In short
Over 12 months, we spent $65,600 on Google Ads for this clinic and booked 664 new patients. At $800 in average revenue per patient, those patients bring in $531,200.
That's an 8.1× return: every $1 spent on Google Ads brings back $8.10. This campaign played a key role in helping the clinic pass $1 million in yearly revenue.
What the first visits brought in
This clinic's first visit is $180.
664 patients × $180 = $119,520 in first-visit revenue.
That alone is $1.82 back for every $1 spent, so the ad spend was paid back at the first appointment, even as the budget grew.
Revenue over time
664 patients × $800 = $531,200 in revenue, collected over months and years of care.
Each new patient cost $98.80 to bring in and brings in $800 in revenue, about 8 times what they cost. That gap is what lets a clinic keep buying new patients month after month.
What counts as a lead
The Google Ads dashboard counts leads (phone calls and form requests), not booked patients. About 1 in every 6 leads booked in.
How we did it
Reaching people ready to book. We focused on searches from people already looking for help: specific treatments, "near me" searches, and people searching for a problem or for other clinics. These people already want care, which kept costs low and lead quality high.
A well-organized account. We split campaigns by what people searched for, kept removing searches that wasted money, kept improving the ads so more people clicked, and tracked calls and form requests separately.
Following up fast. Leads alone don't create revenue. We made sure new leads were contacted quickly and followed up properly, and filtered out people who weren't serious. About 17% of leads booked in, even as the number of leads grew.
Monthly averages
- $5,467 in ad spend
- About 318 leads
- About 55 new patients
- About $44,267 in revenue
These numbers held steady across all 12 months. That's a system you can count on, not a one-off spike.
Why it matters
This was Google Ads only. It doesn't count patients from SEO, referrals, social media or email. Google Ads alone brought in over $530,000 in revenue.
Why a Google patient costs more, and is worth it
A lead here cost $17.16 and a new patient cost $98.80. Leads from social ads are usually cheaper than that, sometimes by a lot.
Google is more expensive because you are bidding against every other clinic in town for the same person at the same moment, and that moment is the one that counts: someone typing "chiropractor near me" has already decided they need care. Facebook finds people who weren't looking. Google gets in front of people who are, and charges accordingly.
Paying more per patient is not a problem when the patient is worth $800. It becomes a problem only when a clinic judges the campaign on what a lead costs instead of what a patient brings in.
The part that matters most: it held for 12 months
Any clinic can have a good month. This account averaged $5,467 in ad spend, about 318 leads and about 55 new patients, every month, for a year.
That consistency is worth more than a spike, because it's what you can plan around: hire against it, add treatment rooms against it, open a second location against it. A one-month result tells you something worked once. Twelve months of steady numbers tell you there's a system underneath.
What the numbers mean for your clinic
- Ad spend: about $5,467 a month.
- New patients: about 55 a month.
- Revenue from those patients: about $44,267 a month, collected over their care.
- Cost per new patient: $98.80, against $800 in revenue each.
Two tests to run on your own clinic. First, the gap: what does a new patient cost you, and what is one worth? Anything where the second number is several times the first is a machine worth feeding. Second, capacity: 55 new patients a month is roughly 13 a week. Could your schedule absorb that tomorrow? Most clinics hit the capacity ceiling before they hit the budget ceiling.
Questions clinic owners ask
Why is a Google lead four times the price of a Facebook lead?
Because of who it is. Google leads are people searching for care right now, and every clinic in your area is bidding for them. Facebook leads are people who weren't looking until your ad appeared.
Only 17% of leads booked. Isn't that low for search traffic?
The dashboard counts every phone call and form request as a lead, including wrong numbers, existing patients and price shoppers. About 1 in 6 becoming a new patient is a solid result at this volume.
Could this clinic have spent more?
Up to a point. Search is limited by how many people are actually searching in your area each month. Past that, extra budget buys worse positions and broader terms, and the cost per patient climbs. Knowing where that ceiling is matters as much as finding the budget.
What happens if the ads stop?
The patients stop. Paid search is a tap, not an asset, which is exactly why clinics should build search rankings alongside it rather than instead of it.
$65,600 is more than I can spend. Is this relevant to me?
The numbers per patient work the same way at any size. This account averaged $5,467 a month, and the same two questions decide whether a $500 month is worth running: what does a patient cost, and what is one worth.
Does this depend on the clinic's prices?
Yes. At $180 for a first visit and $800 over a course of care, $98.80 to bring in a patient is comfortable. A practice with a cheaper first visit and shorter care plans needs a lower cost per patient for the same campaign to make sense.
How we count revenue
Revenue counts what new patients spend over time, not just the first visit. Each study multiplies its new patients by that clinic’s own average revenue per patient. First visit revenue is shown separately.