Remarketing is one of the most effective yet underused digital marketing tactics in healthcare. While most medical practices focus on attracting new patients through Google Ads or organic SEO, many overlook the value of re-engaging previous website visitors who didn’t convert the first time. With the right approach, remarketing for medical practices can boost appointment bookings, reinforce trust, and keep your clinic top of mind — all with a relatively low budget.
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This guide outlines how to build a remarketing strategy that actually works for your medical practice.
What Is Remarketing and Why Should Clinics Use It?
Remarketing (also called retargeting) allows you to display online ads to people who have previously interacted with your website. These users might have:
- Viewed a service page (e.g. physiotherapy or women’s health)
- Started but didn’t complete a contact form or booking
- Spent time reading your blog but didn’t take action
Instead of losing those leads forever, you can re-engage them with relevant ads as they browse other websites, use mobile apps, or search on Google.
For medical practices, remarketing can:
- Encourage hesitant patients to book
- Promote follow-up services
- Increase brand familiarity and trust
- Improve ROI on your initial marketing spend
Remarketing works especially well in healthcare because patients often research before making a decision — giving you multiple opportunities to stay visible.
Segment Your Audiences for Better Results
Not all website visitors are equal. To run effective remarketing campaigns, you’ll need to segment your audience based on behaviour, location, and interest.
Here are examples of audience groups a medical practice might target:
- Visitors to specific service pages (e.g. “back pain clinic” or “sexual health screening”)
- Users who started a booking form but didn’t complete it
- People who visited your site more than once in the past 30 days
- Patients who booked an appointment more than six months ago (for follow-up services)
By tailoring your messaging to each group, you can significantly improve relevance and engagement.
Tip: Use Google Ads, Meta Ads (Facebook/Instagram), and LinkedIn to build and manage these custom audience lists.
Tailor Your Ads to Match Patient Needs
Once you’ve segmented your audience, create ad messages that reflect what they’re most likely to need. Avoid generic “Come back to our clinic” messages.
Examples of remarketing ads that work in healthcare:
- “Still dealing with lower back pain? Book an assessment today.”
- “Missed your cervical screening? Appointments available this week.”
- “We noticed you were interested in allergy testing. Let’s help you get answers.”
Use reassuring language, helpful calls to action, and location-based trust signals (e.g. “Serving patients in Manchester for over 10 years”).
If running display ads, include recognisable branding — logo, clinic photos, and a consistent colour scheme — to reinforce trust and familiarity.
Use Time-Based Campaigns for Better Timing
You don’t want to bombard users with ads immediately after their first visit. Instead, structure your remarketing campaigns based on how recently someone interacted with your site.
For example:
- Days 1–7: Gentle reminder ads (e.g. “Still exploring your options?”)
- Days 8–21: Stronger call to action (e.g. “Limited appointment slots available this week”)
- Day 22+: Discounted services (if applicable) or educational content (e.g. “Learn about managing your condition”)
You can also exclude recent patients or converters from your audience list to avoid unnecessary ad spend and prevent negative impressions.
Retarget via Multiple Platforms
To maximise reach and impact, run your remarketing campaigns across multiple platforms. Consider:
- Google Display Network: Great for reaching users across thousands of websites and YouTube.
- Meta (Facebook and Instagram): Particularly effective for local community engagement and services like paediatrics, wellness, and women’s health.
- LinkedIn: Useful for B2B healthcare services, private consultations, or occupational health clinics.
Different platforms serve different demographics, so choose based on your clinic’s patient profile.
Tip: Make sure your ads meet platform-specific healthcare advertising policies — particularly regarding personal health data and sensitive subjects.
Set Frequency Caps and Respect Privacy
While it’s important to stay visible, you don’t want to overwhelm or annoy users. Set frequency caps to limit how often your ads appear to each individual in a given day or week.
Always respect privacy:
- Never use ads that reference personal health status (“We saw you searched for HIV testing”) — this violates most platform policies.
- Ensure your cookie policy and website privacy notice clearly explain how user data is used for remarketing.
- Use anonymous data and avoid targeting based on sensitive personal information.
Trust is everything in healthcare, and your advertising should reflect that.
Test and Optimise Continuously
As with any marketing effort, your remarketing strategy will perform best when you continuously test and refine it. Monitor key metrics such as:
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Conversion rate (appointments booked, contact form submissions)
- Cost per conversion
- Time on site after returning
Test different messages, ad designs, time windows, and audience segments to find the winning combinations.
Also, adjust your remarketing strategy based on seasonality or public health trends — for example, promoting flu jabs in autumn or allergy testing in spring.
Final Thoughts
Remarketing for medical practices that works isn’t about chasing people with ads — it’s about providing helpful reminders and relevant follow-ups that support patient decisions. With the right strategy in place, you can maximise the value of your existing website traffic, build long-term trust, and steadily increase appointment bookings.
When done correctly, remarketing is one of the most cost-effective and patient-friendly marketing tactics available to clinics and healthcare providers.
