Medical marketing for a 1–5 provider practice has three cost lines: the marketing fee, the ad spend you pay Google or Meta, and any standalone tools. Our managed marketing plans are $1,499 or $2,999 a month, and ad budgets start at $1,500 a month per campaign, paid directly to the platform with no markup, so our Growth plan plus one campaign comes to $2,999 a month in total. For comparison, a marketing specialist in the Sacramento area earns a median $78,630 a year in wages alone. Whatever you choose, judge it by cost per booked appointment, not by the fee.
Brand Lift 360 publishes its prices on our plans and pricing page, and this guide uses only those numbers plus public data from Google and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is written for owners of med spas, dental offices, plastic surgery and specialty practices with one to five providers in Roseville, Sacramento and beyond.
What Does Medical Marketing Cost Each Month?
There are three cost lines, and it helps to keep them apart on paper, because only one of them goes to the agency.
| Cost line | What it pays for | Who you pay | Our published price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing fee | Strategy, website, SEO, ad management, CRM and reporting | The agency (or your own staff) | Growth $1,499 a month; Authority $2,999 a month |
| Ad spend | Clicks and impressions on Google, Facebook and Instagram | Google or Meta, directly | From $1,500 a month per campaign, no markup |
| Standalone tools and projects | A single service bought without a plan | The agency, per month or per project | AI Voice Starter $499 a month per location; Google Business Profile Optimizer $500 one time; website from $2,500; Fractional CMO $150 an hour |
SEO (search engine optimization) is the work of getting your pages found in Google without paying per click. A CRM (customer relationship management system) is the software that tracks every inquiry from first call to booked visit. Ad spend is what the platform charges for your ads, which is separate from what anyone charges to manage them.
If a quote rolls all three into one number, ask for it split out. You can't tell whether the ads are working if you can't see what the ads cost.
How Marketing Agencies Charge
Agencies price their work in four common ways. None is wrong, but each one rewards something different, so ask which model you're being quoted.
| Pricing model | How it works | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Flat monthly fee (a retainer) | One price each month for an agreed scope of work | What's included, how much new content each month, how much ad spend the fee covers |
| Percentage of ad spend | The fee rises and falls with your ad budget | How the fee changes if you double the budget |
| Hourly | You pay for the time used | Who does the work and what the rate covers |
| Per project | One price for a defined deliverable, such as a website | What happens after launch: hosting, edits and who owns it |
We use three of the four. Our managed marketing plans are flat monthly fees. Fractional CMO, which is part-time marketing leadership, is $150 an hour. Websites (from $2,500) and the Google Business Profile Optimizer ($500 one time) are priced per project. We don't charge a percentage of ad spend, so our fee doesn't change when your ad budget moves within your plan's limit.
What Our Managed Marketing Plans Include
Both plans are built for practices with one to five providers and run on a 12-month agreement. Ad spend is separate and paid directly to Google or Meta.
| What you get | Growth | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | From $1,499 | From $2,999 |
| New SEO pages | 1 a month | 3 a month |
| Paid social | Meta retargeting | Integrated paid social |
| Voice + Text AI | 30-day free trial | Included |
| Ad budget we manage | Up to $3,000 a month | Up to $10,000 a month |
| Website, SEO, AI search visibility, local SEO and Google Business Profile, Google Ads management, reputation management, healthcare CRM with EMR integration, dedicated account manager | Included | Included |
Retargeting means showing ads to people who already visited your website. AI search visibility, also called AEO (answer engine optimization), is the work of getting your practice named when patients ask ChatGPT or Google's AI answers for a recommendation. An EMR is the electronic medical record system your practice already uses.
How Much Should You Budget for Ads?
We start ad budgets at $1,500 a month per campaign, paid directly to Google or Meta with no markup. A campaign is one set of ads with its own budget, usually built around one treatment or service. That figure is our planning recommendation, not a platform minimum. Google's own rule is that a campaign won't charge more than 30.4 times its average daily budget in a month, so $1,500 a month works out to about $49 a day.
What $1,500 buys depends on the search. In Sacramento, the average click on “dentist near me” cost $13.08 over the last 12 months, and on “dental implants sacramento” $56.88 (Google Ads data via DataForSEO, October 2025 to September 2026). We break down click prices by treatment in How Much Does Google Ads Cost for a Medical Practice?, compare platforms for med spas in Med Spa Advertising: Google vs. Meta, and cover the page and follow-up side in Google Ads for Medical Practices: Connect Spend to Booking Outcomes. Ad management itself is included in both plans; see paid advertising for medical practices.
In-House Hire or Agency: What Each Costs
Hiring can cost less if you need one skill full time. Here is what federal wage data shows for the Sacramento area:
| Role (Sacramento–Roseville–Folsom metro) | Median annual wage | Mean annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Market research analysts and marketing specialists | $78,630 | $87,650 |
| Marketing managers | $164,270 | $187,120 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Those are wages only, before payroll taxes, benefits, software and ad spend. Our Growth plan is $17,988 a year ($1,499 × 12) and Authority is $35,988. The trade-off is real either way: a staff marketer is in your office every day, while a plan gives you a website, SEO, ads, CRM and reporting from a team. One specialist rarely covers all of that well.
