If your healthcare organization has ever launched a digital advertising campaign, you know it can be a daunting task. Patient privacy regulations, fragmented data, and siloed strategies can all stand in the way of effective, compliant campaigns.
But when done right, healthcare digital advertising is a valuable component of a robust marketing strategy, enabling you to connect with new patients at key moments of their care journey and highlight the care your organization provides.
Take Texas-based University Health, for example. Within nine months of Geonetric optimizing their existing ad campaigns with new landing pages, rewritten ad copy, and restructured calls-to-action, conversions increased 79% while cost-per-conversion fell 61%.
Interested in similar results for your organization? Whether you’re just getting started or optimizing your current efforts, here are answers to some of the most common questions we hear from hospitals and health systems looking to maximize their digital advertising ROI without sacrificing compliance or strategy.
What’s the difference between healthcare digital advertising and organic marketing?
Think of it this way: Digital advertising delivers quick wins. You can launch a campaign and start reaching targeted audiences almost immediately.
Organic marketing (like SEO and content strategy) takes longer to build but offers long-term value and sustainable traffic growth.
The real magic happens when you combine both approaches.
What are the benefits of digital advertising for healthcare organizations?
Paid digital advertising offers:
- Immediate visibility in a crowded healthcare landscape
- Targeted reach based on geography, patient behavior, and more
- Measurable performance with real-time analytics
- Scalability for seasonal campaigns or growth goals
It’s also a smart way to fill gaps while your organic strategy matures, or to promote specific service lines.
How do you determine the right budget for a digital advertising campaign?
It starts with your goals. When you partner with Geonetric, we work with you to evaluate:
- Annual budget and campaign priorities
- Historical performance data
- Competitor benchmarks
- Target audience size and platforms
From there, we often start with a test budget to gather data, then refine and scale based on results. Our approach is iterative and flexible, designed to help you maximize returns and adjust as you go.
Can I run paid ads alongside my organic marketing strategy?
Absolutely — in fact, we recommend it!
Running paid and organic strategies together can help you:
- Increase your total visibility across channels
- Boost traffic and conversions
- Spend advertising dollars more effectively
- Avoid duplicate efforts or cannibalization
For example, if a service line already performs well organically, you can dial back paid spend there and reallocate budget to a seasonal push (think flu shots or heart health campaigns).
How long does it take to see results from a paid campaign?
It depends on your platform, audience, and budget, but most campaigns begin generating data and early results within days to a couple of weeks.
That said, some campaigns take time to optimize fully. We continuously refine based on performance data to improve outcomes over time.
How do you ensure HIPAA compliance when using platforms like Google Ads and Meta Ads?
We follow strict protocols to protect patient privacy and meet HIPAA expectations, even on platforms not designed with healthcare in mind.
Here’s how we do it:
- We avoid targeting problematic keywords or audience types.
- We offer Geonetric’s Privacy Filter, which blocks high-risk data from being sent to ad platforms like Google Ads, Meta, and Basis while still allowing necessary conversion data to flow through.
- Upon request, we can also anonymize UTM strings by removing or generalizing campaign names, sources, and other potentially sensitive data.
These steps ensure performance and privacy stay top of mind throughout your digital advertising strategy.
Can I run advertising through a DSP (demand-side platform)?
Yes, and it opens up a whole new world of opportunities!
We partner with Basis, a leading DSP, to give our clients access to a broader set of advertising channels, including:
- Streaming/OTT platforms
- Digital audio and podcasts
- Out-of-home digital ads
Better yet, all of your campaigns — from Google Ads to OTT — can be managed through a single platform for more centralized reporting and optimization.
Can you collaborate with other vendors or agencies that provide creative assets or copy?
Yes! While we offer full creative services — including ad copywriting and landing page design — we’re also happy to work with your in-house team or external partners.
We regularly collaborate with creative agencies, internal design teams, and other vendors to ensure your campaigns are aligned, efficient, and effective.
How do we get started?
Our healthcare digital advertising experts are here to help, whether you’re launching your first campaign or optimizing an existing program.
Get in touch with our team today for a free digital advertising assessment to see how your current campaigns stack up or identify opportunities to launch new campaigns.
Want to learn more about how you can convert prospects to patients through effective digital advertising? Attend our Sept. 23 webinar, Clicks to Care: Smarter Healthcare Ads, to learn how your organization can connect with patients through smarter, more secure campaigns that drive real results.
