More Patients, Less Wasted Spend: Healthcare Paid Media Results
How 20North rebuilt a multi-location healthcare practice's paid search around high-intent patients, growing leads 87% year over year while spending 20% less.
Client
Multi-location eye care practice, Washington DC & Maryland
Services
Paid Advertising
Industry
Healthcare, Eye Care & Ophthalmology
Platforms
Google Ads, Google (GA4)
More Leads (YoY)
+87%
Cost Per Lead (Paid)
-57%
Project Overview
A multi-location eye care practice serving the Washington, DC and Maryland area came to 20North to grow qualified patient leads from paid search and do it efficiently. The practice runs offices across several markets and covers a wide range of care, so the paid program had to pull in patients for high-value services while keeping cost per lead under control.
The opportunity was to spend less on traffic that never converts and put that budget behind the people actively searching for eye care in each service area.
Key opportunities included:
- Capturing high-intent searches from patients looking for cataract, glaucoma, LASIK, and general eye care
- Cutting wasted spend on low-intent, unrelated, and junk clicks
- Tightening conversion tracking so reporting reflects real leads, not just clicks
- Improving targeting and bidding efficiency across multiple locations
- Giving the practice clear visibility into what changed and why
Project Execution
20North audited the account, rebuilt its structure around services and locations, and moved to a weekly optimization cadence instead of a set-and-forget approach.
Paid Media (Google Ads)
- Built search campaigns around high-intent service searches like cataract surgery, glaucoma treatment, LASIK, and eye exams
- Structured campaigns by service line and by office so budget maps to the demand in each market
- Expanded negative keyword lists to cut low-intent traffic, including job seekers, DIY searches, and unrelated queries
- Directed each ad to the matching service or location page rather than a generic homepage
- Adjusted geographic targeting to each office's local service area
- Navigated healthcare advertising policies to keep campaigns running cleanly
Measurement and Transparency
- Validated conversion tracking through GA4 and platform pixels so leads tie back to calls, forms, and booked appointments
- Documented every change and the reasoning behind it in a shared project tracker
- Reported on a regular cadence with a dashboard the practice owns and can check anytime
- Held an active weekly optimization cadence, testing ad copy, keywords, and bidding over time
The result was a leaner account pointed at the searches most likely to become patients, with budget shifting toward whatever produced the strongest lead volume at the lowest cost.
Project Results
After one year of partnership, the practice was generating more patient leads on a smaller budget, with cost per lead cut by more than half:
- Leads up 87% year over year
- Cost per lead down 57%
- Ad spend down 20%, reaching more of the right patients without a larger budget
The gains came from smarter account structure, cleaner tracking, and steady month-over-month optimization rather than a bigger media budget.
Why It Works for Healthcare
For healthcare paid media, lead quality is what matters most. A campaign that drives cheap clicks but few booked appointments is a loss for a practice paying by the visit. This program tied every dollar to patient actions, cut the searches that waste the budget, and kept a human in the account every week to refine it. That combination is what turned a smaller spend into more patients.
Testimonial
“We have had an excellent experience with 20North. From the on-boarding process to staying up to date with the latest changes, they have provided us with great guidance throughout. Their work in Google Ads and SEO has been highly professional and has driven an increase in web traffic. Overall, we have nothing but positive things to say about their services!”
.png)
