Case study · Speech pathology · Deer Park and Brunswick, VIC
Marketing at A Speechie Speech Pathology ran in house, squeezed around actually running the clinic. The reputation was strong and referrals kept coming, but when Adil and the team decided to build a Telehealth branch supporting families nationally, referral marketing was never going to launch it. We rebuilt Google Ads, built landing pages and wired in conversion tracking, and helped turn the Telehealth idea into a practical client acquisition strategy. By Adil's count, new patient enquiries went from 1 to 3 a week to 5 to 7, and the Telehealth branch got built. The books sit at a steady flow. What surprised Adil most was how much the guesswork and the mental load simply left.
ads.google.com / overview
1 to 2 years in
5 to 7
New patient enquiries in a week
Speech pathology · Deer Park and Brunswick, VIC
1 to 3
Enquiries a week, before
Real client. Real numbers.
5 to 7
New patient enquiries in a week
Up from 1 to 3 before we started, Adil's count
1 to 3
Enquiries a week, before
When marketing ran in house, around the clinic
Built
The Telehealth branch
Supporting families nationally, Adil's account
Steady
Where the books sit today
Adil's word: steady flow
The week, before and after
Before, a typical week
1 to 3new patient enquiries
Solid blocks show the quiet end of the range, outlined blocks the busy end.
Now, a typical week
5 to 7new patient enquiries
Solid blocks show the quiet end of the range, outlined blocks the busy end.
The two ranges never touch. A quiet week now, at 5, still clears the busiest week before, at 3.
Adil's own count of new patient enquiries in a typical week, not a tracked conversion figure.
The starting position
Marketing at A Speechie Speech Pathology was managed in house while Adil and the team were also trying to run and grow the clinic. The clinic had built a strong reputation, and referrals and word of mouth enquiries kept arriving. What it did not have, in Adil's own description, was a structured marketing strategy that could scale.
The pieces that existed were paid for in time and sleep, for sure, Adil's words. Instagram was doing quite well, on the back of massive amounts of time spent creating meaningful content for the audience. The Google Ads ran on Adil's own hours, optimising campaigns in what Adil calls the ever shifting realm of Google and its changing algorithms.
The challenge was never just getting clients. It was attracting the right clients for the areas the business wanted to grow, particularly the Telehealth service and, later, the different clinic locations. The founders knew where they wanted to take the business, and did not have the time or the expertise to build effective campaigns, target each service properly and turn marketing into a consistent, reliable source of enquiries.
The decision came with the Telehealth expansion. There was a clear opportunity to support families nationally, and the referral based marketing that had grown the clinic was not going to launch and scale a new service. Getting help, in Adil's words, was about building a more scalable business, with someone who understood allied health and could turn the goals into a practical marketing strategy.
What we did
Supporting families nationally was a direction, not yet a plan. The work translated it into a practical client acquisition strategy, and Adil credits that work as a major part of successfully building that branch of A Speechie. A national service cannot run on suburb level referrals. It needed a channel that reaches the whole country.
The campaigns had been managed in house, around everything else the clinic demanded. We rebuilt them so each service had proper targeting, aimed at the right clients for the areas the business actually wanted to grow. Adil's nights inside Google's changing algorithms stopped being the plan.
Paid traffic needs somewhere purposeful to land, whether the person searching wants a clinic visit in Deer Park or Brunswick, or a Telehealth appointment from the other side of the country. The campaigns got pages matched to what the person searching actually wants.
This is the change Adil singles out. The tracking showed what was working in real time, which allowed changes as required and more informed decisions. Marketing became deliberate and measurable, in Adil's words.
Pete takes ownership of the technical work while keeping Adil involved in the decisions that matter, explaining recommendations clearly and working collaboratively. Adil's summary: informed decisions, without needing to become a marketing expert. The courses and workshops Pete runs have become a source of professional development for the team as well, Adil's account.
