HearingPlanet
The Company
HearingPlanet is not your average Internet retailer. When Doug Hudson founded the company in 1999, he saw an opportunity to turn the complicated and confusing process of obtaining hearing aids into a customer-centric business that not only educates consumers but also consults with them throughout the process.
Hearing aids are difficult to buy online, as it has to be adjusted and fitted to each patient individually, a process that requires patients to seek a qualified hearing clinic, determine the type of hearing aid needed, and purchase through a retailer. HearingPlanet hired and trained hearing consultants who walk customers through each step, from assessing their needs and answering questions, to scheduling appointments at a local, HearingPlanet approved clinic.
The Challenge
Throughout the years, Doug and his Internet team learned that online visitors needed to be educated properly on the process of obtaining hearing aids before they would pick up the phone or inquire online. Attempts to provide this information in form of textual explanations and PDF downloads left Doug wondering if there was a better way to accomplish this initial education.
Having experimented with DRTV spots on television, Doug and his team had some understanding of what triggered viewers to call, but realized that his audience, predominantly women who research hearing aids for their spouses, require more time to thoroughly investigate the topic before involving their spouse. Time that was too expensive to buy on a large scale.
The Solution
Productorials, Inc. took HearingPlanet"s DRTV and online findings and devised a strategy to educate viewers in steps, letting the prospect choose how much information to receive at once. A guide walks the visitor through the site in a series of Productorials presentations, varying from 15 seconds to three minutes.
After launching initial segments and collecting information using Productorials LiveStats, the two teams quickly learned which presentations performed best (in terms of the highest view-to-completion rate) and which had higher-than-expected drop-off rates.
Since there was no data to indicate that the audience would respond more favorably to either a male or female presenter, our team chose to shoot all content with both presenters and later evaluate which presenter achieved higher response rates.
The Bottom Line
After compiling information over a period of four months, and optimizing each presentation, HearingPlanet reported a 25% increase in lead conversions and a reduction in customer acquisition costs.
"We felt the impact of Productorials on our site immediately. Not only did we see an 25% increase in lead conversion and a significant reduction in the cost to acquire each customer, we also realized that we reduced the amount of time our consultants spent on the phone because they were dealing with more educated customers, resulting in even more savings."