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How to Know Which Marketing Channels Are Actually Making Your Clinic Money · The Clinic Marketing Podcast | Local SEO & Healthcare Online Marketing Tips for Clinic Owners & Wellness Providers

• 0:25
  Darcy Happy AI try: Hey there, and welcome back to the Clinic Marketing Podcast.
• 0:29
  Darcy Happy AI try: I’m your host, Darcy Sullivan from Propel Marketing Design, where we help clinics improve their visibility in Google Search, Google Maps, and AI-powered searches.
• 0:39
  Darcy Happy AI try: Today, I want to talk about a marketing question that sounds incredibly simple: Which of your marketing channels are actually making your clinic money?
• 0:47
  Darcy Happy AI try: Not which one is getting the most clicks.
• 0:49
  Darcy Happy AI try: Not which one is generating the prettiest report.
• 0:52
  Darcy Happy AI try: Not which one your marketing company says is performing really well.
• 0:56
  Darcy Happy AI try: Which marketing efforts are actually helping bring new patients into your clinic?
• 1:01
  Darcy Happy AI try: Because those are not necessarily the same thing.
• 1:03
  Darcy Happy AI try: And there’s one answer I hear from clinics all the time that illustrates this perfectly.
• 1:08
  Darcy Happy AI try: They’ll say:“A lot of our patients find us on Google.” Great.
• 1:12
  Darcy Happy AI try: But what does that actually mean?
• 1:13
  Darcy Happy AI try: Did they click a Google Ad?
• 1:15
  Darcy Happy AI try: Did they find your Google Business Profile in Google Maps?
• 1:18
  Darcy Happy AI try: Did they click your website in the organic search results?
• 1:21
  Darcy Happy AI try: Did Google show your clinic in an AI-generated answer?
• 1:24
  Darcy Happy AI try: Did they first hear about you somewhere else, Google your clinic name, and then click your website?
• 1:30
  Darcy Happy AI try: Or did someone recommend your clinic to them, and they went to Google to check you out before making an appointment?
• 1:36
  Darcy Happy AI try: All of those patients might tell your front desk the exact same thing:“I found you on Google.” So today, I want to talk about how to get a much clearer picture of which marketing channels are actually working for your clinic without turning yourself into a full-time data analyst.
• 1:54
  Darcy Happy AI try: Because I don't think most clinics need a giant attribution dashboard.
• 1:59
  Darcy Happy AI try: They need a simple system that helps them make better decisions.
• 2:02
  Darcy Happy AI try: First, Stop Treating“Google” Like One Marketing Channel This is probably the biggest thing I want you to take away from this episode.
• 2:11
  Darcy Happy AI try: Google is not really one marketing channel anymore.
• 2:13
  Darcy Happy AI try: Imagine someone searches:“chiropractor near me” or:“physical therapist for runners near me” or:“dentist who offers Invisalign near me.” Depending on the search, that person could encounter your clinic in several different places.
• 2:27
  Darcy Happy AI try: They might see an ad.
• 2:29
  Darcy Happy AI try: They might see you in the Google Maps results.
• 2:31
  Darcy Happy AI try: They might see your website in the traditional organic results.
• 2:35
  Darcy Happy AI try: They could encounter information about your clinic through one of Google's AI-powered search experiences.
• 2:41
  Darcy Happy AI try: And that means when someone says,“I found you on Google,” we still don't really know how they found you.
• 2:46
  Darcy Happy AI try: This distinction becomes especially important when you're spending money on multiple marketing channels.
• 2:53
  Darcy Happy AI try: Let's say you're spending$2,000 a month on Google Ads.
• 2:57
  Darcy Happy AI try: You're also spending money on SEO.
• 2:59
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your team is working on your Google Business Profile.
• 3:02
  Darcy Happy AI try: You're creating content.
• 3:04
  Darcy Happy AI try: And maybe you're also spending money on Facebook or Instagram ads.
