There’s more to ad-creation than simply churning out copy, visuals, and cash. Well-considered, beautifully executed content can separate your business from competitors and inspire the intended audience to take action. What’s more, the marriage of creative with keywords and ad spend is one of the most effective ways to grow your business online and entrench yourself as a healthcare industry thought-leader.
Google Ads — the juggernaut of ad platforms
Where search-engine-optimized content and links can deliver long-term growth for medical organizations, Google Ads could net your sales within an hour of setting them up. The power of this performance-based format lies in its use of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
- You only pay when a user clicks through to your website.
- As the campaign gains traction you can tweak and improve where you see fit.
- Where organic (SEO) strategies can take months to show results, PPC can deliver same-day results.
- PPC is highly measurable, allowing for a deep analysis of campaign metrics.
- Approximately 65% of customers click on Google Ads with keywords that demonstrate buyer intent.
- This is a big one: Businesses frequently make $3 for every $1.60 spent.
Why healthcare entities should advertise on Google Ads
Boosting clicks, traffic, and conversions are just one side of the coin. In an Ipsos meta-study, Google Ads were proven to raise brand awareness by an average of 6.6% across 12 leading verticals. The highlight for healthcare marketers is that search ads lifted B2B top-of-mind awareness from 6.2% to 15.2%. That’s an exponential jump and one that can be attributed to the heightened ‘intent to buy’ that triggers Google Ads to appear in front of actively searching leads.
The terms and statistics to know
Newcomers to the platform may find themselves slightly confused by Google Ads terminology. Not to worry, we’ve compiled a handy list of definitions:
- Campaign: A campaign is comprised of your ad groups and helps you keep track of your various paid media efforts.
- Ad Groups: The offshoots of a particular campaign. For example, a campaign for orthopedic instruments could be separated into ad groups that target levels of seniority in certain areas.
- Quality Score: A metric that Google uses to determine the relevancy of your ad headline, description, keywords, and URL. A higher score gets you better digital ad space for cheaper.
- CPC: Cost-per-click is part of the bidding process on Google Adwords and sets the amount you’ll pay when a user clicks on your ad.
- Billing Threshold: The spending level at which you’re billed for your ad clicks. If you reach your threshold in 30 days, you’ll be charged and the threshold will raise for the following month.
What to know about Google’s Custom Affinity Audiences
Before Google’s recent update, there was Affinity Audiences — a feature that placed audience targeting into established buckets based on their interests. While enterprise-level advertisers had the resources to reap the rewards, SMEs struggled with the significant investment required for wide targeting that lacked precision.
Enter Google’s Customer Affinity Audiences. This feature is a godsend for small-to-medium-sized medical enterprises because marketers are able to develop an audience that’s specifically tailored to recent web activity and searches. With Customer Affinity Audiences, healthcare organizations can target:
- Audiences based on particular URLs
- Users that frequent competitor websites
- Customers who search using exact keywords and search terms
- Customers who use specific apps
When your customers search online, make sure they find you
While many agencies know marketing, KBK Communications know healthcare. With over 50 years of combined experience in the medical industry, our team of seasoned industry veterans understands how to reach the decision-makers, educate, build trust, and position you as the expert.
In early 2020, our marketing technologists will present the first seminar in an 8-week program to help healthcare organizations shape the customer experience through targeted inbound marketing. Learn how to navigate the world of PPC for short-term gain and long-term growth by reserving your spot here.