Driving Patient Leads for a Medical Center Through Facebook Ads

Audience Targeting and Segmentation: We began by segmenting the target audience based on demographics (age, gender, location) and by users that had interests related to healthcare, wellness, and family care.

Once that “target” group was determined, we leveraged the custom audiences capability using Facebook’s Lookalike Audience feature. This helped us to target users similar to those that had previously interacted with the clinic’s website or Facebook page.

Geo-targeting was employed to focus on users within a 10-mile radius of the clinic in Dallas. Doing this ensured that the ads were shown to individuals most-likely to visit the center.

Service-Specific Ad Campaigns: Three distinct ad campaigns were created for each of the medical center’s main services: family medicine, dermatology, and physical therapy.

• For the family medicine campaign, ads highlighted the clinic’s comprehensive care for all ages, placing an emphasis on the convenience of same-day appointments.
• For the dermatology campaign, ads promoted specialized treatments, focusing on acne care, eczema care and skin cancer screenings.
• For the physical therapy campaign, ads focused on sports injury rehabilitation and recovery for patients suffering from chronic pain.

Each ad also included a clear call-to-action (CTA) – some examples being “Book Your Appointment Online Today” and “Schedule Your Consultation Now.” Each ad had 2 verions, which were A-B tested to determine the which call to action generated the most leads and ultimately, booked jobs. Additional tests using different images, ad copy and variations to help determine which combinations resulted in the highest engagement and lead generation.

To use an example for illustration purposes, the family medicine campaign tested imagery of doctors with families vs. a solo doctor image, whereas the dermatology campaign tested before-and-after skin care treatment images vs. general wellness imagery.

Lead Ads and Conversion Ads: We also used Facebook Lead Ads to allow users to book appointments directly within the Facebook platform. This creates a more friction-less user journey and avoids sending users to a website. These ads also had pre-filled forms with the user’s information (name, email, phone number) for a seamless experience – this data was pulled by Facebook from the user’s profile and could be edited by the user prior to sending.

In a parallel test, we also ran a conversion-based campaign that directed users to specific landing pages on the clinic’s website to complete their booking. The landing pages were optimized with highly visible, easy-to-use appointment forms and very clear descriptions of the services offered by the medical center.

Retargeting Campaigns: When users had visited the website or engaged with one of the Facebook ads, we were able to capture that visit and “follow the around online” using what is know as “Retargeting”. This can help to convert a warm lead (someone that visited the website but did not fill out a form) into a hot lead. The purpose of these ads is to remind users of the clinic’s services and also offered a limited-time discount for new patients. This creates a sense of urgency in prospects, where the goal is to secure a form submission.

We augmented the custom retargeting by focusing on users who had shown interest in specific services, ensuring the ads were relevant to their needs.

Tracking and Campaign Optimization: To track users and aid our optimization efforts, we also implemented a Facebook Pixel on the clinic’s website to monitor conversions from ads and measure which campaigns were driving the most appointments.

Weekly performance reports available via Facebook Ads were analyzed, and the budget was reallocated to ensure the best-performing campaigns had sufficient budget. In contrast, underperforming ads were paused or had the ad copy adjusted.

More Leads and Bookings: The medical center saw a 55% increase in online appointments across all three service areas, surpassing the original goal of 40%.

More specifically, the family medicine campaign generated the most leads, with an 80% increase in appointments, followed by dermatology with a 45% increase and physical therapy with a 35% increase.

Cost-Effective Lead Generation: The cost-per-lead across all campaigns ended up being $18.50, which was below the goal of sub-$20 per lead. The clinic’s return on ad spend (ROAS) was calculated at 6:1 – this means that for every $1 spent on Facebook ads, the clinic generated $6 in revenue. Great job, team 10X!

Improved Brand Awareness: By measuring engagement metrics like post likes, shares and comments on the clinic’s Facebook page, we were able to determine a 30% increase in brand awareness. The medical center’s Facebook page saw a 20% growth in followers, with many users interacting with service-specific posts and updates.

Increased Patient Satisfaction and Referrals: With the increase in appointments, it provided an opportunity to assist with the reputatation management aspect of the center. These efforts resulted in a lift of positive online reviews with many new patients commenting on the ease of booking through Facebook ads!

After a more-detailed analysis, the center’s internal tracking also showed that several patients referred friends and family after discovering the clinic through Facebook ads, further amplifying the impact of the campaign’s.