Let’s lay some groundwork. You’re in healthcare, and you want to run ads because they can bring you more business than just having a website, directory listings, and social media. But what exactly are ads? Thirty years ago, they might have meant a billboard and a radio shout-out. Fifteen years ago, with the rise of the internet and online networking, we saw changes, but radio and television advertising were still common if you could afford them. Not to mention print media.
Fast forward to today, and we’re in a good place. Advertising is not only more affordable, but it’s also more targeted. And it can be purely digital. While we don’t discourage the effectiveness of television or other types of physical advertising, digital advertising alone is entirely viable for a healthcare practice. It’s a great way to validate how effective your spending is, thanks to our ability to track clicks to conversions!
There are, of course, several avenues to consider when it comes to your online advertising.
How Much Does Medical Advertising Cost?
Medical advertising costs can range from a few hundred dollars a week to potentially thousands of dollars a day, depending on the size and location of the practice. For instance, a local orthopedic practice compared to a regional sports medicine center will naturally attract leads from different areas. Determining the reach of each practice requires careful consideration.
Other variables affect the decision on what to spend, often involving targeting the right patients in the most appropriate areas up to a certain distance. You need to consider, “Will people turn around and go to another practice if we don’t target this area?” Or maybe you have a competitor on the other side of town who attracts a significant portion of your potential patients, and you need to decide if you want to compete for those patients with a paid campaign.
Is it Legal to Advertise Medicine?
Yes, it is legal to advertise medicine, but only with the right permissions from the advertising platform, and even then, there are specific regulations. Google is generally the most restricted of platforms because it likes to answer questions directly and adheres to a special standard of safety called “Your Money or Your Life.” This means medicine and healthcare information must be accurate, as misinformation can cost someone their life or livelihood
So, what sort of words can we not use in advertising? The most commonly rejected terms are specific pharmaceutical drug names. Unless you’re a doctor, Google and Facebook don’t want people recommending medicine to others. This approach applies across all their “Your Money or Your Life” niches, including financial services, the medical space, science, and important news topics. Google is doing its best to protect consumers by ensuring only vetted advertisers can put products or advertising in front of them, creating a sense of trust between the platforms and users.
These are often major life decisions or moments people are dealing with, so advertising do their best to vet correctly and keep things on the positive side.
How is Medical Advertising Different from other Types of Advertising?
Like the medical industry itself, medical advertising is governed by numerous regulations that require us to use different tactics than we would for an e-commerce product, for example. Ultimately, our goal is to drive phone calls to our clients’ practices. When you need a doctor appointment for just about anything, your first thought is, “Let me make a call and see when I can get on the schedule.”
The medical industry relies heavily on phone calls because of HIPAA and the need to ensure full control over what data is captured and what isn’t. This makes the digital side of medical advertising particularly tricky, as we must avoid any violations that could result in substantial fines. This is where today’s business excels. We’ve grown with the medical industry over the last 10 to 12 years as additional regulations have been implemented. We work with very secure platforms that we’ve vetted over the years to ensure they are HIPAA-compliant with any data they manage.
What Platforms Should I Run My Medical Ads on? I.e. Google, Facebook
Obviously, people know about the big platforms like Google and Facebook, but there are also lots of emerging platforms out there that different industries are starting to see success in, like Reddit and TikTok, being able to run ads specifically to people’s TV screens when they’re at home during the evenings through YouTube and other over-the-top TV campaigns. We see things like Spotify and Pandora start to spread into the medical space as well. So it’s really given traditional advertising kind of a rocket boost because of how much more focused we’re able to be with the messaging.
Google Ads versus Facebook Ads
There are different platforms that cater to various demographics. Google and Facebook are the big one-two punch, each offering unique capabilities. For an orthopedic practice working with an older demographic and possibly pairing with physical therapy, Facebook might be the perfect platform to reach that specific age group. Conversely, if you’re targeting younger patients with sports injuries, they are more likely to search for “I hurt my knee while running” on Google, making it ideal for query-based searches. Google and Facebook are essential for almost all medical practices.
Bing has also started to show value in the medical space, mainly because it is the default browser for many users’ mobile devices. Additionally, Reddit and TikTok are emerging as niche platforms for reaching specific audiences. TikTok, in particular, is very popular among younger audiences, and we’re seeing various medical space advertising that remains within regulations and avoids pushing specific pharmaceutical drugs to effectively reach users where they spend the most time.
The Bottom Line
Ultimately, by employing the correct combination of digital marketing practices for your surgery center or clinic, you will naturally start gaining more patients, growing your brand, and organically start outranking your competitors. People can find your business easier, potentially leading to more reviews and calls to your practice, more referrals, and a lot less headache for you.
Today’s Business has helped grow countless medical practices, from single locations to nationwide, multi-location practices. We provide regular reporting, both executive summaries and deep, monthly analysis, goal-setting, and education so that our clients can learn and understand the process as they grow their practice. If you’re ready to learn more about how you can grow your surgery center or other similar medical practice, feel free to reach out via our contact form and help us get to know you today.