Google ads vs Facebook and Instagram ads for a med spa
By the Margin Media team · Updated
For a med spa, Google ads reach people who are already searching for a treatment, while Facebook and Instagram ads reach people who were not looking yet. Google leads tend to be fewer and closer to booking. Social leads come in greater numbers and need faster, longer follow-up. A spa with little time for follow-up should start with Google.
How do the two differ for a med spa?
They differ in who sees the ad and how ready that person is. One answers a search that has already been typed. The other interrupts someone who was doing something else, which changes everything that has to happen next.
| Google ads | Facebook and Instagram ads | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sees the ad | Someone who typed a treatment or a med spa into search | Someone scrolling, chosen by location and interests |
| What they do next | Call, or visit the booking page | Tap a form and send their details |
| How ready they are | Already looking | Curious, often not yet looking |
| What the ad needs | Clear words that match the search | Photos or video that stop the scroll |
| Follow-up it needs | A phone that is answered | A reply within minutes, then several more tries |
| Where it goes wrong | Calls ring out at lunch and after five | Forms pile up and nobody calls them |
When is each the better choice?
Google is the better first step when your treatments are ones people already search for by name and your phone is answered. Social is the better choice when you are introducing something new, when your work photographs well, or when you want to stay in front of past clients.
Neither is the right choice if nobody will answer what it produces. Fix the phone and the follow-up first, or the ad money pays for leads that end up at another spa.
What rules apply to med spa ads?
Both platforms have their own policies for health and cosmetic advertising, and your state and your medical director may have more. Check every ad's wording and images against those before it runs. That check belongs to the spa and its medical director, whoever builds the ad.
How does Margin run ads for a med spa?
Margin builds and runs ads on Facebook and Instagram, in an ad account your spa owns. The ad budget is your money, paid straight to the platform. Each campaign gets its own booking page, so you can see which one produced a consult.
Every lead is called or texted within a minute and followed up until they book or say no. Texting waits on carrier approval of your spa's number. What an ad says about a treatment is approved by you before it runs.
What Margin sets up for this.
- Ads on Facebook and Instagram, in an account you own
- Follow-up until they book or say no
- Booking onto your calendar
What a business needs is decided on its audit. It is a one-time setup fee and a monthly fee, with exact numbers on the audit.
How Margin works for med spasSee the portal with a sample businessThe Med Spa Accelerator
Related questions
Which ads should a new med spa start with?
Start with Google if people already search for the treatments you offer, because those leads need less chasing. A new med spa with a small front desk gets more from a few ready callers than from a long list of forms.
Why do Instagram leads for a med spa not answer the phone?
They filled in a form in seconds and moved on. A med spa that calls the next day from an unknown number is easy to ignore. A text within minutes that names the spa and what they asked about is easier to answer.
Who should own a med spa's ad account?
The med spa. If an agency owns the account, the history and the audiences leave with them when you part ways.