Making Sense of Pay-Per-Click Advertising – Part 2

In a blog earlier this month, we discussed the difference between optimizing for Clicks and Impressions within Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns. We stated that there is no “one-size-fits-all” method for determining which strategy is best for elective surgery practices.

However, recently Fast Track Marketing conducted a study on the efficiency of optimizing for Clicks vs. Impressions. We found that in the certain elective surgery verticals we tested – in certain locations – an Impression-based campaign delivered more Clicks at a cheaper CPC. This is not to say that Impression-based campaigns are right for every elective surgery practice; but we noticed that:

• When we optimized for Clicks, the CPC was much higher than anticipated.
• When we optimized for Impressions, the CPC was lower and also delivered a higher reach and frequency.

If you think of this as a behavior, something like an elective surgery interest is hard to buy.

PPC Branding                       

Potential patients typically either know they are in the market for an elective surgery or they don’t. By optimizing for Impressions, we are targeting people who have already expressed interest in a procedure, without us marketing to them, so they are much more likely to click on the ad.

This is branding at its basics. We place the branding in front of them so we can stay top-of-mind with people who are serious about the procedure. We noticed that this change in our approach yielded more reach and frequency and possibly contributed to a higher quality Click. Since we do not need to buy an action, we can utilize our budget much more efficiently and buy for Impressions.

Contact Brandi Musgrave at 303-447-9192 or brandi@fast-trackmarketing.com to learn more about how to make PPC strategy work for your elective surgery practice.