According to statistics released in 2015 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), private sector spending on healthcare totalled £25.1 billion and accounted for 16.7% of total healthcare expenditure in the UK.
In the last few years, internet spend in the UK has increased sufficiently enough to position the UK as the largest advertising market in Europe.
According to the Advertising Association/Warc Expenditure Report, Internet advertising spend increased 17.3% to £8.6bn, with mobile accounting for 78% of that growth.
Healthcare is one of the most competitive industries for pay per click (PPC) advertisers in the UK. Dental, plastic surgery and rehab are some of the healthcare sectors that compete for the highest cost per clicks (CPCs) and have a significantly high search volume.
The dental sector has the highest search volume with an average of 834,900 total monthly searches and an Avg. CPC of £2.09. The keyword 'endodontist' is the most expensive keyword in the sector, costing £15.78 per click.
The plastic surgery sector follows with an Avg. CPC of £2.02 and 271,460 total average monthly searches in the last 12 months (2016-2017). The most expensive keyword in the sector is 'breast augmentation procedure', which costs £17.71 per click.
Find below key PPC metrics on search volume, CPCs, and most expensive keywords in different healthcare sectors.
The rehab sector has one of the highest average cost per click (CPC) in the industry with an Avg. CPC of £9.91. Did you know that some industry related keywords like ‘alcohol abuse centers’ cost £107.51 per click?
Imagine having to pay £107.51 every time someone clicks on your ad. You would need a hefty advertising budget to afford such expensive clicks.
As a healthcare practice owner or marketing manager, you must assess whether it is worth paying large amounts of money for clicks with no assurance that these clicks are driving sales. You need to understand your customer's journey, the motivation behind their clicks and whether these clicks result in new patients and sales.
In general, marketers and business owners struggle to attribute revenue to their PPC campaigns because they lack a comprehensive call tracking system that offers full visibility of their campaign performance and customer's journey.
Call tracking allows healthcare practices to track potential customers across all marketing channels, both online and offline, including PPC, social media, print media, TV, and radio. Phone calls are essential to the success of your business, so knowing which marketing channels are driving calls for your business will give you unparalleled insight into your customer’s purchase behaviour. This will allow you to make smarter decisions about your advertising budget.
I hope you find this information helpful. Let us know if you have any questions about how Infinity can help you measure your return on advertising spend.
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