Patient acquisition: why niche target groups pay off.

The right measure

Clicks, impressions and enquiries are easy to count – and easy to misread. The figure that matters is cost per treated new patient: marketing spend divided by the number of new patients who actually started treatment.

It combines every step: how many enquiries come in, how many fit your offer, how many book a consultation and how many go ahead.

Sample calculation: broad versus niche

A practice spends €3,000 a month on online advertising and compares two approaches.

All figures in euros. The logic works in any currency.

The niche campaign produces fewer than half the enquiries – and more treated patients. Patients who arrive with a specific concern tend to decide more easily. On top of that, reception handles 72 fewer unsuitable enquiries a month: at ten minutes each, that is twelve hours of team time.

How to find your niche

• Start with your best treatments: those with high gross profit per doctor hour and spare capacity.
• Describe the patient, not the procedure: age group, concern, situation – for example “first signs of ageing, little time, wants a natural result”.
• Look at your existing patients: who comes back, who recommends you, who is happiest?
• Check demand locally: search interest, competitors, purchasing power in your catchment area.

Putting it into practice

1. One landing page per target group, with the concern in the headline and a clear next step.
2. Campaigns that address that concern – not a list of all treatments.
3. A short screening question in the booking form to filter out unsuitable enquiries.
4. Monthly review of cost per treated patient per channel.