The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) is a professional organization that represents Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs). With CRNAs delivering over 58 million anesthetics annually in the U.S., AANA is committed to advancing patient safety, cost-effective care, and the continued professional development of CRNAs. AANA’s emphasis on evidence-based practices, leadership, and lifelong learning makes them a key player in the anesthesia field, delivering high-quality care while advocating for their profession.
Why did we start the project?
The Challenge
AANA faced significant challenges in understanding the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. Despite managing multiple campaigns across various channels, they lacked the clarity on which messaging, ad copy, and platforms were delivering results. The primary issue was their inability to accurately measure and analyze campaign performance, which left them uncertain about where to allocate marketing spend and how to optimize for better results.
AANA initially reached out to Marcel Digital because their internal campaign manager was stretched thin with other responsibilities and couldn’t dedicate enough time to fully optimize campaigns. Additionally, AANA’s Senior Director of Marketing had previously worked with Marcel at another organization and trusted our ability to drive results, which led her to bring Marcel on board at AANA.
What's going on?
The Analysis
Upon reviewing AANA’s existing setup, Marcel Digital identified a few key areas of focus. There were opportunities to improve campaign performance, particularly in paid search. However, the groundwork involved understanding AANA’s goals, target audiences, and the nuances of their offerings, which required close collaboration with the internal team. Analytics were not fully in place, making it difficult to gauge success across the various campaigns. Establishing robust tracking and testing protocols became a priority to ensure accurate insights into ad performance.
Through detailed meetings, research, and a focus on understanding AANA’s target audience, we established that paid search campaigns could be highly successful, especially with optimized ad copy and relevant keywords. The paid media strategy had the potential to drive significant traffic, but without the right tracking mechanisms, it was difficult to measure and demonstrate success.
How Marcel Digital Helped
The Solution
To tackle AANA’s challenges, Marcel Digital’s team worked collaboratively to create a customized approach. We started by building out the necessary tracking infrastructure to measure campaign effectiveness. This included meetings with AANA’s team, setting up detailed analytics, and refining the campaigns to target the right audiences with the most relevant ad copy.
We focused on paid search as a key channel, recognizing its potential to drive high-quality traffic. The key steps in our process included:
- Client Meetings & Research: Understanding AANA’s goals, offerings, and the competitive landscape.
- Campaign Setup & Optimization: Creating tailored campaigns with relevant keywords and engaging ad copy.
- Continuous Testing & Learning: Allowing time for campaigns to mature, testing various strategies, and adjusting based on performance.
Despite facing challenges like incomplete tracking and the complexity of AANA’s diverse campaigns, we persisted with detailed discussions with the team and time spent optimizing the campaigns. Over time, we gained a deeper understanding of the audience and competitor landscape, which allowed us to build trust with AANA that our efforts would deliver measurable results.
What Happened After Launch?
The Results
The paid media campaigns led to a significant increase in website traffic and engagement from the targeted audience. Key performance metrics such as impressions, clicks, and ad engagement showed marked improvement. Despite some challenges with conversion tracking—particularly with tracking the ROI of campaigns other than AANA’s insurance product—the efforts in increasing quality traffic were clearly impactful.
AANA’s team attributed a $3 million increase in year-over-year revenue to the optimization efforts carried out by Marcel Digital’s paid media team. While conversion tracking is still being refined, the overall improvement in traffic quality and engagement was a critical factor in this growth.
Additionally, collaboration between the paid media team and AANA’s marketing and analytics teams ensured that insights were continuously applied to improve campaign performance. As a result, AANA is now equipped with a clearer view of their campaign performance and can make more informed decisions moving forward.
By addressing AANA’s challenges with targeted optimization and effective collaboration, Marcel Digital was able to deliver significant improvements in campaign performance, helping AANA meet their marketing objectives and contribute to a substantial increase in revenue. Through a combination of detailed analytics, creative ad copy, and ongoing optimization, AANA is now better equipped to manage their campaigns and continue their advocacy for CRNAs and the critical care they provide.
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