What You Should Get for the Money, and When
Price only means something next to what it produces. Here is the timeline for our managed marketing plans, so you can hold any agency to dates:
| When | What happens | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Around week 2 of month 1 | Ads go live | Calls and forms are being tracked |
| Weeks 4 to 6 | Full website launches | Every priority service has its own page |
| Day 90 | Checkpoint review | Cost per lead and cost per booked appointment by campaign |
| Months 3 to 6 | All channels running on a steady cadence | Budget moving toward what books |
Cost per lead is your ad spend divided by the calls and forms it produced. A lead isn't a patient, so we track cost per booked appointment for every client. That is the number to compare against the fee.
Example Monthly Budgets for a 1–5 Provider Practice
| Setup | Marketing fee | Ad spend | Monthly total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Growth, one Google campaign | $1,499 | $1,500 | $2,999 |
| Growth, one Google and one Meta campaign | $1,499 | $3,000 | $4,499 |
| Authority, two campaigns | $2,999 | $3,000 | $5,999 |
| Authority, four campaigns | $2,999 | $6,000 | $8,999 |
| AI Voice Starter only, one location | $499 | None | $499 |
Growth manages up to $3,000 a month in ad spend and Authority up to $10,000, so the right setup depends on how many treatments you want to advertise at once. One-time projects, such as the $500 Google Business Profile Optimizer or a website from $2,500, sit outside these monthly totals.
Questions to Ask Before You Sign
- Who owns the ad accounts, website, domain and data? With us, your ad accounts, Google Business Profile, domain and data, including a CRM export, are yours. A website built under a plan becomes yours once the 12-month term is paid in full.
- Is ad spend marked up? Ours is paid directly to Google or Meta, with no markup.
- How long is the agreement, and how do I leave? Our plans run 12 months, and you can leave early with 30 days' notice.
- What will you report? Ask for cost per booked appointment, not only clicks and leads.
- Will you work with my competitors? We take one practice per specialty within an agreed area.
If you already have an agency and the answers worry you, read 7 Signs Your Medical Practice Needs a Different Marketing Agency.
Medical Marketing Cost at a Glance
| Item | Cost with us | Paid to |
|---|---|---|
| Growth managed marketing plan | $1,499 a month | Brand Lift 360 |
| Authority managed marketing plan | $2,999 a month | Brand Lift 360 |
| Ad spend | From $1,500 a month per campaign, no markup | Google or Meta |
| AI Voice Starter | $499 a month per location | Brand Lift 360 |
| Google Business Profile Optimizer | $500 one time | Brand Lift 360 |
| Website, standalone | From $2,500 | Brand Lift 360 |
| Fractional CMO | $150 an hour | Brand Lift 360 |
| In-house marketing specialist, Sacramento area | $78,630 median annual wage | Your payroll |
Common Questions About Medical Marketing Cost
How much does a medical marketing agency cost per month?
It depends on the scope, so ask for the fee and the ad spend as separate numbers. Our managed marketing plans for practices with one to five providers are $1,499 a month (Growth) or $2,999 a month (Authority). Ad spend is extra: it starts at $1,500 a month per campaign and is paid directly to Google or Meta with no markup.
Is ad spend included in the monthly marketing fee?
Not with us. You pay Google or Meta directly from your own ad accounts, and we add no markup. Our Growth plan manages up to $3,000 a month in ad spend and Authority up to $10,000 a month.
Is a 12-month marketing contract normal?
Our managed marketing plans run on a 12-month agreement, with results reviewed every month, and you can leave early with 30 days' notice. Standalone services, such as AI Voice Starter, a website or the Google Business Profile Optimizer, don't require the 12-month agreement.
How do I know if marketing is worth what I pay?
Compare the total monthly cost, fee plus ad spend, with the booked appointments it produced. Cost per lead, which is ad spend divided by calls and forms, is useful, but a lead isn't a patient, so we track cost per booked appointment for every client.
What to Do This Week
Pull last month's marketing invoices and ad platform receipts and sort them into three columns: fee, ad spend and tools. Then count the booked appointments that came from marketing in the same month and divide the total by that number. If your current setup can't give you that count, fix that first, before you change budgets or agencies.
Sources
- Brand Lift 360 (our own data), Plans and Pricing, accessed October 27, 2026. Source for plan prices, plan contents, ad budgets managed, standalone prices, the 12-month agreement, 30-day notice and ownership terms.
- Brand Lift 360 (our own data), managed marketing timeline and reporting. Method: the week 2, weeks 4 to 6, day 90 and months 3 to 6 milestones are our standard plan schedule, and cost per booked appointment is tracked for every client and reviewed at the 90-day checkpoint.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Sacramento–Roseville–Folsom, CA metropolitan area: market research analysts and marketing specialists, annual median wage and marketing managers, annual median wage (mean wages from series OEUM004090000000013116104 and OEUM004090000000011202104), retrieved October 27, 2026.
- Google Ads Help, “About average daily budgets”, accessed October 27, 2026. Source for the 30.4 monthly limit.
- Google Ads Keyword Planner data, retrieved through DataForSEO on October 27, 2026: average cost per click for “dentist near me” and “dental implants sacramento,” Sacramento, California city location, English, 12 months to September 2026.