Online, healthcare providers are harnessing the power of Google Ads to reach new patients and grow their practices. However, the success of a medical Google Ads campaign hinges not only on the budget allocated but also on how that budget is distributed.
It’s not just about how much you spend; it’s about where you allocate those funds for maximum patient acquisition.
To explore this further, here’s how a strategic worksheet can help healthcare providers intelligently allocate their Google Ads budget to attract new patients effectively.
The Importance of Strategic Budget Allocation
Before delving into the worksheet, let’s understand why strategic budget allocation matters. Google Ads operates on a pay-per-click (PPC) model, where you’re charged each time a user clicks on your ad.
Allocating your budget thoughtfully ensures that you’re investing in the most promising areas of your campaign, optimising your return on investment (ROI), and, most importantly, acquiring new patients cost-effectively.
Worksheet: Allocating Your Google Ads Budget for Maximum Patient Acquisition
Note: The following worksheet provides a guideline for budget allocation. The actual figures may vary depending on your practice’s specific goals, competition, and location.
1. Establish Your Total Google Ads Budget
Begin by determining your total monthly Google Ads budget. This should be an amount that you’re comfortable investing in your patient acquisition efforts while maintaining a positive ROI.
2. Divide Your Budget into Campaigns
Segment your budget into different campaigns based on your practice’s key services or specialties. For example, if you offer services in cardiology, dermatology, and paediatrics, create separate campaigns for each.
3. Allocate a Percentage to Brand Campaigns
Brand campaigns target keywords related to your practice’s name or brand. Allocate a small percentage of your budget, typically around 10%, to maintain a strong online presence when users search for your practice directly.
4. Assign Budgets to Service-Specific Campaigns
Distribute the remaining budget across your service-specific campaigns. Prioritise campaigns based on your practice’s goals and the services that generate the highest ROI. For instance, if cosmetic dermatology services are particularly profitable for your practice, allocate a larger portion of your budget to that campaign.
5. Keyword-Level Allocation
Within each campaign, further allocate your budget to specific keywords or keyword groups.
Focus more budget on high-performing keywords that generate clicks and conversions at a lower cost, and make sure to adjust budget allocation based on keyword performance data.
6. Monitor and Adjust Regularly
The allocation of your Google Ads budget is not a one-time task. Regularly monitor the performance of your campaigns, keywords, and ad groups.
Allocate more budget to areas that yield positive results and reallocate funds from underperforming segments.
Signs You’re Not Optimising Your Ads Budget
Already running Ads and not sure whether you’re getting the most out of your budget? Here are some signs you could be wasting funds.
Effective allocation and optimisation of your advertising budget is crucial for healthcare practices aiming to maximise their online presence and attract new patients. In the digital age, online advertising, such as Google Ads, can be a powerful tool when used efficiently. However, many healthcare practices may find that their advertising efforts are falling short. In this piece, we’ll explore the signs that indicate you’re not optimising your ads budget effectively and provide solutions to help you make the most of your healthcare marketing investments.
High Cost Per Click (CPC):
Sign: Your cost per click is significantly higher than industry benchmarks, meaning you’re paying more for each visitor to your website.
Solution: Conduct thorough keyword research to identify cost-effective, relevant keywords. Refine your keyword strategy regularly to reduce CPC while maintaining quality traffic.
Low Click-Through Rate (CTR):
Sign: Your ads receive plenty of impressions but have a low click-through rate, suggesting that they’re not compelling enough to entice users.
Solution: Revise and test your ad copy to make it more engaging and aligned with your target audience’s needs and interests.
Poor Quality Score:
Sign: A low Quality Score on Google Ads indicates that your ads, keywords, and landing pages aren’t providing a positive user experience.
Solution: Improve ad relevance, landing page quality, and keyword alignment to boost your Quality Score, which can lead to lower CPC and higher ad positions.
Lack of Conversion Tracking:
Sign: If you’re not tracking conversions, you can’t measure the success of your campaigns or optimise your budget effectively.
Solution: Implement conversion tracking to monitor patient inquiries, appointment requests, or other valuable actions taken on your website. This data will help you understand which campaigns are driving results.
High Bounce Rate:
Sign: Visitors are leaving your website quickly after clicking on your ads, indicating that they’re not finding what they expected.
Solution: Ensure that your landing pages provide relevant and valuable information that matches the ad’s message. Improve page load times and mobile-friendliness to enhance the user experience.
Ignoring Negative Keywords:
Sign: You’re not utilising negative keywords to filter out irrelevant traffic, leading to wasted ad spend.
Solution: Regularly review search query reports and add negative keywords to exclude irrelevant searches. This will help focus your budget on more qualified leads.
Inconsistent Ad Testing:
Sign: You haven’t been testing different ad variations to determine which ones perform best.
Solution: Implement A/B testing to compare ad copy, headlines, and visuals. Regularly analyse the results and refine your ad creatives accordingly.
Ignoring Mobile Users:
Sign: You’re not optimising your ads and landing pages for mobile users, missing out on a significant portion of potential patients.
Solution: Create mobile-friendly ad campaigns with responsive design, ensuring seamless user experiences on smartphones and tablets.
Failure to Adjust for Seasonality:
Sign: You’re maintaining the same ad budget and strategy throughout the year, regardless of seasonality trends.
Solution: Analyse historical data and adjust your budget and ad strategy to account for seasonality, such as flu season or holiday periods when healthcare needs may change.
Optimise Your Google Ads Budget With Expert Support
Efficient budget allocation is the key to harnessing the full potential of Google Ads for patient acquisition. By using the worksheet provided, healthcare providers can strategically allocate their budget, ensuring that every dollar spent contributes to acquiring new patients cost-effectively.
If you’re looking to supercharge your patient acquisition efforts, speak to our team at practiceedge to discover how they can assist you in achieving your healthcare marketing goals.
