How IBJI Created a Multi-Channel Marketing Powerhouse with Predictive Patient Targeting
Breaking Through in a Crowded Market
Managing marketing for 170+ physicians across 100+ locations throughout Illinois, Darci Grum knew she needed something different to stand out. As Chief Marketing Officer for Illinois Bone and Joint Institute (IBJI), Darci faces fierce competition from major hospital systems and every major hospital network in the Chicago area—all with significant marketing budgets backing their orthopedic programs.
"We’re a privately-owned, physician-owned company competing against hospital money,” explains Darci. “It takes a long time to convince, to show, to prove success. A lot of the hesitation comes from the lack of ROI and full funnel transparency.”
When IBJI’s team wanted to test new marketing approaches, they chose one of their most challenging markets: the north side of Chicago. This business unit was struggling with appointment volume despite being in the most competitive orthopedic market in IBJI’s territory. Darci knew that whatever solution they tested had to deliver measurable and undeniable results.
The Multi-Channel Experiment
Rather than treating Predictive Patient Targeting as a standalone direct mail solution, Darci and her team saw an opportunity to create something more holistic: a fully integrated, multi-touch campaign that would follow patients across multiple channels.
"The way we did everything was completely in-house and interconnected,” says Darci. “We weren’t just sending postcards and hoping for the best. We created a unified experience from the mailbox to social media to our website.”
The campaign targeted 12,932 individuals that our Predictive Patient Targeting tool dubbed “extremely at risk” and “high-risk” for needing knee services across three zip codes on Chicago’s north side. But here’s where IBJI got creative: they used the same data to create a custom audience in Meta, then built matching creative assets across every touchpoint.
Building a Seamless Patient Journey
IBJI’s team created a sophisticated multi-channel approach:
Direct Mail: 12,932 postcards featuring targeted knee pain messaging with QR codes directing to a custom landing page
Digital Integration: The same patient list was uploaded to Meta as a custom audience for targeted social media advertising
Creative Consistency: Every touchpoint—postcard, landing page, carousel ads, and video content—featured identical messaging and design elements
"We literally pulled the same creative and message everywhere we possibly could,” explains Darci.
Emma Chandler, Marketing Manager at IBJI, managed the Meta integration and was impressed by the seamless data flow. “This felt like the closest to a drip campaign that we could really get to without retargeting people directly,” she notes. “In healthcare, we don’t really get access to drip campaigns, so this was a game-changer.”
The Results Speak Volumes
The integrated approach delivered remarkable results:
12x Higher Performance: The custom audience outperformed geo-targeted ads with a 12 times higher click-through rate
Strong Patient Conversion: Generated 52 total patients, with 34 being completely new to the practice
Impressive ROAS: Achieved approximately $2.12 return on total ad spend
"The custom audience definitely outperformed with a 12 times higher click-through rate,” says Darci. “This just shows you that the people we’re sending to have higher intent to do something.”
Proving the Algorithm Works
For healthcare marketers who often face skepticism about targeting algorithms, IBJI’s results provide compelling proof that predictive targeting delivers real results.
"The second you say postcard to anybody, they’re like, ‘That’s never going to work,'” admits Darci. “Then they ask how we’re determining the risk factor. I tell them [the tool has] its own algorithms, just like Google does. We have to trust in the process.”
The 12x performance improvement against traditional geo-targeting eliminates any doubt about the effectiveness of the predictive algorithms. It’s proof that the algorithm is finding the right people who are going to engage and make appointments.
Scaling Success for the Future
After location-specific testing proved to be a success, IBJI is planning to scale this approach across their organization. Darci has hired local marketing liaisons who will serve as “eyes and ears” for each market, with plans to educate them on the integrated campaign model.
"One of our goals for [the tool] in 2026 will be to educate our new liaisons on this opportunity for local areas to test and show these results,” explains Darci. “We need to continue proving the full funnel ROI.”
The model is particularly appealing because it can be adapted for different team sizes and budgets. “Smaller teams could get very unique with what they do on Meta,” notes Emma. “They can push back to a call tracking number instead of a custom landing page. There are a lot of options for teams that maybe don’t have the bandwidth that we do.”
The Bottom Line
IBJI’s innovative approach proves that Predictive Patient Targeting isn’t just about direct mail—it’s about unlocking precise audience data that can power sophisticated, multi-channel marketing campaigns. By treating the data as the foundation for a comprehensive marketing strategy rather than a single-channel solution, IBJI created a marketing powerhouse that delivered measurable results in one of the most competitive healthcare markets in the country.
"We’ve definitely taken our working partnership and continued to grow it,” reflects Darci. “The integration capabilities, the custom audiences, the surveys—we’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible when you think beyond traditional direct mail.”
For healthcare marketers looking to break through the noise and deliver undeniable ROI, IBJI’s multi-channel approach offers a proven blueprint for success.
