Are Google Ads Worth It for Chiropractors?
Should a chiropractor run Google Ads? The general answer is yes. But there's a lot of caveats to be aware of to avoid wasting money.
4/17/20253 min read
Does it seem like chiropractic offices either make it big on Google Ads or fail miserably?
It's not far from the truth, and it creates a lot of confusion as to whether you - a chiropractor - should invest time and money with Google Ads.
Google Ads = High Intent Leads
Google Ads as of today is the most effective means of generating leads from your local, nearby market. When someone needs a local service like a plumber, electrician, or chiropractor... they turn to Google more often than not.
When people are ready to make a decision on scheduling an appointment with a chiropractor, they turn to Google. That doesn't mean that you can't find new patients through physical advertising, Facebook, or TV ads - but your audience through these marketing channels are positioned at all stages of the marketing "funnel" instead of at the bottom (which is where decisions are made).
When it comes to marketing your chiropractic practice, it's usually a good idea to start with the most high intent, high-quality lead generation channels you can. After maximizing the high intent channels (ie Google Ads), then it makes sense to move onto others such as YouTube, Facebook, billboards, etc.
How Do I Measure ROI?
Every office should be tracking phone calls and form submissions from the website or landing pages with any advertising or organic traffic (non-ad traffic).
Tracking new patients through ads can seem daunting or even impossible if you're not tech-savvy.
We recommend software like CallTrackingMetrics or CallRail to set up tracking phone numbers on your website or landing pages and record phone calls (optional but recommended) to trace back new patients to advertising efforts.
The hardest part is aligning your EHR or patient records with the lead tracking you have set up.
Ideally you set up an excel or Google Sheet automation to pull lead data from CallTrackingMetrics or CallRail that your staff can see and edit. It'll be up to your staff to mark those leads as "contacted", "scheduled", or "paid".
There are ways to automate the entire process, but we're assuming what's already been mentioned is enough (or too much) technical setup for most offices.
Understand Lifetime Patient Value
With any advertising: Google Ads, Facebook, etc... knowing your lifetime patient value is crucial. But why??
It's all about the math.
You WILL NOT see ROI from any advertising on a month by month basis unless you charge patients on a large and upfront basis (such as care packages). ROI is achieved by ensuring your lifetime patient value is achieve with patients coming from your ads. You NEED to look at a minimum 90 day window but usually longer depending on the length of care your typical patients undergo.
Let's say your lifetime patient value is $1500. Great.
Your marketing budget is $2000 per month. Cool.
None of that matters - unless you're able to measure the new patient value specifically from your ads. Patients from ads almost always have lower value to your office than organic or referral patients.
Wrap Up - Advertising is a Journey
Because most chiropractors see lifetime patient value over a long period of time, you need to measure from day 1 of marketing and you need to run marketing for at least as long as it takes to fully realize lifetime patient value (and then some).
It takes some time to tweak and optimize a marketing campaign on the digital side, and it takes time for your team to measure the ROI from the patients coming in from your adveritising.
Don't be one of those offices who "feels like it's working".
