In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, many healthcare clinics and healthtech brands are heavily invested in paid media. Whether it’s Facebook, Google, or LinkedIn, the focus is often on performance marketing, ads that are meant to deliver quick results.
But here’s what we’re hearing from almost every clinic we speak to:
"We’re spending more, but seeing less."
Sound familiar?
Clinics are facing a clear pattern: ad fatigue, creative fatigue, and diminishing returns.
They increase their ad spend hoping to boost enquiries, but what actually happens? The cost-per-click goes up. The number of patient enquiries flatlines. Sometimes it even drops.
It’s not just ad fatigue, it’s advertising doom.
The trap is simple. You keep throwing money at ads that no longer perform. But without a stronger foundation underneath, the system collapses under its own weight.
This isn’t just anecdotal.
The IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) recommends a 60/40 budget split for brand building versus performance marketing. That means 60 percent of your marketing budget should go toward long-term brand growth, and only 40 percent on capturing short-term demand.
Why? Because the return is bigger.
According to WARC, brand-building campaigns can lead to an average uplift in total revenue of 90 percent. In some cases, that uplift is as high as 250 percent.
Let that sink in.
Spending less on ads and more on brand can actually generate more revenue.
Sources:
Brand building doesn’t mean fluffy videos with your clinic’s logo. It means:
The goal isn’t just to sell. It’s to become known.
If you're a fertility clinic, mental health provider, aesthetic clinic or private GP practice, the takeaway is simple.
Relying solely on paid ads is no longer enough.
Instead, build a marketing strategy that balances performance with brand. One that:
Reach out to me on LinkedIn if you want to ever chat healthcare marketing!