• 3:07
  Darcy Happy AI try: At the end of the month, you have 30 new patients.
• 3:10
  Darcy Happy AI try: Fantastic.
• 3:11
  Darcy Happy AI try: But now I want to know: Where did those 30 patients actually come from?
• 3:15
  Darcy Happy AI try: Because if we don't know, it becomes very difficult to decide what deserves more of your marketing budget and what might need to change.
• 3:23
  Darcy Happy AI try: Listen, You Don't Need Perfect Attribution.
• 3:25
  Darcy Happy AI try: Before we go any further, I want to make something clear.
• 3:29
  Darcy Happy AI try: You are probably never going to know exactly where every single patient came from.
• 3:33
  Darcy Happy AI try: And that's okay.
• 3:34
  Darcy Happy AI try: Marketing attribution is messy.
• 3:36
  Darcy Happy AI try: Someone might discover you on Instagram, forget about you for three weeks, search your clinic's name on Google, read your reviews, visit your website, leave, come back two days later, and finally call.
• 3:50
  Darcy Happy AI try: Which channel gets credit?
• 3:51
  Darcy Happy AI try: Instagram?
• 3:52
  Darcy Happy AI try: Google?
• 3:53
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your reviews?
• 3:54
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your website?
• 3:55
  Darcy Happy AI try: Technically, all of them played a role.
• 3:57
  Darcy Happy AI try: This is why I don't want clinic owners obsessing over creating a perfect system.
• 4:02
  Darcy Happy AI try: Instead, I want you to collect enough useful information that patterns start to emerge.
• 4:07
  Darcy Happy AI try: And there are a few really simple ways to do that.
• 4:09
  Darcy Happy AI try: I think you can do some of the following strategies without sounding too aggressive or making it sound like an interrogation.
• 4:16
  Darcy Happy AI try: Strategy#1: Change the Question Your Front Desk Asks A lot of clinics already ask new patients:“How did you hear about us?” That's a good start.
• 4:26
  Darcy Happy AI try: The problem is that the answers can be too broad.
• 4:28
  Darcy Happy AI try: If the patient says,“Google,” and your team selects“Google” in your practice management software, you've lost some really valuable information.
• 4:37
  Darcy Happy AI try: Instead, train your team to ask one quick follow-up question.
• 4:40
  Darcy Happy AI try: If the patient says Google, ask:“Do you remember if you clicked an ad, found us in the Maps results, or found our website in the regular search results?” They might know.
• 4:51
  Darcy Happy AI try: They might not.
• 4:52
  Darcy Happy AI try: That's fine.
• 4:53
  Darcy Happy AI try: Don't turn this into an interrogation at the front desk.
• 4:56
  Darcy Happy AI try: But you'd be surprised how often people remember.
• 4:59
  Darcy Happy AI try: They might say:“Oh, you were one of the first clinics in Maps.” Or:“I think it said sponsored.” Or:“I searched for shockwave therapy and one of your pages came up.” That's much more useful than simply recording“Google.” You could create simple source options such as: Google Ad Google Maps Google Search AI search Facebook or Instagram Referral from patient Referral from provider Insurance Event or community outreach Other And then have an option for“Google, not sure” because that's going to happen too.
• 5:34
  Darcy Happy AI try: Now we're starting to get useful information.
• 5:36
  Darcy Happy AI try: Strategy#2: Ask What They Actually Searched For Here's another question that I think can be incredibly useful, especially if you're investing in SEO or Google Ads.
• 5:46
  Darcy Happy AI try: Ask:“Do you remember what you searched for?” Again, not everyone will.
• 5:50
  Darcy Happy AI try: But some people absolutely will.
• 5:52
  Darcy Happy AI try: And their answer can tell you a lot.
• 5:54
  Darcy Happy AI try: Maybe they searched:“acupuncturist for migraines near me.”“pelvic floor physical therapy.”“sports chiropractor in Tampa.”“dentist for implants.”“med spa for acne scars.” That information doesn't just help with attribution.
