Diabetes and cardiometabolic companies can spend significantly to reach people who never enroll, qualify, or activate. We build acquisition programs that find the right patients through compliant channels and tie the channel mix to enrollment and retention – not clicks.
The Challenge
Ad platforms limit precisely the targeting you need
Health conditions are sensitive categories on Google and Meta, so the direct targeting that would reach people managing diabetes or heart disease is often blocked or throttled. Teams that ignore this either get campaigns rejected or resort to targeting so broad that CAC balloons. Acquisition in this category requires channel and creative strategies built around the platform restrictions, not in spite of them.
A lead is not an enrollment, yet most acquisition ends with the lead
Someone filling out a form is far from an enrolled, eligible, activated patient, yet most acquisition programs optimize to the form fill and call it a day. The result is a pipeline full of people who do not qualify for the program or never complete onboarding. Optimizing to the real downstream event – qualified enrollment – is what separates a working channel from an expensive one.
Eligibility and clinical qualification disrupt standard funnels
Unlike a typical DTC purchase, cardiometabolic programs often require insurance eligibility, a diagnosis, or clinical screening before someone can convert. A funnel that does not account for this loses people at steps other categories never have. Designing acquisition around the real qualification path – and reducing friction at each gate – is specific work that generic performance marketing skips.
Payer and provider channels get overlooked until performance channels stall
Many diabetes and cardiometabolic companies acquire through employers, health plans, and provider referrals, but treat those as sales, not acquisition, so they go unoptimized. When paid channels hit their ceiling, there is no diversified engine to fall back on. Building the payer and provider channels alongside performance marketing is what keeps acquisition from being hostage to one platform.
How We Help
We begin by defining what a truly valuable customer means for your model – an enrolled, eligible, activated, and retained patient – and instrument acquisition around that event instead of the form fill. This refocuses the entire program on the outcome that funds the business and connects with the broader [growth strategy](/services/strategy/) work.
Once the right target is established, we create a channel strategy that operates within health-category ad restrictions. That includes compliant creative, contextual and intent-based targeting, and channels beyond restricted paid social, helping you reach the right patients without campaign rejections or paying too much for broad reach.
We build the funnel around actual qualification. Eligibility checks, diagnosis gates, and clinical screening are intentionally integrated into the flow, with friction reduced at every gate so fewer qualified people drop out between interest and enrollment. This is where our [product](/services/product/) practice shapes the onboarding journey, not only the ads.
We build payer, employer, and provider channels alongside performance marketing to diversify acquisition. Approaching these relationships as an acquisition engine – with dedicated targeting, messaging, and measurement – creates a source of qualified patients that is not reliant on ad-platform policy.
Measurement is handled through our [measurement](/services/measurement/) practice, connecting spend with qualified enrollment and retention by channel so budget moves toward what truly produces activated patients. Channels delivering cheap leads that never enroll are cut, not celebrated.
We are not chasing the lowest cost-per-lead. We create an acquisition engine measured by enrolled, retained patients across a diversified channel mix.
What we deliver
- A definition of a valuable customer tied to enrollment, activation, and retention
- A channel strategy that works within health-category ad restrictions
- A funnel designed around eligibility and clinical qualification
- Payer, employer, and provider channels developed as acquisition, not just sales
- Compliant creative and targeting that avoids campaign rejection
- Channel-level measurement tied to qualified enrollment and retention
In diabetes and cardiometabolic health, the least expensive lead is often the costliest customer because acquisition optimized for a form fill overlooks the eligibility, clinical qualification, and activation gates that determine whether a lead becomes a retained patient.
Our Methodology
Our 90-day sprint restructures acquisition around qualified enrollment rather than unfiltered lead volume. Days 1-30 are focused on assessment: we define what a valuable, retained customer means for your model, audit existing channels based on how leads perform through activation, and identify where eligible people are lost at qualification gates. This phase concludes with a channel strategy and a corrected optimization target.
