What each phase actually delivers
Weeks one to four: the housekeeping. Claimed and corrected listings, a rebuilt profile, a working booking path, an auto-reply that answers instantly, and the first batch of content filmed. Enquiries usually move here, purely because people who were already looking for you can now find and reach you.
Months two and three: distribution. Enough published material exists to see which topics produce enquiries rather than views, and paid amplification goes behind the ones that do. Months six to twelve: compounding. Search and answer-engine visibility arrive, retargeting audiences are large enough to be cheap, and referrals start mentioning content the patient watched.
Selling products or courses alongside the clinic?
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The two numbers that decide it
Track enquiries that named you, and patients who attended. Everything else — reach, impressions, followers, engagement rate — is diagnostic at best and decorative at worst. A report that leads with impressions is a report designed to survive a bad month.
Set the review point before you start, not after. Ninety days is fair for a first judgement, twelve months for the full picture. Cancelling at week six because "nothing is happening" is the single most common way clinics waste the money they already spent.
What makes it faster or slower
Three things speed it up: a specialty with obvious visual proof, a willingness to appear on camera, and a clinic that answers messages quickly. Three things slow it down: a saturated procedure in a crowded area, an employer that restricts what you can publish, and irregular filming — one month on, two months off resets most of the momentum.
Paid amplification shortens the first phase but does not replace the second. Ads buy attention now; the compounding comes from material that keeps being found after the campaign ends.