• 6:08
  Darcy Happy AI try: It helps you understand how your actual patients describe what they need.
• 6:12
  Darcy Happy AI try: And that can help inform your SEO, your website content, your ads, and even your messaging.
• 6:18
  Darcy Happy AI try: I would much rather know the language real patients are using than guess at it.
• 6:22
  Darcy Happy AI try: Again, I think you can do the first two strategies we just went over in a way that doesn’t sound too aggressive or like an interrogation.
• 6:30
  Darcy Happy AI try: Strategy#3: Look at Leads, But Also Look at Patients This is where marketing reports can sometimes get misleading.
• 6:38
  Darcy Happy AI try: Let's say one channel generated 50 leads.
• 6:41
  Darcy Happy AI try: Another generated 15.
• 6:43
  Darcy Happy AI try: At first glance, 50 sounds better.
• 6:45
  Darcy Happy AI try: But what if only five of those 50 became patients?
• 6:48
  Darcy Happy AI try: And 10 of the 15 leads from the second channel became patients?
• 6:51
  Darcy Happy AI try: Now we have a completely different story.
• 6:54
  Darcy Happy AI try: This is why I want clinics looking beyond leads.
• 6:56
  Darcy Happy AI try: Ultimately, you want to know: How many inquiries did this channel generate?
• 7:01
  Darcy Happy AI try: How many became actual patients?
• 7:03
  Darcy Happy AI try: And ideally, what were those patients worth to the practice?
• 7:06
  Darcy Happy AI try: Because not every lead has the same value.
• 7:09
  Darcy Happy AI try: Let's use a very simple example.
• 7:11
  Darcy Happy AI try: Imagine you spent$1,500 on a marketing campaign.
• 7:14
  Darcy Happy AI try: It generated 20 leads.
• 7:16
  Darcy Happy AI try: Five became patients.
• 7:18
  Darcy Happy AI try: Those five patients generated$5,000 in collected revenue.
• 7:21
  Darcy Happy AI try: Now we have something much more meaningful to evaluate than clicks or impressions.
• 7:26
  Darcy Happy AI try: I'm simplifying this on purpose.
• 7:29
  Darcy Happy AI try: You can make marketing attribution incredibly complicated if you want to.
• 7:33
  Darcy Happy AI try: Most small to midsize clinics don't need that.
• 7:36
  Darcy Happy AI try: What I want is enough information to answer: Are we putting money into this channel and getting worthwhile business back out of it?
• 7:42
  Darcy Happy AI try: Strategy#4: Use Your Website Data to Fill in the Gaps Your front desk information is one piece of the puzzle.
• 7:50
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your website data is another.
• 7:51
  Darcy Happy AI try: Google Analytics and Google Search Console can help you understand how people are reaching and interacting with your website.
• 7:58
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your Google Business Profile can give you additional information about how people interact with your listing.
• 8:04
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your Google Ads account should be tracking conversions.
• 8:07
  Darcy Happy AI try: If you're running Facebook or Instagram ads, you have data there too.
• 8:11
  Darcy Happy AI try: None of these systems alone tells the complete story.
• 8:14
  Darcy Happy AI try: But when you combine them with what actual new patients are telling you, things become much clearer.
• 8:19
  Darcy Happy AI try: For example, maybe your front desk keeps hearing:“I found you when I searched for shockwave therapy.” Then you look at your search data and see that your shockwave therapy page is getting more visibility and clicks.
• 8:31
  Darcy Happy AI try: And you look at your rankings and see improvement around important shockwave searches.
• 8:35
  Darcy Happy AI try: Now several pieces of evidence are pointing in the same direction.
• 8:39
  Darcy Happy AI try: That's much more useful than looking at one isolated number.
• 8:42
  Darcy Happy AI try: Strategy#5: Use Tracking Links When You Can Here's another simple strategy.
