Blog · Ads · 5 min read
How to run Facebook ads for your clinic, step by step
Seven steps for a clinic’s first Facebook campaign: one treatment, the right objective, the areas around you, Meta’s health ad rules and a test judged by bookings.
By the Kren Agency team ·
How to run Facebook ads for your clinic comes down to seven steps: pick one treatment, ask Meta for enquiries, reach the areas around the clinic, write an ad that follows Meta’s health rules, send the click somewhere your team answers, test on a small budget, and judge the result by bookings. Here is each step, in the order you do them.
Why do first Facebook ads for clinics so often waste money?
Most first campaigns try to do everything at once. One ad for the whole clinic, shown to the whole city, sending people to a home page that asks them to call.
The ad gets seen. Nobody books.
A first campaign should answer one question: can this treatment bring booked patients from Facebook at a cost the clinic is happy with?
How to run Facebook ads for a clinic in seven steps
You build this in Meta Ads Manager. If you haven’t used it yet, read our walkthrough of Meta Ads Manager for clinics first. It explains the campaign, ad set and ad levels.
Step 1: Pick one treatment
Choose a treatment that patients already ask about and that your team can book this week. Teeth whitening, a fertility consultation, a skin assessment, a full blood panel.
One treatment means one message, one audience and one clear number at the end.
Step 2: Ask Meta for enquiries
Meta’s objective tells its ad auction what you want. Meta says it then looks for people “more likely to take the action” you chose.
- Leads suits most clinic first campaigns. You ask for people who send an enquiry.
- If you want people to start a chat, Meta’s click-to-message ads can run with a Leads or Conversations goal.
Skip the Boost button for this test. It hides the settings you need to control.
Step 3: Reach the areas around your clinic
Set the location to the areas your patients actually travel from, not the whole of Lagos or Abuja. A clinic in Ikeja and a clinic in Gwarinpa draw from very different streets.
Keep the audience broad otherwise. Meta suggests starting with location, age and gender. For cosmetic procedures and reproductive health services, Meta requires ads to target people 18 or older.
Step 4: Write an ad that follows Meta’s health rules
Meta’s rules on personal attributes bar ads that assert or imply the reader has a health condition. Its health and wellness policy also bars “statements of inferiority about physical appearance.”
- Rejected: “Tired of your stained teeth?”
- Fine: “Teeth whitening at our Ikeja clinic. Send us a message to book.”
Name the treatment, the area and the next step. Add no promised results and no patient details. Your profession’s advertising rules apply on top of Meta’s.
Step 5: Send the click somewhere your team answers
You have two good destinations:
- A treatment page on your website with one booking action. See what a clinic website needs to bring bookings.
- A chat in Messenger, Instagram or WhatsApp. Meta’s advice for click-to-message ads: “Be clear that clicking on your ad will open a conversation.”
For chat, set a greeting that states your reply hours. Our post on setting up WhatsApp Business for clinics covers greetings and quick replies.
Step 6: Set a small test budget
Meta gives two budget types:
- Daily budget: the average you’re willing to spend per day. Some days go over, and it evens out across the week.
- Lifetime budget: a total for the whole run of the campaign.
Pick an amount you are content to treat as the cost of learning. You can pause at any time. Meta’s guidance for click-to-message ads is to run them “for at least 7 days” before judging.
Step 7: Check the campaign after 3 to 7 days
In the first three days, check that the ad is live, enquiries are arriving and every one gets a fast reply.
At day seven, work out two numbers:
- Cost per enquiry: spend divided by enquiries. Ads Manager shows this.
- Cost per booking: spend divided by patients who booked. Your front desk has to count these.
What should you change after the first week?
Change one thing at a time, so you know what made the difference.
- Enquiries came, few booked: the leak is after the ad. Look at reply speed and follow-up. Our post on how to stop losing patients in your DMs shows where they slip away.
- Few enquiries: test a new image or a clearer first line, keeping the treatment and area the same.
- Bookings at a cost you like: keep it running and raise the budget in small steps.
How Kren runs Facebook ads for clinics
Kren is a done-for-you team for private clinics in Lagos and Abuja. We pick the treatment with you, build the campaign, write ads within Meta’s health rules and count cost per booking every week. That is our lead generation work. Our follow-up automations give every enquiry a fast first reply, and your own team does the final follow-up and booking.
On a 30-minute strategy call, we look at your ads and enquiries with you. Show me where my clinic is losing patients →
Questions clinic owners ask about Facebook ads
Should we boost a post or use Ads Manager?
Use Ads Manager for anything meant to bring bookings. It lets you choose the objective, the location and the budget yourself, and shows cost per enquiry.
How long should a first Facebook ad run?
Meta suggests at least seven days for click-to-message ads. Check daily at first, then judge cost per booking at the end of the week.
Can our Facebook ad open a WhatsApp chat?
Yes. Meta’s click-to-message ads can send people into a conversation on Messenger, Instagram or WhatsApp. Make sure someone on your team answers within your stated hours.
Can we show before-and-after photos?
Meta’s health and wellness policy allows before-and-after images for general cosmetic procedures when the ad targets people 18 or older. Check your professional body’s rules as well, and never use a patient’s photo without written consent.