May | From Traffic to Treatment – What’s Working in Paid Ads for Healthcare in 2025

There are many ways to drive traffic to your website, but few practices have a clear strategy for turning that traffic into booked patients. Before we get started, don't forget to checkout our Monthly Expert Insights.

In May, many clinics increase their ad spending ahead of summer campaigns. But most of that money evaporates without proper tracking, an offer strategy, and a funnel structure. This brief by our Paid Ads Management team breaks down what’s working right now across dozens of clinics and what’s no longer worth doing.

Let’s talk about patient acquisition and conversion.

Winning Ad Channels: Google Search, Local Services Ads, and Meta Retargeting

What’s Working:

• Google Search Ads: Still the #1 source of high-intent leads. Works best for symptom- or service-based keywords like “dentist near me,” “hormone therapy San Diego,” or “med spa Botox specials.” These are patients actively searching for care, not just browsing.
• Google Local Services Ads (LSAs): High trust factor due to the “Google Guaranteed” badge. Especially valuable for dentists and functional medicine practices. LSAs show up above search ads and only charge you per actual lead.
• Meta Retargeting converts warm leads who visited your site but didn’t book. It is best used for educational content (Reels, testimonials, offers) that rebuilds trust and moves the patient closer to action.

When these channels work together - search to capture intent, LSAs to show credibility, and meta to follow up - you get a full-funnel strategy.

Average CPLs, What Drives Them Up, and What Brings Them Down

What We’re Seeing:

• Functional Medicine CPLs: $110
• Med Spas CPLs: $115
• Dentists CPLs: $90

Why CPLs Spike:

• Sending ad traffic to your homepage instead of a landing page
• No retargeting for people who don’t book immediately
• Bidding on generic or non-medical keywords (e.g., “wellness,” “health center”)

What Improves CPL:

• Landing page alignment: The page should match the ad in language, tone, and offer. For example, if your ad promotes “$49 hormone panels,” the landing page needs to make that the headline.
• Embedding tools like Calendly or NexHealth to let patients book instantly.
• Intelligent segmentation: Serve different pages or ads to new patients, returning patients, or those browsing specific services. This can reduce the cost per booking by 20–30%.

Creative That Converts: What to Use in 2025

What’s Working Now:

• Patient Testimonials: Video testimonials outperform nearly every ad type for high-trust services (dental implants, hormone therapy, skin correction). Please make sure they’re real, short, and specific.
• “Day in the Life” Reels feature doctors walking through treatments, answering FAQs, or demonstrating real procedures. These perform well on Instagram and Facebook to build credibility.
• Before/After Carousels: For aesthetic services, these are still effective when they include disclaimers and look authentic (not over-edited).

What’s Not Working:

• Overly designed graphics or stock photos with generic offers
• Long videos that don’t give a clear next step

Meta Ads Library is a great resource for seeing what your competitors are running and for finding format inspiration.

Funnel Drop-Off: Where Most Practices Lose the Lead

This is where 60–70% of your ad budget leaks out.

Top Drop-Off Points:

• The lead submits a form and lands on a blank “thank you” page
• No one follows up for hours (or ever)
• The patient receives no educational content while they wait

What To Do Instead:

• Redirect form submissions to a custom thank-you page that includes:
  • Confirmation
  • FAQs
  • Video of the provider
  • Direct booking option
• Trigger automated SMS + email follow-ups within 5 minutes of submission. This drastically increases the show-up rate and keeps leads engaged.
• Launch a 30-day nurture sequence (text + email) with testimonials, FAQs, pricing guidance, and booking CTAs.

Expert Tip: Practices that use our nurture flows convert up to 3x more leads from the same ad spend.

Final Takeaway: It’s Not Just About Clicks - It’s About Conversions

Too many clinics focus on traffic volume instead of tracking conversions and plugging holes in the funnel.

Ask yourself:

• Are my landing pages converting?
• Is my team following up fast enough?
• Am I using automation to keep leads warm?
• Does every click lead to a booking or a dead end?

Book your free strategy audit here, and we’ll show you how your ad spend can produce 2–3x more booked patients (without spending more).