Targeted Promotions
National Doctor’s Day
The big win: targeted offers increased participation and revenue by over 150%.
Goal: increase revenue by focusing on member needs.
The problem: unfocused messaging
The AAFP celebrated National Doctor’s Day every year with a special promotion: $100 off any educational product in the store for physician members exclusively. The original concept tried to center the member, but instead:
focused on the marketing content, not the promotion
hid the promotion and discount code inside lines of text
pushed purchasable products to the bottom in a small font
Unless the physician knew exactly where to go to shop for educational products, it wasn’t clear how they could redeem their $100 off — a significant discount when educational products and event registrations range from $200 to $2000! Fewer than 20% of the membership actually used the code to buy anything during the 30 days the code was valid.
The approach: leverage existing research and capabilities
My UX team and I talked to our members all the time. Whenever we talked about purchasing education, they told us:
“I don’t have time to sort through everything”
“You know where I’m at in my practice, you tell me what I need to learn”
“I need to know exactly how much I’ll pay”
I presented our thoroughly-researched data and insights to the marketing team, clearly showing that members wanted us—experts both in our educational products and our members’ needs—to guide them to products they needed.
I also leaned on my long-standing collaborative relationship with IT to quickly polish up two features we had developed as a proof-of-concept:
an embed of the discount code in the Add-to-Cart button
a content switcher to personalize the message based on member segment
The update: show members we care by giving them what they need
For 2024, I made sure that the National Doctor’s Day promotion centered the physician members first:
clear, user-focused messaging
discount code, discount amount, and expiration date centered and highlighted
segment-focused product offerings including:
illustrative graphics
clear prices including the discount
a link to buy or register immediately
The products offered for the promotion were different for each physician segment based on our market research on that segment’s needs. No complicated algorithm or tricky personalization software needed—we used what our members told us about their lives and their careers, and hand-selected products to meet their needs.
Established physicians: comprehensive educational products, updates on emerging topics in family medicine, networking opportunities.
New physicians: discounted early registration early for our annual meeting (a great introduction to the specialty), education on topics like obesity which are seen frequently in a new practice.
Resident physicians": less-expensive short-form clinical education for busy residencies, courses on avoiding burnout and developing leadership skills.
The big win: increase in participation and revenue
In comparison to the 2022 promotion, the 2024 National Doctor’s Day promotion saw:
over 300% increase in participating members
over 150% increase in revenue during the month the code was available
Focusing on exactly what our users needed led directly to increased revenue for the organization—and a big win for UX!