Med spa ads: 12 tips to drive rapid growth
10-second summary:
- When it’s business growth you’re looking for, it’s hard to look beyond the benefits of pay per click (PPC) advertising.
- It’s accountable. With PPC you only pay when someone clicks one of your ads. And if they click, there’s a good chance they’re interested in becoming a customer.
- Capture demand via PPC ads in Google search, nurture demand with PPC on social media channels.
- Think location. All PPC platforms provide the facility to serve your ads to people in specific geographic locations.
- There’s lots of regulation surrounding the promotion of med spa services. Be sure to do your research.
Med spa ads – done correctly – are a highly effective route to drive rapid growth. Here are some tips for success.
You help your clients feel like a million dollars. Unfortunately you can’t charge them quite that much for their treatments. But if you’re hoping to grow your business and ratchet up your revenue, med spa ads are a great idea.
This article has some actionable tips for smashing lead generation for healthcare and creating med spa ads that get results.
Or maybe you would like us take care of everything for you?
Too busy to think about ads? We help med spa businesses unlock big – really big – results with paid media. Big results like a 157% increase in lead volume for UK Vein Clinic. And 15x ROI for Snatch & Glow. Take a quick look at how it all works. And with our performance pricing, our fees are tied to the results we deliver.
“The digital strategy the Adbetter team created for us immediately started paying for itself several times over in just the first month, by delivering significant new customer revenue. It also has allowed us to open up our customer base to new audiences that I never thought would be our target audience.”
– Kiana Djazeb, Director & Founder, Snatch & Glow
Med spa ads: the benefits of pay per click advertising
It’s accountable.
It’s scalable and cost effective.
It can bring a predictable flow of leads to your business.
When it’s business growth you’re looking for, it’s hard to look past pay per click (PPC) advertising.
With PPC, as the name suggests, you only pay when someone clicks your ad. And if they’re clicking there’s a decent chance they’re interested in becoming your next client.
It’s why pay per click is one of the most accountable forms of advertising on the planet.
Contrast that with more traditional forms of advertising – such as print media or local radio – where you pay for your ad placement regardless of whether people engage with it or not.
There are certain formulas you can follow to become successful with pay per click advertising. Get it right and you can quickly build towards that bulging appointment book you deserve as a reward for all the energy you pour into your business.
And it’s no overstatement to say that you can drive millions of pounds in new revenue.
Here’s some advice on driving med spa ads results that are more than skin deep.
Choosing a platform for pay per click med spa ads
With pay per click advertising you can approach med spa ads from two angles: capturing demand for your business and generating demand for your business.
Here’s how.
With Google Ads you can get your med spa in front of people at the precise moment they are searching for treatments that you provide – capturing people who are expressing demand for your expertise.
It’s low hanging fruit. And if you aren’t grabbing it, one of your competitors will be.
But there’s more to pay per click than Google. You can use social media platforms, such as Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads and TikTok Ads, for that raises awareness of your med spa services – generating demand among people who are likely to be interested.
And social channels can be surprisingly effective at driving awareness of your services. Research from PwC has shown that 80% of people use social media to find health information. And one-in-four internet users turn to social media to research healthcare decisions.
Which platform should you choose? That depends on the extent to which you want to capture existing demand for your services, or raise awareness of your services to generate future demand.
Can’t decide? Do both by using a blend of Google and social media ads.
12 tips for getting results with pay per click med spa ads
1. Think: location
When it comes to advertising your med spa, there’s no point serving your ads to people in Portland if you’re based in Pittsburgh.
All pay per click platforms allow you to specify locations where your ads will be shown. In fact you can set your ads to display to people within a set radius of your med spa, and nowhere else.
2. Zero in on your target audience
Geographic location isn’t the only thing you can work into your audience targeting. Whichever pay per click platforms you choose to advertise on, you will have access to a suite of sophisticated audience profiling tools.
They will allow you to target people across a huge selection of variables including:
- Age
- Gender
- Hobbies and interests
- Occupation
- Relationship status
- Online browsing activity
…and a whole lot more.
You can also feed your existing customer data into your pay per click platform and let the algorithm find a new audience to advertise to based on characteristics they share with your existing customers. Just look for the lookalike audiences function.
These audience profiling tools will help to make sure your ads are served only to the people who have a high likelihood of being interested in your med spa services – keeping your campaign lean, mean and efficient.
