Hammersmith Medicines Research: From £100 a Lead to 83p

Project Type: Digital Growth Partnership
Sector: Clinical Research/Healthcare

The Client

As one of London’s most respected clinical research organisations, Hammersmith Medicines Research had built a strong reputation for clinical pharmacology and early-phase trials, but that reputation wasn’t supported by any digital presence.

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Project Overview:

The Partnership That Took a Clinical Research Organisation From Print Ads to Market Leader

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The Challenge

Build two digital presences simultaneously: one to win pharmaceutical contracts, one to recruit trial participants at scale.

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The Solution

Building a compounding growth engine for both a B2B corporate site and a dedicated B2C recruitment platform.

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The Milestone

Reducing the cost per participant application from approximately £100 to 83p.

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The Impact

61,000+ participant applications in two years, a 131% improvement in conversion rate, and an acquisition by Nucleus Network.

What Was at Stake?

A Leading Clinical Research Organisation With No Digital Presence

The Problem

HMR’s clinical reputation lacked a digital foundation.

The Risk

Pharmaceutical companies evaluating a CRO expect to find credibility online. Trial participants need clear information and a frictionless path to apply. Without both, HMR was losing ground on two fronts simultaneously.

The Stakes

Continued dependence on newspaper ads and London Underground placements at £100 per lead was unsustainable, and left no infrastructure for growth.

Female doctor in a white coat and glasses sitting at a desk reviewing a document, with a computer monitor and teal-painted walls in the background.

HMR needed a fully outsourced marketing function to build credibility with expert B2B buyers and drive high-volume B2C recruitment simultaneously.

What KD Delivered

A Complete Dual-Audience Marketing Engine for Clinical Research

KD Web was embedded in HMR as its entire marketing function for over eleven years, with no internal team and no handoff, full ownership of strategy and execution across both audiences.

  1. Web Design and Development
  • Built the corporate B2B site and londontrials.com from scratch
  • Each site structured around a completely different audience and purpose
  • Every page designed to convert, not just inform
Soft-focus view of doctors and staff walking through a bright hospital hallway.
  1. Search Engine Optimisation
  • Ranked number one for “Clinical Trials London”, “Medical Trials”, and “Paid Clinical Trials”
  • 100% of target keywords on page one within eight months
  • Organic cost per lead matched paid search at zero extra media cost
Stethoscope placed on a medical chart beside a laptop and a clinician working in the background.
  1. Paid Search and Content
  • Took cost per application from £100 to 83p at peak performance
  • Landing pages and content built for two entirely different buyer mindsets
  • Recruitment activity aligned to live trial schedules throughout
Blurred figure standing in a hospital corridor with bright lights and a blue-toned background.
  1. Full Marketing Function
  • No internal team, KD Web handled everything
  • Eleven years of continuous strategy, execution, and iteration
  • Performance reported and refined as targets changed year on year
Healthcare staff walking through a clean white hospital corridor.

The Results

From Newspaper Ads to 83p a Lead, and Acquisition by a Global Research Network

63%

Reduction in CPA across two years

131%

Improvement in conversion rate

389%

Conversion growth in year one

Dominant Search Visibility

  • Number one rankings for “Clinical Trials London”, “Medical Trials”, and “Paid Clinical Trials”
  • 100% of target keyphrases on page one within eight months of SEO launch
  • Organic cost per lead matched paid search performance, at zero additional media cost

Consistent Growth in Participant Demand

  • 61,167 participant applications generated across a documented two-year window
  • Conversion rate grew from 17% to over 40%, and above 57% in the final week of activity
  • The account was still improving at the point where activity stopped

Acquisition by Nucleus Network

  • Acquired by Nucleus Network, one of the world’s leading early-phase research networks
  • Nucleus described HMR as one of the UK’s most respected clinical trial organisations
  • A mature digital presence and high-performing recruitment operation already in place at the acquisition
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Why It Worked

Long-Term Strategy, Compounding Results

Treating digital as a growth engine, not a cost centre.

1 / 5 Two audiences managed under one coherent strategy

2 / 5 Organic performance matched paid search at no extra cost

3 / 5 Eleven years of knowledge behind every decision

4 / 5 Each year’s results built on the last

5 / 5 At its best performance when activity stopped