Google Ads works well for med spas because people search for treatments when they're ready to book: "lip filler Toronto", "laser hair removal near me", "med spa Yorkville". The setup that works best for most clinics is a Search campaign per treatment group, a small brand campaign, tight location targeting and conversion tracking on booked consultations. The main limit is policy: Botox and other neuromodulators are prescription drugs, so campaigns are built around treatments and consultations, not product names.
This guide shows how we structure Google Ads in our med spa accounts, which keywords to target and exclude, how the healthcare policy affects you, and what budget to expect. It's part of our med spa marketing guides for Canadian clinics.
Why Google Ads works for med spas
Most marketing for med spas creates interest: Instagram posts, reels, referral offers. Google Ads captures demand that already exists. Someone searching "anti-wrinkle injections near me" has already decided they want a treatment. They're choosing where to get it.
That makes Google Ads a good fit for:
- High-value treatments where one booked client covers many clicks: injectables, laser packages, skin treatments sold in series.
- New clinics that don't yet rank in Google Maps or organic results.
- Filling specific gaps, such as weekday appointments or a new injector's calendar, because you control which treatments and hours you advertise.
It works less well for treatments nobody searches for by name yet. Those need awareness first, which is where Facebook and Instagram ads come in.
How to structure a med spa Google Ads account
Treatment campaigns
Group treatments by how people search and how much each booking is worth, with one campaign per group and one ad group per treatment. For example:
| Campaign | Ad groups | Why separate |
|---|---|---|
| Injectables | Anti-wrinkle, lip filler, cheek filler, under-eye | Highest value per client, and the strictest policy limits |
| Laser | Laser hair removal, skin resurfacing, pigmentation | Sold in packages; different budget and season |
| Skin treatments | Facials, chemical peels, microneedling, acne scar treatment | Lower price point; often the first visit |
Separate campaigns let you set a budget per treatment group, so your cheapest treatment can't use up the money meant for your most profitable one.
Brand campaign
A small campaign on your clinic's name protects searches from people who already know you, often at a very low cost per click, so competitors can't appear above you for your own name. We run one for every clinic, and report brand clicks separately from new-client searches.
Location targeting
Most med spa clients come from close by. Target a radius or a list of neighbourhoods around the clinic, not the whole city, and set the location option to people in or regularly in your targeted area. Google's default also includes people who are merely interested in the area, which can show your ads to people far away. We usually start with a radius of about 10–25 km around the clinic, then adjust it to where clients actually come from.
Call and booking assets
Add a call asset (your phone number in the ad), a location asset linked to your Google Business Profile, and sitelinks to your top treatment pages and your online booking page. These make the ad bigger and give people a direct way to book.
Keywords that convert (and ones to exclude)
Use phrase and exact match for your main keywords so ads show for searches close to what you offer. Build three types of keyword themes:
| Theme | Example keywords | Intent |
|---|---|---|
| Treatment | lip filler, laser hair removal, chemical peel, microneedling, anti-wrinkle injections | Knows the treatment they want |
| Problem | forehead lines treatment, acne scar treatment, pigmentation removal, unwanted hair removal | Knows the problem, open to options |
| Location | med spa near me, med spa [neighbourhood], lip filler [city] | Ready to choose a clinic nearby |
Add these as negative keywords before launch, so you don't pay for clicks that will never book:
| Exclude | Why |
|---|---|
| course, training, certification, school | People who want to learn to inject, not get treated |
| jobs, salary, hiring | Job seekers |
| at home, DIY, kit, buy online | Not looking for a clinic |
| gone wrong, lawsuit | Rarely booking intent |
After launch, check the search terms report weekly for the first month. It shows the actual searches that triggered your ads, and it's where most wasted spend gets found.
Google's healthcare and prescription-drug policies
Two sets of rules apply: Google's, and Canada's. Botox and the other botulinum toxins are prescription drugs in Canada, so:
- Keywords: bidding on prescription drug names like "botox" requires a Google certification (Google Ads Help) that's designed for pharmacies, telehealth providers and manufacturers, not clinics. Target treatment and problem searches instead.