3. Read up on the regulations
As you are most likely already aware, there’s lots of red tape when it comes to the promotion of medical products and procedures. And it’s no different when it comes to pay per click advertising.
Here’s a quick run through of some of the regulations to be aware of.
You cannot promote prescription-only medications
Unless you have a LegitScript certification, you can’t advertise Botox, Dysport, Xeomin, Daxxify, Jeuveau or other injectables using their brand names.
These prescription-only medications can only be promoted on social media and websites by licensed pharmacies and authorised resale companies.
Be careful with your photography
Before-and-after photos have long been the go-to for healthcare marketing. But they cannot be used on the Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram) – not even in the landing pages that your pay per click ads link to.
On platforms where you are able to advertise with before-and-after shots – such as Google and TikTok – you must follow strict rules about the retouching of images.
Images are allowed be edited, but you must not edit any part of the image that relates to the treatment that is being promoted.
You should also avoid any graphic imagery, such as needles or blood, which could get your advertising account frozen.
Read more about ad regulations for medical clinics here.
Check your language
Clarity of language is a big deal when promoting your med spa services. You must accurately describe the treatments you are promoting, rather than using colloquialisms.
You should also take care to avoid language that could be perceived as playing on the insecurities of your audience. And no unrealistic claims – such as: “it will take 20 years off!”
Also you cannot be perceived to be rushing your audience into a decision. For instance, any promotions must be given a timeframe that’s long enough for your audience to make a balanced decision. Pushing promotions that are close to expiring isn’t allowed.
You can read up on the official guidelines below.
4. Embrace specificity
Google rewards relevancy. Consider creating separate campaigns for each of the key products or treatments that you want to promote. These ads should drive traffic through to landing pages that are unique (and highly relevant to) each ad.
A nuanced approach tends to work best for your social media advertising too. Promoting specific treatments or products – with separate campaigns for each – rather than your business in general allows you to zero in on highly targeted audiences, which is likely to enhance your campaign performance.
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5. Make sure your branding is on point
Most people are righty discerning when it comes to making choices about their health. Your branding has to hit the right tone in terms of reinforcing the perception of a professional, credible and safe med spa. In the eyes of the consumer, sloppy branding equals sloppy service.
At the very least, stay away from the same boring stock photography. In the smartphone era you have a photography and editing studio that fits in the palm of your hand. There’s almost no excuse for using stock visual assets. And your brand will benefit from having visual content that is authentically yours.
6. Remember your reader
People visit med spas because they want a certain outcome: whether that’s physical, emotional or both. Those outcomes are the things you want to showcase in your marketing approach. It’s also good to talk about the process that certain treatments follow. Educating your audience about certain treatments can help them visualise whether it’s right for them.
Persuasive marketing is ultimately about human connection. Put yourself in your reader’s position and try to build a connection. Think about their doubts and fears. Their ambitions and desires. Address your reader directly with “you” focused messaging.
It’s also worth remembering that many people are guarded about their health and appearance. The treatments your potential client is seeking may be connected to very personal fears and anxieties.
Oh and keep it snappy. No matter what pay per click platform you are using for our med spa ads, you have a second or two – sometimes less – to grab the attention of your audience. Your messaging must be crystal clear.
7. Showcase your credentials
When it comes to med spa ads, your ability to demonstrate your expertise is always going to be well received. Your qualifications, certifications, awards or membership of relevant industry bodies should be clearly signposted.
8. Embrace social proof
Testimonials from previous clients can be particularly persuasive in med spa ads. Anything that helps to reduce uncertainty in your audience and bring more clarity to the decision-making process will work in your favour.
Try to elicit client testimonials that feel natural, authentic and unforced. Both written and video testimonials can work well. But for the latter, consider positioning the camera off to the side – so your subject isn’t staring straight down the lens.
And if you can, try to prompt your clients in a way that allows them to reveal how your expertise and services helped to overcome your client’s obstacles or doubts before obtaining their desired results.
9. Think beyond the first click
As mentioned, you should have specific landing pages for each of your med spa campaigns. Landing pages are a separate science all of their own. But here’s a super-speedy rundown of key considerations.
- Design and copywriting. Your landing page should feel like a continuation of the ad your visitor clicked. Your design should be optimised for mobile and feature a compelling proposition above the fold.
- Create a closed journey. Single-mindedness is a strength when it comes to landing pages. Limit navigation options and stay focused on one clear call to action.