• 8:48
  Darcy Happy AI try: If you're promoting something through an email, social media campaign, online directory, paid campaign, or another source where you control the link, use a trackable link.
• 8:59
  Darcy Happy AI try: You may have heard of UTM parameters.
• 9:01
  Darcy Happy AI try: That sounds technical, but the idea is very simple.
• 9:04
  Darcy Happy AI try: You're essentially adding information to the end of a website link that tells your analytics platform where that visitor came from.
• 9:13
  Darcy Happy AI try: So instead of simply knowing that 100 people visited a particular page, you might be able to see that: 40 came from your email.
• 9:21
  Darcy Happy AI try: 25 came from Facebook.
• 9:23
  Darcy Happy AI try: 15 came from Instagram.
• 9:24
  Darcy Happy AI try: And the rest came from other sources.
• 9:26
  Darcy Happy AI try: You don't need UTMs on every single link you have ever created.
• 9:30
  Darcy Happy AI try: Use them where they actually help you answer a marketing question.
• 9:34
  Darcy Happy AI try: Strategy#6: Track Calls and Forms Properly If phone calls are an important source of new patients, call tracking can also be useful.
• 9:43
  Darcy Happy AI try: The same goes for website forms.
• 9:46
  Darcy Happy AI try: You don't just want to know that someone filled out a form.
• 9:48
  Darcy Happy AI try: When possible, you want to preserve information about how that person got there.
• 9:53
  Darcy Happy AI try: Was it from an ad?
• 9:54
  Darcy Happy AI try: Organic search?
• 9:55
  Darcy Happy AI try: A social campaign?
• 9:56
  Darcy Happy AI try: An email?
• 9:57
  Darcy Happy AI try: A referral partner?
• 9:59
  Darcy Happy AI try: Again, we're trying to connect the marketing activity to an actual inquiry.
• 10:03
  Darcy Happy AI try: But there is an important caution here.
• 10:05
  Darcy Happy AI try: Don't become so obsessed with tracking that you create a terrible patient experience.
• 10:10
  Darcy Happy AI try: If your website form suddenly has 14 required questions because you're trying to attribute every possible marketing touchpoint, you've gone too far.
• 10:20
  Darcy Happy AI try: Keep the patient experience simple.
• 10:22
  Darcy Happy AI try: Strategy#7: Don't Automatically Give the Last Click All the Credit This one is especially important.
• 10:29
  Darcy Happy AI try: Let's go back to that patient who says:“I found you on Google.” Imagine that patient originally heard your clinic mentioned by a friend.
• 10:36
  Darcy Happy AI try: They didn't call immediately.
• 10:38
  Darcy Happy AI try: Later that week, they Googled your clinic.
• 10:40
  Darcy Happy AI try: They saw that you had strong reviews.
• 10:42
  Darcy Happy AI try: They visited your website.
• 10:44
  Darcy Happy AI try: They read about the service they needed.
• 10:46
  Darcy Happy AI try: Maybe they even left and came back later.
• 10:48
  Darcy Happy AI try: Then they booked.
• 10:49
  Darcy Happy AI try: If you only look at the final website visit, you might say:“Organic Google search generated this patient.” But that's not really the full story.
• 10:57
  Darcy Happy AI try: The referral created awareness.
• 10:59
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your reviews built trust.
• 11:01
  Darcy Happy AI try: Google helped them find you again.
• 11:03
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your website helped convince them.
• 11:05
  Darcy Happy AI try: That's why I want you to think about marketing as a system rather than a collection of completely independent channels.
• 11:12
  Darcy Happy AI try: What About Google Ads Versus SEO?
• 11:15
  Darcy Happy AI try: I recently did an episode specifically about healthcare SEO versus Google Ads and where clinics should invest first.
• 11:22
  Darcy Happy AI try: I'm not going to repeat that entire conversation here, but I'll link to it in the show notes if you want to go deeper.
• 11:28
  Darcy Happy AI try: The short version is that these channels work differently.