Days 31-60 are dedicated to building the engine. We create compliant creative and targeting for channels that operate within health-category restrictions, redesign the funnel around genuine eligibility and screening requirements, and start developing payer and provider channels as diversified sources. From day one, everything is instrumented to the downstream enrollment event.
Days 61-90 focus on optimization and handoff. We move budget toward channels that deliver activated, retained patients, minimize friction at the qualification gates with the most leakage, and document the channel playbook and measurement so your team can run it. Since acquisition economics compound with retention, the sprint optimizes for lifetime value rather than a one-month CAC figure.
How We Work
During the first 30 days, we collaborate with your growth, clinical, and enrollment operations leads because defining a qualified customer and mapping the eligibility journey requires input from all three. Expect working sessions covering channel economics and where people are actually lost in the funnel.
Days 30-60 shift into building and launching. Rather than simply switching on ads, we create compliant creative, redesign the qualification funnel, and launch the first payer or provider channel, with everything instrumented to enrollment instead of form fills. Nothing is optimized around a vanity conversion.
Days 60-90 focus on optimization and handoff. We redirect budget to channels producing retained patients, eliminate those generating unqualified leads, and transfer the dashboards and playbook. Since acquisition and retention are connected, most engagements last 4-6 months to demonstrate that the economics hold beyond the first cohort.
The team consists of a growth strategist responsible for channel mix and economics, a performance specialist managing compliant paid channels, and a measurement resource linking spend to enrollment and retention, scaled according to the number of active channels.
- Acquisition optimized to qualified enrollment, not leads
- Compliant channels that avoid rejection and control CAC
- A funnel built around eligibility and clinical qualification
- Diversified payer and provider channels alongside paid
- Budget concentrated on channels that produce retained patients
If your diabetes & cardiometabolic health company needs customer acquisition leadership, we should talk.
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Frequently asked questions
What does a customer acquisition engagement cost for a cardiometabolic or diabetes company?
Strategy and program development generally cost $12K-$30K/month, depending on the number of channels we manage and whether payer and provider channels are included, excluding your media spend. Pricing is based on the number of managed channels and the depth of funnel and measurement work, rather than a fixed lead goal. Because we optimize for retained enrollment instead of lead volume, the investment is evaluated against activated-patient economics – not cost-per-lead.
Why is customer acquisition more difficult in cardiometabolic health than standard DTC?
Health conditions fall into sensitive categories on major ad platforms, which often restricts the targeting needed to reach the right patients, while conversion typically involves eligibility or clinical qualification that a standard purchase does not. As a result, both the channels and the funnel must be built differently. We design acquisition around these constraints instead of battling them with broad, costly targeting.
How can you acquire patients while complying with ad-platform health rules?
We combine compliant creative, contextual and intent-based targeting, and channels outside restricted paid social to reach the right people without having campaigns rejected. We also develop payer, employer, and provider channels that are not governed by those platform rules. The objective is qualified reach that remains within policy, not aggressive targeting that causes accounts to be flagged.
How do you ensure acquisition delivers enrolled patients rather than only leads?
We instrument the full funnel around the downstream event – qualified, activated enrollment – and optimize channels for that outcome rather than form fills. We redesign the qualification funnel to keep eligible people from dropping out during screening or at eligibility gates. Channels producing inexpensive leads who never enroll are cut instead of scaled.
How is acquisition ROI measured in this category?
We measure channel spend against qualified enrollment and retention, showing which channels deliver patients who genuinely remain in the program. This allows us to compare the true cost per retained patient across paid, payer, and provider channels instead of comparing cost-per-lead. Budget then shifts to the channels offering the strongest activated-patient economics.
What does the process of getting started with acquisition involve?
We begin by defining what a valuable, retained customer looks like for your model, reviewing how current channels perform through activation, and identifying where eligible people leave the funnel. This creates a channel strategy and corrected optimization target before spend is scaled. If your diabetes or cardiometabolic company is purchasing leads that never turn into enrolled patients, we should talk.