- Utilise social proof and trust signals. Again, use customer testimonials to build credibility and trust in your company. Clearly signpost industry accreditations, qualifications or awards.
- Gather data. This is key, it warrants its own paragraph below these bullet points.
- Be aware of data privacy regulations. If you are acquiring leads in California, Virginia or Colorado, you must comply with data privacy laws.
Okay, gathering data. The main aim of your landing page is to gather information on your lead. For med spa advertising, you can get results by creating a form on your landing page that prompts your lead to choose their own diagnostic path.
Ask questions about your lead’s desired treatment. Then you can guide them towards the most appropriate course of action.
This will give your sales team valuable insight on your leads – making it easier to nurture them towards conversion. It also signals to your potential clients that you are serious about personalising their patient outcome.
10. Don’t be afraid to experiment
From the words you use to the images you choose, your pay per click platform will give you the option to submit multiple variants for each constituent part of your ad.
That’s an opportunity you shouldn’t pass up.
Your platform will measure the performance of the different copy and image combinations – then preferentially serve the ad variants that are receiving the highest engagement and driving the right outcomes for your business.
It’s not a precise science – and you need to be serving your campaign to a large audience for the algorithm to gather meaningful data. But it’s a useful tool for making efficient use of your ad spend and getting insight on what converts.
11. Get serious about performance tracking
When you run pay per click campaigns, you get instant feedback on how your ads are performing. As this data accumulates, you have the opportunity to find trends that reveal the ad strategies that get the best results – iterating your ads and optimising for success.
Yet, insight on what’s happening within the pay per click environment is just the start. To drive the really exciting, transformative results with your med spa ads, you need to be able to track all points in your customer acquisition journey, from first click to first booking and beyond.
This requires getting your performance tracking set up to provide full visibility into onward KPIs from your ad – such as consultations booked, new patients and revenue generated. And that’s not easy.
Which is why you should consider…
12. Working with an expert
It’s possible to transform your business growth with pay per click med spa ads. But to get the really big results – and the really big returns – it takes time. Tenacity. Expertise.
As experts in pay per click advertising, we can get you there faster. We know the paid media tactics that get results for med spas. We know what levers to pull and when. And we can manage everything on your behalf – sharing our progress with clear dashboards and monthly reporting.
Sounds good? Ask us for a free proposal. We’ll lay out the results you could expect in the first three months of working with us. And with our performance pricing, our fees are tied to the results we deliver. Let’s get started.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can promote a med spa through pay per click advertising. But it’s important to be aware of the regulations. For instance, before and after shots are not allowed in Facebook or Instagram campaigns. You must also avoid the use of graphic imagery – such as needles or blood. Any treatments you promote must be accurately described using professional language, without reinforcing negative stereotypes or making unrealistic claims. To make sure your ads are accepted, research the latest regulations at the planning stage of your pay per click campaign.
Pay per click advertising can be a highly effective way of generating new med spa leads. It’s cost effective, easy to scale and highly accountable because you only pay for clicks through to your landing page – rather than paying for exposure as with other forms of advertising.
Choosing the most appropriate pay per click platform for your campaign depends on your goals. With Google ads for example, you can get your med spa in front of people at the moment they search for treatments that you provide. Alternatively you can use social media platforms, such as Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads and TikTok Ads, to raise awareness and generate future demand for your med spa.
Whichever pay per click platforms you choose to advertise on, you will have access to sophisticated audience profiling tools that allow you to target people based on age, gender, location, online browsing behaviour and more. You may also be able to feed your existing customer data into your pay per click platform and let the algorithm find a new audience to advertise to based on shared characteristics. Look for the lookalike audiences function.
A nuanced approach tends to work well for pay per click advertising. Consider creating separate campaigns for each of the key products or treatments that you want to promote – instead of promoting your med spa more generally. These ads should drive traffic through to landing pages that are unique and highly relevant to each ad.
Remember that people visit med spas because they want a certain outcome: whether that’s physical, emotional or both. Those outcomes are the things you may want to showcase in your marketing approach – touching on the process that certain treatments follow and educating your audience. You may also want to explore customer testimonials, case studies and other trust signals such as industry accreditations and awards.
You may wish to consider working with a pay per click company that specialises in med spa campaigns – such as Adbetter. Working with an expert can save time, money and help you get the results you want faster.
