There is no widely-published, transparent benchmark for Vancouver clinic marketing. Industry reports tend to be either generic (“healthcare marketing is rising”) or US-specific (different insurance landscape, different competition, different math). This is our attempt at the Vancouver-specific picture, with honest ranges and clear caveats about what we can and cannot claim.
The numbers below are based on aggregated, anonymised data from our client engagements, cross-referenced with industry-published data where useful. They are defensible ranges, not promises.
What we measure
For every clinic engagement, we track:
- Cost per click (CPC) on Google Ads and Meta
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Cost per lead (CPL) on Meta lead forms and Google form-fill conversions
- Landing page conversion rate (clicks to leads, leads to bookings)
- Cost per booked first visit (CPBFV) by channel and overall
- Patient lifetime value at 30, 60, 90 days and 12 months
- Channel attribution for booked patients
The benchmarks below summarise the ranges we see consistently. Below the typical range usually indicates strong execution; above usually indicates correctable issues; far above usually indicates structural problems.
Cost per click ranges (Google Ads, Metro Vancouver, 2026)
For competitive paid search queries:
| Clinic category | Branded CPC | Service-query CPC | Specialty CPC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physiotherapy | $0.50 to $1.50 | $4 to $9 | $6 to $14 (ICBC, pelvic floor) |
| RMT | $0.30 to $1.20 | $2 to $5 | $4 to $8 (sports massage) |
| Chiropractic | $0.50 to $1.50 | $4 to $8 | $6 to $12 (sports, decompression) |
| Naturopathy | $0.80 to $2.00 | $8 to $14 | $10 to $18 (IV therapy, hormones) |
| Acupuncture | $0.40 to $1.20 | $3 to $7 | $5 to $10 (fertility) |
| Dental general | $0.50 to $1.50 | $6 to $12 | $10 to $25 (cosmetic) |
| Mental health | $0.80 to $2.00 | $5 to $11 | $8 to $15 (specialty therapy) |
| Optometry | $0.50 to $1.50 | $4 to $8 | $6 to $12 (myopia control, dry eye) |
| Pelvic-floor physio | $0.80 to $2.00 | $4 to $9 | (most pelvic-floor queries fall in service-query band) |
CPCs have risen 8 to 15 percent across most categories year-over-year. The biggest jumps have been in dental cosmetic and naturopathic specialty queries, where competition from US-based ad bidders (especially mid-2026) has tightened.
Click-through rate ranges (Google Ads search)
| Position | Typical CTR | Strong CTR | Concerning CTR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top of page (positions 1 to 3) | 4 to 8 percent | 9+ percent | Below 3 percent |
| Below top of page | 1 to 3 percent | 4+ percent | Below 1 percent |
CTR below the concerning threshold usually indicates a creative or relevance issue, not a positioning issue. The patterns from our Google Ads mistakes article apply.
Cost per lead ranges (Meta Ads, lead forms)
For Vancouver clinic categories on Meta Ads:
| Clinic category | Typical CPL | Strong CPL | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physiotherapy | $22 to $45 | Under $20 | Lower for general physio, higher for ICBC-targeted |
| RMT | $15 to $35 | Under $14 | Younger cohort, IG-heavy |
| Chiropractic | $25 to $50 | Under $22 | Sports chiro lower, general higher |
| Naturopathy | $30 to $65 | Under $28 | Long consideration cycle inflates CPL |
| Acupuncture | $20 to $45 | Under $18 | Strong on Instagram Reels for younger cohort |
| Dental | $30 to $70 | Under $28 | Cosmetic skews higher |
| Mental health | $30 to $75 | Under $28 | High variance based on niche |
| Pelvic-floor physio | $25 to $55 | Under $22 | Lower than general physio because of niche targeting |
Two important caveats:
- CPL is a vanity metric without booking data. See our vanity-metrics article. Low CPL with low booking rates is worse than higher CPL with high booking rates.
- Add qualifier questions to Meta lead forms and CPL will rise 15 to 30 percent, but booking rate will rise 50 to 100 percent. Net booked patients increase.
Cost per booked first visit (CPBFV)
The metric that actually matters. Across paid-media-driven channels:
| Clinic category | Typical CPBFV (paid media) | Strong CPBFV | Concerning CPBFV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physiotherapy | $80 to $180 | Under $75 | Above $220 |
| RMT | $50 to $120 | Under $45 | Above $160 |
| Chiropractic | $80 to $170 | Under $75 | Above $210 |
| Naturopathy | $200 to $450 | Under $180 | Above $550 |
| Acupuncture | $80 to $180 | Under $70 | Above $220 |
| Dental general | $120 to $300 | Under $100 | Above $400 |
| Mental health | $150 to $350 | Under $130 | Above $450 |
| Optometry | $80 to $200 | Under $75 | Above $250 |
| Pelvic-floor physio | $80 to $200 | Under $75 | Above $250 |
These are paid-media-driven costs. CPBFV via organic search, GBP, and direct referrals is typically 30 to 60 percent lower because there is no acquisition spend per booking, only ongoing SEO and content infrastructure cost amortised across all bookings.
