Healthcare Marketing Hub

Marketing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) therapy poses challenges that many other behavioral health marketing efforts never have to worry about: almost any claim about the treatment carries regulatory implications. Most guides written for TMS practices chase lead volume and treat compliance as an afterthought, leaving practice owners to discover the rules after an ad gets rejected.

ABA therapy is a census-driven business. Maintaining a consistent pipeline of new patients is critical to growth and a major concern for operators. When lead volume suddenly declines, it’s often assumed that marketing performance has weakened.

While that may be true, healthcare organizations, like many businesses, operate within natural demand cycles. Families don’t search for services at the same rate year-round. Shifts in school schedules, holidays, insurance coverage, and family routines can influence when they start looking for care.

If you run marketing for a Spravato or interventional psychiatry clinic, you’ve probably struggled to find a straight answer on what Google and Meta actually allow when it comes to these ads. Most articles will just tell you “healthcare ads are restricted” and move on. We’re here to break down exactly what Google Ads healthcare policy and Meta’s rules say about Spravato and the certifications you need (plus what happens if you skip them).

If you run marketing for a Spravato or interventional psychiatry clinic, you’ve probably struggled to find a straight answer on what Google and Meta actually allow when it comes to these ads. Most articles will just tell you “healthcare ads are restricted” and move on. We’re here to break down exactly what Google Ads healthcare policy and Meta’s rules say about Spravato and the certifications you need (plus what happens if you skip them).

For more than a decade, applied behavior analysis (ABA) has been one of the most widely covered and reimbursed interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder. As Medicaid coverage expanded across the country, so did the number of families accessing care—and the cost of providing it.

For years, organic search was one of the most dependable channels in healthcare marketing. A patient had a symptom, a question, or a decision to make; they searched Google, they clicked a result, and—if the content and experience were strong enough—they became a lead. That chain has started to break down, and not because healthcare organizations are doing anything wrong.

Healthcare organizations spend enormous time and money generating patient inquiries. Yet for many practices, the moment a prospective patient picks up the phone becomes a blind spot. Marketing can drive demand all day long, but if that first conversation doesn't end in a scheduled appointment, the return on every advertising dollar starts to erode.

Missed appointments remain one of the most persistent operational challenges in behavioral healthcare.

Average no-show rates across healthcare are estimated at around 18%, and in some community-based settings they can be significantly higher. For mental health providers already facing clinician shortages and strong demand for services, every missed appointment represents both lost revenue and lost access to care.

Advertising mental health treatments online has become an essential growth channel for psychiatry and interventional clinics. However, treatments involving prescription medications—such as SPRAVATO® (esketamine)—are subject to strict advertising rules on Google Ads.

Many psychiatric practices turn to Google Ads to attract new patients for services like therapy, medication management, telepsychiatry, or interventional treatments. But some practices quickly run into an unexpected problem: their ads get disapproved or their account is restricted due to healthcare advertising policies.

Every year, the federal government sends a strong signal about the future of behavioral healthcare through the funding priorities of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Behavioral health organizations are under more growth pressure than ever before. Private equity investment continues to accelerate. Multi-site providers are expanding into new markets. Demand for services continues to outpace supply across the nation.

Hiring in ABA has become a perfect storm: rising demand, limited supply, and a workforce that’s burning out faster than it’s being replenished. Practices are pouring more money into job boards and digital ads—only to see few qualified applicants and even fewer long-term hires. The truth? Digital marketing can help you reach people, but not necessarily keep them. In this piece, we’ll unpack what’s really driving ABA’s hiring struggles and how marketing can be used strategically—not just to fill pipelines, but to attract the right clinicians for the long haul.

For years, healthcare marketing has been obsessed with volume—more clicks, more leads, more impressions. But those numbers often tell only part of the story. Many organizations are realizing that high lead counts don’t necessarily translate to filled schedules or real growth.

For decades, physician referrals were the cornerstone of patient acquisition for specialty health practices. But the dynamics have shifted dramatically. Rising healthcare consolidation, tighter network controls, and the explosion of digital patient research are redefining how people find and choose care. This shift towards self-referral is only accelerating with the explosion of AI.

In January 2025, Meta introduced new advertising restrictions for companies in the Health and Wellness category. At first glance, these updates seemed to target mostly consumer-facing wellness brands, like supplement and fitness companies, but they were part of a broader healthcare privacy initiative. What we’ve seen throughout 2026 is that the initiative has expanded to include physician practices and behavioral health clinics running lead-generation campaigns.

Only 1 in 9 inquiries ever convert into patients. If that number sounds shockingly low, it’s because it is. In today’s data-driven world, there’s no reason practices should be losing up to 79% of marketing leads before they even have a chance to book an appointment.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly transformed how people seek and consume information. Naturally, healthcare leaders are asking: How do we ensure patients find us in this new landscape? Some key trends highlight this urgency:

Despite a massive potential market—among Americans aged 12 years and older, 37.309 million were current illegal drug users as of 2020—many addiction treatment centers find themselves struggling to fill beds.
Meanwhile, many addiction treatment facilities are investing in marketing and outreach. So, what's causing this disconnect? And more importantly, how can it be fixed?