Case Study — Reproductive Medicine
Promoting a Reproductive Medicine Clinic
Advertising that was running blind — with no call tracking and no accurate conversions. Over 12 months we built a measurable system that brought the clinic 640 qualified inquiries and around 100 new patients.
Qualified inquiries
Over 12 months
Confirmed consultations
Inquiry conversion ~45%
New patients
CAC around €840
The Client
A Private Reproductive Medicine Clinic
A clinic specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of female and male infertility. Core services include IVF, ICSI and IMSI programs, fertility specialist consultations, infertility diagnostics, donor programs, fertility preservation, cryopreservation of eggs, sperm and embryos, andrology and urology, genetic and prenatal diagnostics, and pregnancy planning and management.
Starting Situation
Advertising Was Running Blind
Previous contractors had failed to keep Google Ads running stably: ads were regularly restricted or disapproved.
But the deeper problem was that conversion tracking hadn't been set up in the ad account at all. Call tracking wasn't working, and there were no properly configured conversion actions in the account. Ads were being shown, but the system only saw clicks and impressions — there was no way to know what share of that traffic actually turned into calls, form submissions, or patient bookings.
It was impossible to assess the real performance of the campaigns: money was being spent, but there was no data to inform decisions. That's exactly why the client came to us.
Why This Niche Is Difficult
One of the Most Sensitive Categories of Medical Advertising
Google restricts personalized advertising related to health conditions, the reproductive system, and intimate medical topics. This affects the use of audiences, remarketing, and conversion data sharing.
That's why the core task wasn't simply to restore ad delivery, but to build a stable, accurately measured patient acquisition system.
The Approach
From Random Clicks to a Measurable System
12 months of continuous promotion and optimization, starting with a full audit of the ad account and ending with rebuilding the entire analytics system around real patient inquiries rather than link clicks.
What We Did
Audit and Analytics
- Audited Google Ads, GA4, and the configured conversions.
- Identified the causes of ad disapprovals and restrictions.
- Reclassified page visits and phone-number clicks as secondary events.
- Made accepted calls, forms, and messages the primary conversions.
Call Tracking and Data
- Connected call tracking and tracking of actually completed calls.
- Set up analytics for consultations and treatment starts without sending sensitive medical data to ad platforms.
Campaign Structure and Website
- Rewrote ad copy in line with medical advertising rules.
- Split campaigns by medical specialty and user intent.
- Created dedicated landing pages for the core programs.
Channels and Optimization
- Set up Google search advertising and a local Google Maps presence.
- Launched YouTube and Meta Ads to raise awareness of the clinic and its doctors.
- Regularly optimized queries, ads, geography, and budget allocation.
Promotion Areas
A Separate Strategy for Each Program
The core ad budget was allocated across: IVF programs, fertility specialist consultations, infertility diagnostics, male infertility treatment, donor programs, female fertility preservation, egg and embryo cryopreservation, genetic diagnostics, and pregnancy planning. Each service group used dedicated keywords, ads, and landing pages.
Ad Investment
Budget Over 12 Months
| Channel | Average monthly budget | Budget over 12 months |
|---|---|---|
| Google Search and Google Maps | €5 500 | €66 000 |
| Facebook and Instagram Ads | €1 000 | €12 000 |
| YouTube | €500 | €6 000 |
| Total ad budget | €7 000 | €84 000 |
The majority of the budget went to Google Search — the channel where patients were already actively searching for a fertility specialist, an IVF program, or an infertility clinic. Meta and YouTube were used primarily to raise awareness, introduce doctors, and build trust.
Google Results Over 12 Months
Primary Acquisition Channel
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Ad budget | €66 000 |
| Qualified inquiries | around 520 |
| Average CPL | around €127 |
Google became the primary channel for acquiring patients with already-formed demand.
Meta and YouTube Results
Awareness and Trust
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Ad budget | €18 000 |
| Direct and attributed inquiries | around 120 |
| Average cost per inquiry | around €150 |
These channels supported clinic awareness and helped patients get to know the doctors before reaching out. In this niche, their contribution can't be judged solely by last-click attribution: the decision is often made after several touchpoints with the brand.
Overall Results Over 12 Months
From Inquiry to Treatment Start
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Total ad budget | €84 000 |
| Accepted phone inquiries | around 390 |
| Forms and messages | around 250 |
| Qualified inquiries | around 640 |
| Average cost per inquiry — CPL | around €131 |
| Confirmed consultations | around 290 |
| Inquiry-to-consultation conversion | around 45% |
| Cost per confirmed consultation | around €290 |
| New patients who started diagnostics or treatment | around 100 |
| Inquiry-to-new-patient conversion | around 16% |
| Cost per acquired patient — CAC | around €840 |
| Patients who started a reproductive treatment program | around 55 |
| Cost per program start | from €2,500 |
Acquisition cost is calculated based solely on ad budget, excluding agency fees and the clinic's internal costs.
Summary
A Fully Rebuilt Results Measurement System
Over 12 months, we restored stable ad delivery for the reproductive medicine clinic and completely rebuilt the results measurement system. Instead of page visits and phone-number clicks, Google Ads began receiving data on real calls, forms, and messages from prospective patients.
- Received around 640 qualified inquiries
- Held around 290 consultations
- Acquired around 100 new patients
- Achieved an average CPL of around €131
- Held CAC at around €840
- The clinic gained a transparent analytics system from the ad through to treatment start
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This case study is based on a real project. To preserve confidentiality, geography, budgets, and certain quantitative figures have been adapted and rounded. The data presented preserves the structure and economics of the project.