You want to bring new patients into your healthcare practice, but your organic search engine optimization strategy just isn’t cutting it. Paid advertising is an effective medical marketing tactic because these ads generate new leads and drive a higher volume of traffic to your site.
Many online platforms allow you to purchase ads on their site or app to put your practice in the spotlight. Keep reading to learn more about marketing your private healthcare practice with paid advertising.
Read: When can healthcare practices expect SEO results after a website launch?
4 tips to get started with paid advertising
1. Establish goals to develop an effective strategy
A successful paid search medical marketing strategy is defined differently by every practice. Set goals during the planning phase that align with the results you want from your healthcare advertising efforts. For example, increasing the volume of new patients coming into your practice will require a different plan than appearing on top of your competition in search results.
Knowing what you want from your paid search strategy will also ensure the objectives align with your budget. Different goals might require different levels of financial support, so it’s important to make sure you’re able to commit the resources needed to achieve your desired outcome.
2. Identify keywords
A crucial component of your medical marketing strategy, keywords help potential patients find your site in search results or PPC ads. The name of your specialty and primary treatments provided should always be used when creating key terms and phrases.
If you offer multiple services, focus first on the specialties most important to your strategy. Afterward, if there’s any room left in the budget, choose secondary services to market in your PPC ads.
Look: How to optimize categories and keywords for medical marketing
3. Determine your geographic targets
Unlike national businesses, your medical practice has a highly local audience. Marketing your private healthcare practice outside a certain geographic region doesn’t make sense, so set boundaries.
For example, if you’re located in a major city, you might only need to focus on a one-mile radius around your medical office. However, if you’re in a rural area, it could make sense to concentrate your medical advertising efforts within 50 miles of your healthcare practice.
When establishing your geographic limits, take a close look at both where your patient base is located and the number of healthcare competitors in your general area. This should help you decide exactly how far to expand your reach.
Related: 5 reasons Google search ranking can vary for healthcare practices
4. Set a sustainable budget
Paid advertising costs money, but the amount you spend on ads can be tailored to fit your budget. Choose a number you can afford on a monthly basis, so you don’t have to constantly adjust your strategy.
When setting your budget, it’s important to understand what goes into the costs. The keywords you choose for your ads are a main factor, as the most competitive terms and phrases come at a higher rate. Geography is also a major component, because medical marketing in a large metro area is more expensive than buying ads in a rural region.
Do I need to hire someone to manage my paid advertising?
Marketing your private practice with paid advertising doesn’t necessarily require an expert. Anyone can purchase online ads, and there are plenty of online resources available to help healthcare providers like you create and implement a strategy that produces results.
You can execute your paid search medical marketing campaign on your own, but realize it comes with a major time investment. Mastering the art of paid search is a lot different than simply learning the basics, so you really need to be committed.
If you don’t have the time needed to achieve your desired results or simply aren’t interested in adding yet another task to your plate, you can hire an outside expert to manage your paid advertising efforts. Allowing someone else to handle this responsibility will give you more time to handle the influx of patients paid advertising will add to your practice.
When choosing a professional to manage your paid search campaigns, make sure they have the proper credentials. For example, you need someone with an Adwords certification — a professional accreditation from Google — to manage your Google Adwords campaigns, because it displays expert-level knowledge of online advertising.
A properly executed paid advertising campaign can increase the visibility of your practice, allowing you to better reach your target market. This is a savvy way to boost your patient base and your bottom line, so consider adding this technique to your marketing strategy.
Get more help marketing your private practice with paid advertising with our webinar Become top of mind for new patients with search advertising.
