: how to utilize the acquisition's past performance to influence how our programs were prioritized.
The Answer:
Through an analysis of eSolutions' digital footprint, past performance, and competitive landscape, we identified a strength in non-branded medicare search. As branded performance had been the primary driver of MQLs to date, we established a test to see the impact this new asset could have across both paid and organic programs. The result drove a significant shift in how we managed content, UX, and investment for this market expansion.
30%
Increase in YOY organic traffic
18%
Decrease in branded paid search investment
The Impact:
By re-balancing Waystar's paid investment towards non-branded medicare, while allowing organic to carry the weight of branded, we significantly impacted overall ROI, setting the course for reaching new segments.
Expanding the aperture
Prior to the eSolutions acquisition, growth efforts had relied on increasing brand awareness within Waystar’s primary market segments. With our eyes on 20,000 healthcare systems, we focused on building familiarity amongst both revenue leaders as well as those accountable for systems management. While the new medicare capabilities created new extensions for those audiences, it also dramatically increased the total target pool. Suddenly, there was value in expanding efforts into elder care markets.
Primary markets:
- Large healthcare systems
- Mid-market hospitals
- Medical groups
New market expansion:
- Hospice
- Senior living
While Waystar had traditionally received a significant lift from its branded paid activities, there was an opportunity to leverage the past non-branded success eSolutions had seen in the Medicare market.
We tested both sets in match market panels, and after a period of time, it was determined that shifting branded investment into organic would deliver a more efficient ROI.
Once this pivot paid off, we were focused entirely towards owning the non-branded medicare space.
After we adjusted our paid program strategy, we began to invest effort towards integrating the eSolutions offering into the Waystar website and content strategy. Our SEO experts guided a complete architecture overhaul and content plan to ensure optimal organic lead performance.
Initial Waystar strategy was focused on short tail opportunities (e.g., medicare eligibility). Over time, we also saw value investing in long tail search intent as well (e.g., medicare eligibility verification). While lead volume from these terms was lower, quality was significantly higher - and that was the result we were going for.
Overall, we saw a 30% increase in YoY organic traffic to the site after integrating the new medicare strategy. Our CPA for MQLs also decreased, even in the midst of COVID.