- Ad text and landing pages: Google allows prescription drug names for campaigns in Canada, but only in line with local law. Canadian law (Food and Drug Regulations, s. C.01.044) limits any ad that promotes a prescription drug to its name, price and quantity, and some colleges go further: Ontario physicians can't refer to a specific drug in their advertising at all.
- What works: advertise the treatment, the injector and the consultation: "anti-wrinkle treatments", "book a consultation with a registered nurse injector".
- Check your landing page too. Google reviews the page your ad links to, and Health Canada counts your website as advertising.
For the full picture, including Health Canada, your provincial college and Meta's rules, see how we keep med spa ads compliant. This is general information, not legal or regulatory advice; check your college's advertising standard before you advertise.
Landing pages that book consultations
Send each ad group to a page about that treatment, not your home page. A page that books consultations has:
- The treatment name and your city in the headline.
- What the treatment is for, how long it takes and what recovery looks like, in plain language.
- Who performs it (injector credentials build trust).
- A price or a "from" price if you're comfortable sharing it.
- A Book a consultation button above the fold and again after each section, linked to online booking.
- Reviews from real clients, within your regulatory college's rules.
Budget and what results to expect
We recommend at least $500–$1,000 a month in ad spend for any Google Ads account. What you pay per click and per booked consultation depends on your city, the treatments you advertise and how many clinics compete for the same searches. To estimate a budget from the number of consultations you want, try our Google Ads budget calculator.
Management is separate from ad spend. Our Google Ads management plans are $750, $1,250 or $2,000 a month; see what management costs and what's included.
Track bookings, not just clicks
Clicks and form fills don't pay the bills; booked treatments do. Set up conversion tracking so Google knows which clicks turned into:
- Calls from the ad and from your website (at least 30–60 seconds long, so wrong numbers don't count).
- Online bookings completed in your booking system.
- Consultation forms submitted.
Once Google has enough conversion data, smart bidding can find more people like the ones who booked. Without it, the system optimizes for clicks. We count a booking when the booking confirmation page loads or the booking tool sends a completed-booking event, and track calls from ads as a separate conversion.
Results from our med spa clients
- Luna Aesthetics, Toronto: Google and Meta ads with a new booking website, on a starting ad spend of $35/day across Google and Meta combined. Result: 4.8× ROI and 18–22 new bookings a week within 90 days. Read the Luna Aesthetics case study.
- Radiance Medspa, Vancouver: Google Ads with SEO and a new website. Result: 5.1× ROI in three months. See how Radiance built steady bookings.
How we calculate ROI: it's return on ad spend, revenue from new bookings attributed to our campaigns, divided by ad spend over the same period (Google and Meta combined).
FAQ
Can I bid on "Botox" keywords in Canada?
Not as keywords: targeting prescription drug names requires a Google certification that isn't designed for clinics. Naming Botox in ad text is limited by Canadian law to name, price and quantity, and some colleges don't allow naming a drug at all. The practical approach is to target treatment and problem searches ("anti-wrinkle injections", "forehead lines treatment") and keep product names out of your ads.
What's a good cost per consultation?
It depends on the treatment and what a client is worth to you. A useful test: if a new injectables client is worth several hundred dollars over a year, a cost per booked consultation well below that is profitable.
Search or Performance Max for med spas?
Start with Search. It shows exactly which searches you pay for, which matters when some terms are restricted. Performance Max runs across Search, YouTube, Display and Maps with less control over where ads appear and what they say. We only test Performance Max once conversion tracking is reliable and the account has enough conversion data, with brand exclusions and negative keywords applied.
How long until Google Ads brings bookings?
Enquiries usually start within the first weeks after launch. The first month is a learning period; our med spa case studies measured results at 90 days.
Next step
Want an expert to look at your clinic's Google Ads? Book a med spa strategy call. Tell us about your clinic, your treatments and your budget, and we'll talk through where your ad spend is going and what we'd change.
