Using the Best Marketing Strategy: PPC Hospital Ads

Healthcare is a trillion-dollar industry — what is your market share? Are you getting enough, or are you losing to competitors? Do people know about your hospital or is it overshadowed by others?

An effective way to gain more traffic and more market share is through pay-per-click online ads. Strengthen your online advertising strategies today by exploiting PPC hospital ads.

This blog enumerates the top pay-per-click (PPC) marketing strategies that can help you scale fast:

• Deeply understand your market for more accurate audience segmentation.
• Perform comprehensive split tests to know the best-performing ads.
• Invest in geotargeted hospital ads to bring the business closer to your local customers.
• Bet on responsive search ads (RSAs) to improve ad metrics.
• Buy keywords for best-performing pages to remarket and lower hospital PPC costs.

Are you ready to get your much-deserved cut? Read the tips below.

5 Hospital PPC Ads That Deliver Higher Revenues

The healthcare market is massive, and it will only get bigger. You can expect it to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 10% by 2028. This is for consumer healthcare alone.

Your hospital may be competing with other larger, better funded institutions. Or you may need to grow your patient base to help add new services to your array of existing services.

How do you maintain your position or, even better, accelerate your growth? PPC ads can help you make inroads.

Strengthen your PPC advertising strategies, beginning with these ideas:

     1. Deeply Understand the Market for More Accurate Audience Segmentation

Audience segmentation works wonders for any hospital PPC advertising campaign. It narrows down chosen keywords, helps build the right message, and guides you in picking the right hospital PPC ad type.

But it can also fail miserably if you don't know your market in the first place. Deep dive into your target market's trends, needs, and behavior. Here are a few questions to get you started:

• What motivates your patients?
• What are their biggest pain points?
• How do they behave online?
• What other health care places or brands do they patronize?

Your answers will help create more accurate buyer personas. These characters will then be your go-to when crafting PPC ads and other marketing communications.

Sometimes pouring over your data will reveal your ideal audience, those who visit your website and those who convert. You can obtain this information from tools such as Google Analytics.

You can also use artificial intelligence (AI), which analyzes customer data to identify trends and consumer behavior. With this, you can paint a clearer picture of your target market and discover new ones that may have been under your radar.

     2. Perform Comprehensive Split Tests To Know the Best-performing Ads

You can't just wing it when creating hospital PPC ads. You should know which message, call-to-action (CTA), image, or video works better for your target market or business goals. The best way to do this is to perform split tests or A/B testing.

A/B or split testing compares two versions of an ad — a search ad, a display ad, or a video ad. The point is to see which garners higher click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, or other measures.

You can use PPC management platforms with built-in features. Follow these tips to improve your results:

• Test one element at a time. For instance, you can compare two headlines or two videos.
• Ensure the changes you're testing are significant enough to give birth to different results. For example, modify the CTA from "Make an appointment today" to "Talk with a specialist today."
• Use historical data to guide you. Check which among your ads had the best performance in the past and use that as your benchmark.
• Monitor your results closely. Stop the test as soon as you see a significant difference in results. Otherwise, you're just wasting ad spend.
• Run your tests long enough to gather enough data. A week should be good, but it depends on your traffic volume.

     3. Invest in Geotargeted Hospital Ads To Bring the Business Closer to Your Local Customers

Most hospitals are local businesses catering to particular communities. It only makes sense that your hospital's PPC advertising budget is focused on reaching these people.

Geotargeting lets you specifically target ads to users in certain locations. That way, you're not wasting your advertising budget on those who will never step foot into your hospital. You can even add other filters like demographics and interests for a more refined approach.

If you want to go the extra mile, use geofencing. This tool helps you create a virtual boundary and displays your PPC ad when someone enters a certain area or visits a competitor's establishment.

Here's how it works:

• You set up a virtual perimeter or "fence" around an area of interest, such as a hospital. Let's say you're an urgent care clinic in the Bronx.
• A potential patient enters the geofenced area with their mobile device. They may eat near your facility, visit a competing practice, or walk around the neighborhood.
• As soon as they cross the virtual boundary, they'll receive your PPC ad on their mobile device, letting them know you're just around the corner should they need urgent medical attention.

Geofencing is an excellent way to improve your chances of getting noticed by people who may need your services. Just remember to create a well-designed ad that can grab attention even while they're on the go.

     4. Bet on Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) To Improve Ad Metrics

Google has officially retired expanded text ads (ETAs) in favor of responsive search ads (RSAs) as the search engine transitions to more automation. This means you cannot make new ETAs though you can keep and even run the existing ones.

If you've done healthcare PPC before, you may be apprehensive about embracing RSA. Since the keywords are broader and more competitive, they can also be more expensive.

But opting for an RSA can work to your advantage in the long term. It can provide high CTRs and conversions because:

• It is more user-friendly. This ad type adapts to the searchers' screen sizes and devices.
• These ads are also easier to create. You don't have to agonize over which keywords to put where or what copy works best with them. Google will automatically match your ad to relevant searches.
• You can reach more people. Because the ad is more flexible, Google can display it for a wider range of queries, further expanding your reach.
• You can use your ad assets. With RSAs, you can enter up to 15 headlines and four descriptions for one ad. You can also upload your hospital's logo, videos, and other images. These help build a more brand-centric PPC hospital advertisement that better resonates with your target market.

     5. Buy Keywords for Best-performing Pages to Remarket and Lower Healthcare PPC Costs

You've probably heard of remarketing as a PPC advertising strategy. It lets you show your ads to people who have visited your site but didn't convert.

The thing is, not all of your pages are created equal. And if you're only remarketing to people who visited your homepage or other general pages, you're not making the most out of this tool.

A better remarketing strategy is to buy keywords for your best-performing pages and use them to create a new ad campaign. In the process, you only target those already interested in your offer and control your ad spending.

Not sure which pages are bringing in the most leads? Check your Google Analytics account and look for the following:

• Pages with the highest conversion rate
• Those with the lowest bounce rate
• Pages that generate the most revenue

Because you want your second or third try to work, consider these tips when designing remarketing campaigns:

• Avoid using too many images. Stick to one or two instead of cramming everything in there.
• Use a strong CTA. Tell them what you want them to do, such as "Schedule an Appointment Now."
• Include a sense of urgency. Use phrases like "limited time only" or "act now" to prompt them to take action.

Summing Up

You can't just slap up PPC hospital ads and expect conversions. You must carefully craft your campaigns, choosing the right keywords and ad types while paying attention to your target market's needs.

The tips above help you get started on the right foot. You can already compete more aggressively and enjoy a larger piece of the pie.

But if you want to further improve your campaigns and get better ROI, consider working with an experienced healthcare marketing agency that specializes in PPC for hospitals.

Digital Authority Partners (DAP) has over a decade of experience in PPC and other digital marketing strategies. We can help you create data-driven campaigns that get results. Request a proposal today to get started.