Why referrals could not launch this
Referrals and word of mouth
Local
Reach the area around each clinic, Deer Park and Brunswick
What the Telehealth branch needed
National
Families across Australia, wherever they are
Google search, with landing pages and tracking
National
Reaches a family the moment they go looking for help
That gap is the reason the marketing had to change. The rebuild gave the national service a channel with national reach, and the tracking proved which enquiries it earned.
The bars draw reach, not measured volume. The story they tell is Adil's, from the brief: referrals grew the clinics, and the Telehealth branch was built to support families nationally.
The numbers
Every figure in this table is Adil's own count and Adil's own words, not our ad account reporting. A typical week used to bring 1 to 3 new patient enquiries and now brings 5 to 7, and the books sit at a steady flow. Ad spend stays out of the table because Adil preferred to keep it private, and a number the owner did not give is a number we do not print.
Metric
Before
After
Change
New patient enquiries in a week
Before
1 to 3
After
5 to 7
The Telehealth branch
Before
An idea, supporting families nationally
After
Successfully built
Knowing what was working
Before
Guesswork
After
Tracked in real time
Time and sleep spent on marketing
Before
Massive amounts
After
Freed up to lead the business
Where the books sit
Before
Referrals and word of mouth
After
Steady flow
What moved off the founders
Running the Google Ads
Before, on the founders
Adil's own hours, inside Google's changing algorithms
Now, managed and measured
Actively managed, with recommendations explained clearly
Knowing what was working
Before, on the founders
Guesswork
Now, managed and measured
Tracked in real time, so changes get made as required
Marketing decisions
Before, on the founders
Carried as mental load, on top of running the clinic
Now, managed and measured
Informed decisions, without becoming a marketing expert
The founders' time and energy
Before, on the founders
Massive amounts, paid in time and sleep
Now, managed and measured
Leading the business, and stepping away for family
Every line on this ledger is Adil's own description of the change, not our reporting. The enquiries kept coming while the load moved.
Pete has been a big part of our growth over the years, both through his marketing work and his mentorship. The care is genuine, he's always responsive when we need advice, and has helped us navigate some difficult decisions. Without a doubt, I'd recommend Pete and Clinic Mastery to any clinic owner looking for someone who understands healthcare and is genuinely invested in their success.
What's next
Growth at A Speechie has never been about getting bigger for its own sake. Adil's version of the goal: a stronger and more sustainable clinic, a positive workplace for the team, and services accessible to more families. The plan from here reads that way, with the campaigns feeding the clinics and the Telehealth branch, and the tracking keeping every decision informed. The founders keep their time where they want it, on the team, the operations, the longer term calls, and on family, with the assurance that the marketing keeps operating smoothly.
Ready when you are
We'll show you what your clinic's version of this looks like.
Tell us about your clinic. We'll come back with a one-page plan: which patients to target, which to skip, and what 90 days should realistically deliver.
More testimonials
Clinic Mastery really is turning into a one-stop shop for anything that you would need as a clinic owner, not just their internal recommendations for accountants or from different payment options like health or income solution options and wills and estates, but now they cover marketing and Google advertising and website building to such a professional degree that you would think that they've been doing this for years. The communication and the clarity that I've received from Clinic Mastery and primarily Peter has been second to none. It's really been a decision that I am so thankful that I made and I wish I made earlier, because it's, I think of the money that I've spent previously on negative keywords that I could have saved and actually have attracted new clients to the clinic, would have been fantastic. Pete is incredibly patient and will explain anything that you don't understand in detail. From a total novice like myself, who now feels very comfortable reading our monthly summaries, knowing where my money is going and knowing the areas of growth that we should focus on, I would highly recommend.
Outsource your marketing to someone who is better at it than you. You are good at running a clinic, but you're unlikely to also be a marketing whiz, so hand it over to someone who is.
Peter's wealth of knowledge, especially in Google Ads, has been instrumental in creating ad campaigns that align with our expansion objectives. Thanks to his support, we have been able to effectively reach and serve our target audience.
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Looking for our general approach? See how we run Google Ads for speech pathology clinics.