By Austen Kazakoff
Marketing4ECPs
Looking for an answer to your question, where to buy something or help from a professional? “Just Google it.”
For over 20 years, Google has directed users around the Internet. Even now in 2021, Google remains the top source of information among search engines.
On top of being a great resource for users, Google provides businesses with seemingly endless possibilities of how to reach their customers.
With Google Ads launching in 2000, Google disrupted the advertising industry with their take on the PPC (pay-per-click) advertising model.
Even after 21 years, Google Ads still have the attention of digital marketers. But after this long, is it still effective for your optometry practice?
Before pushing your practice’s advertising budget all in on Google Ads, it’s important to ask if they’re still the most effective option for your practice.
How Google Ads Work
If you haven’t purchased Google Ads before, it’s likely you have at least interacted with them.
These are the ads that appear at the top of your search results when you use Google.
The PPC model of Google Ads differs from “traditional advertising” as the advertiser will only pay if their ad is clicked. Compared to other mediums such as radio or television, this is a game-changer.
Beyond PPC, Google Ads offers the advertiser extensive customization options. Through customization, you can make your ad only appear to your exact target audience. For your practice, this means saving money and boosting ad engagement.
While this sounds like the advertising dream, Google has been in the game for a long time now. After 21 years, do Google Ads still work?
Do Google Ads Still Work?
YES, even after all this time, Google Ads are still incredibly effective. Even though the competition of digital advertising has increased (mainly among social media), the value of Google Ads is still extremely high. This has been achieved through Google’s efforts for continued innovation and improvement on user and advertiser experience.
In the world of digital marketing, your practice has lots of options for your budget. However, none of the other areas can match Google in the three features below.
Demographics
As a practice, you’re aware of who you want to target. Purchasing Google Ads allows you to specifically select who you want to see your ads.
This means 100 per cent of your ad spend is put towards your ideal prospective patients.
Analytics
In general, analytics is what makes digital advertising one of the most effective methods of advertising. Google Ads takes this to another level.
Google Ads provides you with exact data on where your prospective patients are coming from and who they are. As the advertiser, these numbers allow you to make changes to your ad on the fly, increasing the effectiveness of your ads.
Timing
Now that your practice has precise analytics on your ads, you have timing on your side. For example, if you have recently started running a certain ad and it’s performing extremely well, you can increase your ad budget (increasing the benefits of the ads).
What’s more, these ads drive immediate results.
If your practice runs ads for dry eye therapy, bookings can occur within minutes!
Google Ads & Optometry Practices
As an optometry practice, your goal is to book appointments. Whether these appointments are for one of your unique services or a routine eye exam, you need to reach prospective patients with your message.
Google Adwords work well because they actively go after the consumer who is searching for an eye care provider making them very qualified ads to be running.
In the past, advertising was looked down upon because there was no way to show direct results. Google Ads provides your practice with clear, exact results from your ad spend.
Even though they have been around for over 20 years, Google Ads is still one of the best places for your practice to spend its marketing dollars.
Austen Kazakoff is a copywriter for Marketing4ECPs, where he gets the opportunity to share his love of storytelling with eye care practices all over North America.
