Google Ads vs Meta Ads for clinics: which channel for which goal

Most clinic marketing conversations include the question “Should I run Google Ads or Meta Ads?” The right answer almost always is “both, in the right ratio.” But the ratio depends on the discipline, and the channels do meaningfully different jobs.

This article is the short version of how to think about the split.

What each channel actually does

Google Ads captures demand that already exists. A patient who searches “Vancouver physiotherapy” or “naturopath downtown Vancouver” has decided they need a service. The ad’s job is to be the first option they see and the easiest to book.

Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram) creates demand that did not exist yet. A patient scrolling Instagram who sees a 30-second video about pelvic-floor physiotherapy did not search for it. The ad’s job is to teach them the service exists and that their issue is a fit.

These are different jobs. Both matter. A clinic that runs only Google captures the buyers but cannot grow the addressable market. A clinic that runs only Meta builds the brand but loses the easy bookings sitting on Search.

When Google Ads wins

Use Google Ads when:

• The service has explicit search intent (dental cleaning, physiotherapy near me, chiropractor downtown Vancouver)
• The patient cohort is older (45+, who are more likely to search than scroll for healthcare)
• You can compete on intent-based queries that lead directly to booking
• Your Google Business Profile is solid (Google Ads compounds with strong local SEO)
• You have booked-first-visit tracking set up (otherwise you cannot tell what is working)

For these scenarios, search clicks book at 6 to 12 percent typically. The math works.

The patterns that destroy Google Ads ROI are the ones we cover in our Google Ads mistakes article. Read that before scaling Google.

When Meta Ads wins

Use Meta Ads when:

• The service has low organic search volume but high latent demand (pelvic floor physiotherapy, mental health counselling, IV therapy)
• The patient cohort skews 25 to 50 and uses Instagram heavily
• You have practitioners willing to appear on camera (creative quality is the entire game on Meta)
• You can produce 8 to 12 new video assets per quarter to feed creative refresh
• You are introducing a new service to a market that does not search for it yet

For these scenarios, video-led Meta campaigns drive lead volume at 30 to 50 percent lower cost than Google, but with longer attribution windows and lower booking rates per lead.

The full creative playbook is in our Meta Ads article.

The typical clinic ratio

For most multi-disciplinary clinics in Vancouver, the ratio that works is in this range:

• 60 to 70 percent Google Ads, 30 to 40 percent Meta: physiotherapy-led clinics, chiropractic, dental, family naturopathic practice
• 50/50: general wellness clinics, aesthetic clinics, multi-service naturopathic clinics
• 30 to 40 percent Google, 60 to 70 percent Meta: pelvic-floor physiotherapy, mental health practices, IV therapy and aesthetic services, RMT clinics targeting under-40 audiences

Start in the right band for your discipline. Watch booked-first-visit cost per channel for 60 to 90 days. Shift dollars to the winner once the data is real.

The compounding effect

Here is the part most clinics miss: Google and Meta compound when they run together.

A patient who has seen your Meta ads three times in the last two weeks is materially more likely to click your Google ad when they finally search. The brand recognition lifts Google’s click-through rate by 30 to 60 percent in our data. Inversely, a patient who clicked a Google ad and did not book is more likely to convert on a Meta retargeting impression two weeks later.

The two channels are not competing for the same conversions. They are converting different stages of the same patient journey.

This is why “should I run Google or Meta” is the wrong question. The right question is “how do I run both in the right ratio for my discipline.”

Attribution is what makes this honest

None of the above is useful if you cannot tell which channel produced which booked patient. Both platforms will report attribution generously. Both platforms also share credit on the same booking (last-click for Google, view-through for Meta), which inflates the apparent contribution of both.

The only honest way to allocate budget between channels is to use server-side booking-event tracking, as we cover in our Jane/Cliniko/Juvonno tracking article. Once both platforms are receiving real first-visit booking events, the comparison becomes meaningful.

Without it, you are guessing. With it, you are optimising.

The simplest split to start with

If you are starting from zero and want a defensible baseline:

• 60 percent of budget on Google Ads, with branded campaigns plus 2 to 4 service-specific ad groups
• 40 percent of budget on Meta Ads, with one prospecting campaign and one retargeting campaign
• Booked-first-visit tracking live before any spending starts
• 60-day measurement window before any significant reallocation

A clinic spending $3,000 monthly in this configuration will have enough data by day 60 to know which channel is producing better booked-patient ROI, and can shift 10 to 20 percent of budget to the winner without disrupting the other channel’s algorithm.

If you want a real audit of your current channel mix and what to reallocate, the Clinic Growth Review goes through exactly this with your real numbers.