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Ad spend budget calculator
For behavioral health operators: minimum Google Ads spend to be impactful, expected leads and verified (VOB) volume, and where extra budget stops paying off — modeled for your treatment type and market tier.
What does it cost to fill beds with Google Ads?
Minimum spend to be impactful, leads and verified (VOB) volume to expect, and where added budget stops paying off — modeled for your treatment type and market.
Least you can spend and still run a real, optimizable campaign.
Enough verified volume to optimize well and prove the channel.
Pushes toward the efficient impression-share ceiling for this market.
At a Tier 1 CPC of ~$113, a medical detox campaign needs roughly $37,700/mo to be genuinely impactful in this market — not just "running."
That delivers ~333 clicks, ~30 leads and ~14 verified (VOB) opportunities per month — about $1,255 per lead and $2,800 per verified lead.
Heads-up: this market is small relative to the budget needed to optimize. You'd push past the ~35% impression-share ceiling where CPCs inflate without adding viable volume. Expanding geography or adding modalities beats overspending here.
Bidding: Target CPA — viable at this conversion volume. Start on Maximize Conversions, graduate to Target CPA once you clear ~30 leads/mo, and expect a 1–2 week learning phase — targets and budget stay untouched during it.
The binding constraint at the floor is conversion signal (15 leads/mo to feed Smart Bidding). And before any of this serves: addiction-treatment ads require LegitScript certification — that lead time gets built into launch.
Cost per admit is the number that actually matters to your census — and it depends on your VOB-to-admit close rate and payer mix, which are specific to your facility. That's what we model with you directly on a strategy call.
| Keyword | Est. CPC | Est. vol/mo | Est. cost/lead |
|---|---|---|---|
| detox near me | $113 | 400 | $1,255 |
| alcohol detox center | $107 | 380 | $1,195 |
| drug detox [city] | $102 | 360 | $1,130 |
| medical detox | $96 | 340 | $1,065 |
| alcohol detox near me | $119 | 420 | $1,320 |
| detox facility [city] | $90 | 320 | $1,005 |
Representative terms with modeled estimates. For your exact market we pull live volume and CPC by keyword.
See the number that actually moves your census.
This model stops at verified leads. Cost per admit — the metric that ties spend to filled beds — depends on your close rate and payer mix. Bring your historicals and we'll project it with you, then build the campaign to hit it.
Estimates are built on 2025–2026 behavioral health paid-search benchmarks (WordStream / LocaliQ healthcare data, ForwardCare, Webserv treatment-center data) and Google Ads Smart Bidding guidance, refined against Sweet Media's campaign experience across behavioral health accounts. Planning figures only — actual results depend on creative, landing-page quality, payer mix, speed-to-lead, and LegitScript status. Not a guarantee of performance.