• 11:31
  Darcy Happy AI try: With Google Ads, you're paying for visibility.
• 11:33
  Darcy Happy AI try: With SEO, you're building organic visibility through your website, Google Business Profile, content, reviews, local presence, and other signals.
• 11:43
  Darcy Happy AI try: And both can absolutely contribute to new patients.
• 11:46
  Darcy Happy AI try: The problem is when you're investing in both and everything gets lumped together as:“Google.” If you're spending thousands of dollars on Google Ads, I want to know whether those ads are actually producing qualified leads and patients.
• 12:00
  Darcy Happy AI try: At the same time, I don't want you to look at a patient who came through Google Maps or organic search and accidentally give your paid ads credit for that patient.
• 12:10
  Darcy Happy AI try: That's why separating those sources, as much as reasonably possible, matters.
• 12:14
  Darcy Happy AI try: And Now We Have AI Search to Consider This is going to make attribution even more interesting.
• 12:20
  Darcy Happy AI try: People are increasingly using AI-powered tools and search experiences to research businesses, providers, services, and treatment options.
• 12:30
  Darcy Happy AI try: Someone might ask a tool:“Who's the best sports chiropractor near me?” Or:“Find me a physical therapist who specializes in runners.” Or:“What type of provider should I see for this problem?” They might discover your clinic there and then Google your business name.
• 12:46
  Darcy Happy AI try: What will they tell your front desk?
• 12:48
  Darcy Happy AI try: Possibly:“I found you on Google.” And that's another reason I think clinics need to start including AI search as an option when they ask new patients how they found them.
• 12:57
  Darcy Happy AI try: You might not have many people selecting it today.
• 13:00
  Darcy Happy AI try: That's okay.
• 13:01
  Darcy Happy AI try: Start collecting the data now.
• 13:02
  Darcy Happy AI try: Because six months or a year from now, you may be very glad you did.
• 13:06
  Darcy Happy AI try: Let’s Get into The Simple Monthly Marketing Checkup So here's what I would actually do if I owned a clinic.
• 13:13
  Darcy Happy AI try: Once a month, I would sit down for about 20 or 30 minutes and look at a very small set of numbers.
• 13:19
  Darcy Happy AI try: I would look at: How many new patients did we get?
• 13:22
  Darcy Happy AI try: Then: Where did they say they found us?
• 13:25
  Darcy Happy AI try: Break that down as much as your data reasonably allows.
• 13:28
  Darcy Happy AI try: Google Ads.
• 13:29
  Darcy Happy AI try: Google Maps.
• 13:30
  Darcy Happy AI try: Organic Google search.
• 13:32
  Darcy Happy AI try: AI search.
• 13:33
  Darcy Happy AI try: Social media.
• 13:34
  Darcy Happy AI try: Patient referrals.
• 13:35
  Darcy Happy AI try: Provider referrals.
• 13:37
  Darcy Happy AI try: Events.
• 13:38
  Darcy Happy AI try: Email.
• 13:39
  Darcy Happy AI try: Other marketing campaigns.
• 13:40
  Darcy Happy AI try: Then look at how much you're spending on each major marketing channel.
• 13:44
  Darcy Happy AI try: And finally, look at the quality of the patients and leads those channels are generating.
• 13:49
  Darcy Happy AI try: You don't need a 47-column spreadsheet.
• 13:51
  Darcy Happy AI try: You're looking for patterns.
• 13:53
  Darcy Happy AI try: Maybe you're spending$3,000 a month on one channel that's producing lots of leads but very few patients.
• 14:00
  Darcy Happy AI try: Maybe another channel isn't producing a huge number of leads, but the people coming through it are exactly the types of patients you want.
• 14:08
  Darcy Happy AI try: Maybe organic search is quietly generating new patients every month even though it doesn't have a big, flashy ad dashboard attached to it.
• 14:19
  Darcy Happy AI try: Or maybe something you assumed was working actually isn't.
