Measuring Success: Key Metrics for Evaluating Mental Health Ad Campaigns
What does success look like for your business?
When thinking about starting a Google Ads campaign for your practice, you may start your journey with market research, balancing a marketing budget, or figuring out how many new clients would be needed to ensure a successful return on your investment. While these factors are all components that make up a Google ads strategy, they don’t give you a clear and tailored idea of what success looks like specifically for your practice.
What are the primary indicators of success (receiving more forms, getting more phone calls, etc.)
First, we must understand what success even looks like for your business. If you are a practice owner who is way more personable on a consult call than over email, prioritizing face-to-face conversion actions (phone or Zoom calls) may be the best way to maximize your results. On the other hand, if you are a larger group practice with one client coordinator handling all of your onboarding needs, prioritizing a conversion action like for submissions may be more beneficial for keeping track of every client who wants to work with you.
Consider the different caseloads of yourself or your other therapists
For example, it can be really exciting to hear other practice owners saying that they only need Google Ads to sustain their business and that the potential of new clients is limitless, but the reality is that the “limit” can be set by different elements. If you only have 2 other therapists that you need to get filled, then the conversion data for your campaign is going to look significantly different than other practices that need to fill 10 therapists in the same period. Comparing the two different data sets will only make it more difficult to really figure out what your business needs to thrive.
“Success” doesn’t look the same for everybody
Often, it can feel disheartening when you hear other practitioners saying that they get 15 new clients every week while using Google Ads when you are still in the phase of trying to find some consistency in your campaigns, but it is important to remember that success looks different for every practice. Sometimes success looks like seeing more general interest in your practice or users coming back to your website more than once and spending more time on the pages while they are there. Marketing milestones are meant to be tailored and customized to fit your exact business needs, so only focusing on one “idea” of success may be blocking you from other noteworthy achievements.
Key metrics to look for in a campaign
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As mentioned before, different conversion actions hold different weights. If you are working with an auto-scheduler like Simple Practice, Acuity, or Calendly but are noticing that you get a lot of no-shows for consultations, then that conversion action may not hold as much weight for your business compared to a form submission.
On the other hand, if you are relying on forms but are seeing a lot of spam and advertisement forms being submitted, then those may not be as reliable. Sometimes taking a close look at how people can reach out to you and which of those methods are most reliable can help you create a tier of which conversions take priority. text goes here
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There are different types of data that we can look at to measure how an active campaign is functioning and where improvements can be made. While there are many distinct kinds of statistics like click through rates and search impression shares that can be analyzed in a campaign, most will want to primarily focus on what conversions are coming in and how many more are needed to start making a profit. Since conversions are the star of the show for many campaigns, it is crucial to explore some of the more conversion-centered data points that are available.
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The conversion rate and cost per conversion are probably going to be some of the first numbers that you look at when assessing a campaign. The conversion rate is how many conversions you received divided by how many interactions you received on your campaign (mainly clicks and impressions). The cost per conversion is the number of conversions you receive divided by the total amount of money you have spent on the ads so far.
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Click through rates are a great way to determine exactly how your audience is interacting with your ads. The click through rate is the number of clicks you receive divided by the number of impressions. The percentage that you see can be considered the percentage of time that users see your ads and click through to the website. While clicks don’t hold the same power as conversions, the data can still be beneficial. It can give you insight as to how you can optimize your ad text, keywords, and overall campaign performance.
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This statistic comes straight from the Google Analytics account that is linked to your Google Ads. Your time on site is the average amount of seconds that a user will spend on your website after clicking on your ad.
The significance of this data is fundamental to how your campaigns and ads are functioning in the market. It shows how people are interacting with your business once they move away from the ad and start exploring the website. When people are spending more time on your website, it means that your content is engaging, they feel validated in their search for help, and are more likely to follow the conversion actions that are laid out for them.
What is the purpose of running your campaigns?
Are you looking for a sustainable advertising option or a path to fast results?
Here is the number one tip that every marketing expert will give you: Have patience. While there are some campaigns that can have immediate success, most people running Google Ads will tell you that a 30-day trial run probably won’t be enough to see a substantial difference in your business and revenue. At RevKey, we always like to place the line at the 90-day mark. That is when we are able to really see how the optimizations and changes that we have made over a 3 month period are playing out in real-time. It is also the best range of time to determine what your return on investment is and how it can be maximized if you want to continue using Google Ads.
It doesn’t mean that your campaign will take a full 90 days to start producing ANY results. On the contrary, the data that you are given in that 90-day period will only help to strengthen the tactics or actions that you want to take moving forward. You will be able to make informed decisions instead of changing up your entire marketing strategy within a matter of weeks.
Additionally, marketing needs for therapy practices change like the seasons. During the school year you may be overflowing with clients and need to cut back any advertising, but when the summer comes back around you find yourself leaning towards a more aggressive approach because the work becomes a lot slower. Both ways of marketing can work for your business, but it is important to take a step back and recognize what kind of marketing strategy works best for you.
If you are looking for clients right now, then a high budget with a general audience can help get you that volume. However, if you are looking to steadily expand your marketing and your practice, then creating a more long-term sustainable campaign budget and audience will help you get recognition on the ads market and keep you competitive against other marketers.
How much are you willing to invest in making sure your ads are competitive in your market? (this will vary from state to state)
It is no secret that different cities in the country require different budgets to be considered competitive. The budget you need in New York City isn’t going to be the same as the budget you need in Illinois. The key to making sure that you are spending the right amount of money to ensure you are showing up on the first-page search results is knowing the overall cost of living in your area. Is your practice located in a wealthier part of town? Do you want to be able to compete in the local market or take on more location targeting with a larger budget? Is the number that you choose to spend sustainable for long-term marketing efforts? All of these factors - and more - should be considered when creating a budget for your Google Ads campaign.
PRO TIP: Google will always try and give you a number that they believe will work, but most of the time this number will be greatly inflated compared to what you were hoping to spend. In these cases, feel free to stick with what works for you.
Source image from WordStream - The Most (& Least) Expensive States for PPC – New Data
How might you incorporate your advertising plan in the next 6 months?
Creating a marketing plan for your business can be overwhelming at first, but with the right tools and structure, many of the things that seem outlandish in the marketing world will become clearer to you. That being said, the best way to make sure that your marketing efforts are as fruitful as they can be is to make a plan. This could be 6 months out (or even 3 months) and be as loose or rigid as you would like, but just having a plan of where your money is going, how your ads should perform, and how long you want to invest in the project makes a huge difference in your experience with Google Ads.
In the realm of digital marketing, running Google Ads for a therapy practice demands a delicate balance between effective promotion and the ethical considerations inherent to the mental health field. It can be difficult to navigate when you’re first starting out, but over time you will learn that the benefits with Google Ads can be extensive and lucrative.
The key takeaways? Prioritize creating ads that resonate with your target audience, and maintain transparency about your services. Regularly monitor campaign performance through metrics such as CTR, conversion rate, and ROI. Remember that success extends beyond clicks and conversions; it encompasses the positive impact your services have on those seeking help. By carefully measuring the performance of your campaign, you can ensure that your Google Ads not only attract potential clients but also provide them with the valuable support they need in their journey toward better mental health.
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