Online Paid Advertising: Is It Worth It?

Updated on September 10, 2020
Online Paid Advertising: Is It Worth It?

It’s a misconception that advertising isn’t necessary in the health care industry. Many health care businesses rely on advertising and marketing efforts to find new patients and keep existing ones. Advertising also helps people find businesses or services they need. Check out this guide to answer the question: is online paid advertising worth it for your business?

Pay-per-click (PPC)

Pay-per-click advertising is designed to help your website show up first in search results without the constant struggle of maintaining proper search engine optimization (SEO) practices. Although SEO is extremely important to the credibility and visibility of your business, it can be difficult to maintain, and it often takes a significant amount of time to take effect. Pay-per-click allows your site to appear at the top of the page, above the first organic result in the search engine, with a small “ad” indicator on it. The most important factor in determining if this method of online paid advertising is worth it for your business is whether you can create an effective Google PPC ad campaign. This often requires the assistance of a professional firm.

Social media advertisements

Social media advertisements take your social media platforms to the next level. You need solid, regular content on your pages, but if you still lack the engagement or results you’re looking for, then social media advertisements may be a beneficial next step for your business. When you pay for your content to be shown to a target demographic, then you can be certain your business is being seen and noticed. This method is most worth it for health care businesses with elective services such as plastic surgery, dermatology, and other more cosmetic focuses, as these are more visual services.

Advertisement retargeting

Advertisement retargeting is a method that’s typically quite effective for certain products and services. This method is where the cookies on a website track users as they continue to navigate the Internet. This means you can attach a cookie to each person who visits your website and follow them on the rest of their Internet journey. This gathers data to make sure they see advertisements relevant to what they’re looking at, and it can help you retarget those who visited your website and who therefore may already be considering your services. This method is most worth it for products rather than practices.