• 14:22
  Darcy Happy AI try: That's the information that helps you make smarter marketing decisions.
• 14:25
  Darcy Happy AI try: Don't Judge Everything on One Month There's one more thing I want to add.
• 14:29
  Darcy Happy AI try: Be careful about making major decisions based on a tiny window of data.
• 14:34
  Darcy Happy AI try: If one channel has a slow month, that doesn't necessarily mean you should immediately stop investing in it.
• 14:40
  Darcy Happy AI try: And different marketing channels work on different timelines.
• 14:43
  Darcy Happy AI try: Paid advertising can potentially produce visibility very quickly.
• 14:47
  Darcy Happy AI try: SEO generally requires a longer-term view because you're building assets and organic visibility over time.
• 14:54
  Darcy Happy AI try: Referrals can fluctuate.
• 14:56
  Darcy Happy AI try: Seasonality can affect demand.
• 14:58
  Darcy Happy AI try: A particular service may have a longer decision-making process.
• 15:01
  Darcy Happy AI try: So instead of reacting to every little change, look for trends.
• 15:05
  Darcy Happy AI try: What's happening over three months?
• 15:07
  Darcy Happy AI try: Six months?
• 15:08
  Darcy Happy AI try: Which channels consistently produce qualified patients?
• 15:12
  Darcy Happy AI try: Which ones appear to be improving?
• 15:13
  Darcy Happy AI try: Which ones cost more and more without producing better results?
• 15:16
  Darcy Happy AI try: Those are much better questions.
• 15:18
  Darcy Happy AI try: Your Marketing Doesn't Need to Be Perfectly Trackable to Be Measurable If you take nothing else away from this episode, remember this: You don't need perfect marketing attribution to make better marketing decisions.
• 15:30
  Darcy Happy AI try: You just need better information than you have right now.
• 15:33
  Darcy Happy AI try: If your entire tracking system currently consists of asking,“How did you hear about us?” and recording“Google,” start there.
• 15:41
  Darcy Happy AI try: Break Google apart.
• 15:43
  Darcy Happy AI try: Was it an ad?
• 15:44
  Darcy Happy AI try: Google Maps?
• 15:45
  Darcy Happy AI try: Organic search?
• 15:46
  Darcy Happy AI try: AI?
• 15:47
  Darcy Happy AI try: Did they know your clinic's name already?
• 15:49
  Darcy Happy AI try: Ask what they searched for.
• 15:50
  Darcy Happy AI try: Track which leads actually become patients.
• 15:53
  Darcy Happy AI try: Use your analytics to support what you're hearing from real patients.
• 15:57
  Darcy Happy AI try: And once a month, compare the money you're putting into your major marketing channels with the business those channels appear to be generating.
• 16:06
  Darcy Happy AI try: Because ultimately, marketing isn't about generating the biggest number of impressions, clicks, followers, website visitors, or even leads.
• 16:16
  Darcy Happy AI try: It's about helping the right people discover your clinic, choose your clinic, and become patients.
• 16:22
  Darcy Happy AI try: And the better you understand how that's happening, the easier it becomes to decide where your next marketing dollar should go.
• 16:30
  Darcy Happy AI try: If you want to learn more specifically about the differences between SEO, Google Ads, and Meta Ads, I'll include a link in the show notes to our episode and article, Healthcare SEO vs.
• 16:42
  Darcy Happy AI try: Google Ads: Where Should Your Clinic Invest First?
• 16:47
  Darcy Happy AI try: And if you're realizing that organic visibility is an area your clinic needs help with, that's exactly what we do at Propel Marketing Design.
• 16:56
  Darcy Happy AI try: We help clinics improve their visibility across Google Search, Google Maps, and AI-powered search, with strategies designed around the services and patients they actually want to attract.
• 17:10
  Darcy Happy AI try: You can learn more at Propel Your Company dot com.
• 17:13
  Darcy Happy AI try: Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Clinic Marketing Podcast.