Google Ads Strategies for Expanding a Medical Practice into Aesthetics
Expanding a medical practice into aesthetics can be quite lucrative. The margins are great, and you can open up more revenue streams by hiring a qualified aesthetics nurse (assuming there is a strong flow of new patients).
But if your core practice area is a few steps removed from aesthetics, this can get a little tricky when it comes to running effective ads on Google.
Over the years, I’ve seen a few examples of this, including:
- Body Contouring being promoted by an optometrist
- Urology office offering SculpSure
- Dentist offering cosmetic BOTOX (not for TMJ)
- Chiropractor offering Semaglutide injections
These practices had a difficult time converting patients, and their Cost Per Conversion was significantly higher than the industry average; all because their core practice was so far removed from the new treatments they were trying to promote.
How can you make your ad budget more effective, and convert more patients, in this situation?
Why Cross-Category Advertising is Difficult
It all comes down to trust, the value proposition, and how the potential patients see you.
If patients are going to spend several thousand dollars on a body contouring treatment, it’s less risky for them (financially and emotionally) to get it done at an aesthetics practice or a medspa.
They don’t trust that a urologist has the same experience in admistering CoolScupting or SculpSure as someone specialising in cosmetic treatments.
You wouldn’t get a vasectomy at a medspa, so why get body contouring at a urology office?
And what about BOTOX? From the patient’s perspective; can a dentist really achieve the same results as a plastic surgeon or an injectables nurse? It’s just not worth the risk, especially if 1) they’ve never been to your practice before, and 2) they’re not getting a large discount.
In such situations, your Google Ads campaigns will be less effective.
You’re not simply facing competition from other practices, but a challenge of overcoming additional consumer objections.
Increasing the Odds of Success
If your practice is several steps removed from aesthetics, there are several options for boosting your chances of success with Google Ads (or Meta).
- Offer a deep discount:
- There are Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) rules you may have to follow. But advertising a much lower price on aesthetic treatments can help bridge the gap in perceived experience between you and the aesthetic practices in your area.
- This price-based strategy can work. But it will be an uphill battle. If you have a lot of competition, the strategy may eventually fizzle out.
- Create a separate, aesthetics-focused sales page (separate from your main website):
- You can build a mini-website that focuses just on the aesthetic side of your practice, or even just one treatment (if you purchased an aesthetics device, for example).
- This standalone mini-site is meant to be a smaller investment (just a few pages) to attract new patients.
- The disconnect will still be there for new patients. But it will make a better first impression and increase the likelihood of an appointment.
- You can point your ads to the mini-site instead of your main practice website. When the visitors submit a form or place a call, they will be routed to your front desk.
Should You Open a Second Google Ads Account, Just for the Aesthetics Campaigns?
If you already have an account, and are thinking of creating a mini-website for the aesthetics side of the business, it will likely be better to keep it all in one account.
Even though you are running ads for two different URLs, you are still the same business.
Generally, Google doesn’t like behavior that can come across as evasive. Opening a second account (especially if you use the same payment method on both accounts), could end up getting it flagged.
In most cases it’s better to just keep all advertising for the same business within the same account.