Channel mix benchmarks for booked first visits
For a mature clinic running multi-channel marketing in Vancouver, the typical attribution split:
| Channel | Typical contribution to booked first visits |
|---|---|
| Organic search and GBP (combined) | 35 to 55 percent |
| Google Ads (paid search) | 15 to 30 percent |
| Meta Ads (paid social) | 10 to 25 percent |
| Direct (existing brand awareness, repeat visits) | 5 to 15 percent |
| Referrals (patient + practitioner) | 5 to 20 percent |
| Other (email, partner referrals, print) | 2 to 8 percent |
Clinics in the early stages of building their organic and brand presence skew more toward paid channels. Mature clinics with established local SEO and recall systems skew toward organic and direct.
Google Business Profile metrics
For well-optimised GBPs in Metro Vancouver:
| Metric | Typical range | Strong | Concerning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profile views per month | 800 to 3,500 | 4,000+ | Below 500 |
| Direction requests | 80 to 300 | 350+ | Below 50 |
| Call clicks | 50 to 200 | 250+ | Below 30 |
| Website clicks | 100 to 400 | 500+ | Below 70 |
| New reviews per month | 4 to 12 | 15+ | Below 3 |
| Review response rate | 90 to 98 percent | 99+ percent | Below 80 percent |
Our GBP mastery article covers the configuration that produces these ranges.
Landing page conversion rates
For paid-media traffic landing on dedicated landing pages (not homepages):
| Page type | Typical conversion rate |
|---|---|
| Service-specific landing page (one service, one ad group) | 6 to 12 percent |
| Generic homepage from paid traffic | 1 to 3 percent |
| Service page on main website (not a dedicated landing page) | 3 to 6 percent |
| Mobile-optimised, fast-loading specialty landing page | 8 to 15 percent |
The 4 to 5x conversion-rate spread between a generic homepage and a focused landing page is why landing page work is so high-ROI.
Marketing spend as percent of revenue
For Vancouver clinics, marketing-spend-as-percent-of-monthly-revenue benchmarks:
| Clinic stage | Spend range |
|---|---|
| Growth mode (actively adding practitioners, new services, new location) | 8 to 15 percent |
| Stable (maintaining schedule, replacing attrition) | 3 to 7 percent |
| Turnaround (calendar dropping, recent disruption) | 12 to 20 percent (temporary) |
These are total-marketing-spend ranges, including agency fees and tools, not ad spend alone. Our budget article covers the framework in more detail.
What changed in 2026 vs 2025
Three trends worth naming:
-
Cost per click rose 8 to 15 percent across most categories. Increased platform competition, lower organic reach, and post-pandemic healthcare-spending normalisation all contributed.
-
AI-mediated search captured 5 to 15 percent of category-research starts. ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews are now part of how patients find clinics, especially in younger urban cohorts. Our AI search article covers the implications.
-
Booking-platform conversion tracking became table stakes. The clinics still relying on form-fill conversions saw their cost-per-booked-patient drift up materially compared to clinics that integrated booking events with Google Ads and Meta CAPI. The tracking article covers the setup.
What this means for budget planning
If you are setting a 2026 to 2027 marketing budget for your clinic:
- Expect 8 to 15 percent year-over-year inflation on paid media costs, partially offset by improvements in landing pages and tracking
- Plan for AI search optimisation as a measurable channel by mid-2027
- Budget for tracking infrastructure (CallRail, Meta CAPI, booking-platform integration) as a meaningful line item, not a one-time setup
- Increase total marketing spend by 10 to 15 percent to maintain the same booked-patient flow if your tracking and landing page work is not improving
How to use these benchmarks
Three legitimate uses:
- Diagnose outliers in your own data. If your CPBFV is 50 percent above the typical range for your category, something is wrong. Investigate.
- Set realistic expectations with internal stakeholders or boards. “Our current $180 CPBFV is in the typical range for physiotherapy in Vancouver” is a defensible statement.
- Evaluate agency claims. If an agency promises a $40 CPBFV for naturopathy in Vancouver, that is below the realistic range. Push back.
Three illegitimate uses:
- Copying targets without your own LTV data. Your allowable CPBFV depends on your patient lifetime value, not on the average. See our PAC framework article.
- Citing the report as the definitive number. These are ranges based on our visibility. Other agencies and analysts will see different ranges in their own data. Treat as one data point.
- Comparing 2024 or 2025 data against the 2026 ranges. The category economics shift year to year. Use the year-appropriate version.
Methodology notes
The data underlying this report:
- Aggregated, anonymised performance across our client engagements in Metro Vancouver (2025 to 2026 calendar periods)
- Cross-referenced against published industry data from Google Ads, Meta, BrightLocal, Whitespark, and industry surveys
- Ranges represent the typical spread we observe, not the best or worst cases
- Specialty subcategories (myopia control, pelvic floor, IV therapy, etc.) have smaller sample sizes than primary categories. Treat as directional, not precise.
We update this report annually. The 2027 version will include AI search attribution as a tracked channel, expanded specialty-service benchmarks, and additional clinic categories as the dataset grows.
If you want a clinic-specific reading of where your numbers sit against these benchmarks, the Clinic Growth Review compares your real performance to the ranges above and identifies the three biggest gaps. You keep the analysis whether or not we work together.
