These days while actors like Bruce Willis, Jason Statham and Vin Diesel have made baldness not only acceptable but highly attractive to many women, it may seem strange that there is still plenty of sensitivity around hair loss in today’s society.
However, it is not just men who suffer from the condition and for some, it seems, there is nothing like a full head of hair. Back in the Seventies, hair spray and a comb-over were the order of the day. Then came the launch of drugs such as Minoxidil and Finasteride, which can arrest hair loss for a limited number of years but do not reverse hair loss.
However, according to an opinion poll of hair experts conducted by WhatClinic.com, there has been a 260% increase in men enquiring about hair transplants.
One company trying to tap into this new interest is the Yorkshire Hair Replacement Clinic (YHRC), based in Leeds, which has been providing hair replacement services for over 15 years; not only for men but for women and children, too.
Having identified that many people research hair replacement treatments online, the company embraced digital marketing in an attempt to set itself apart from competitors, as well as to ensure that every enquiry was dealt with in an appropriate and timely way.
Clinic founder Sean-Jordan Baruch said: “A lot of people research the types of services that we offer online when they are trying to find the right service for their needs, so it was very important to us to be on top of our online marketing. We had some great success but it is time consuming and gets harder as the business grows.”
While the clinic’s online strategy was proving successful up to a point, it recognised it was missing out on new customers. In an effort to get more leads and improve the efficiency with which its online marketing worked, the management team decided to recruit an external company to manage the website, search engine optimisation and pay per click marketing programmes, eventually opting for ReachLocal.
Founded in 2004, the online specialist appears to have an impressive track record; it boasts with nearly 22,000 clients in four regions – Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia-Pacific – and claims to have delivered over 200 million leads.
ReachLocal’s first task for YHRC was to rebuild the firm’s website to be mobile optimised, while redesigning it with greater content and improved navigation to make sure it was easy for visitors to get the information that they needed.
Once this was completed, the clinic implemented the ReachEdge Lead Conversion Software, which automates many marketing processes such as lead nurturing. The software also provides mobile alerts for new leads, lead tracking and management, as well as digital marketing ROI tools.
Eight months on, and the new website, solution and processes have made a real difference, with website visits soaring by 300% and calls to the clinic up 200%. But it is not just traffic, the company has seen a major rise in lead-conversion, triggering a 400% increase in profits for the clinic.
Sean-Jordan added: “Working with ReachLocal has made a big difference to the way customers find us, and then choose to have their hair replacement therapy with us.
“Profits are up 400% and our online marketing works like a well-oiled machine, leaving us the time to focus on running the business, giving the best customer experience we can. The way we are automatically reminded about incoming enquiries helps raise that customer service bar even higher.”
