Clinic Mastery Marketing

Meta Ads · Occupational Therapy

Meta Ads forOccupational Therapists

Facebook and Instagram ads for occupational therapists, built around the segments your clinic actually serves. Different creative for parents, support coordinators, and adult clients. Lead forms that route properly.

Occupational therapists waste more Meta budget than almost any other specialty. The reason is simple. The clinic runs one campaign. The campaign serves one ad. The ad goes to everyone in the catchment. But OT has at least three completely different buyers: parents looking for paediatric support, support coordinators looking for adult NDIS, and self funded adults looking for private OT. Each one is a different person, a different tone, a different decision. One ad can't speak to all three. The clinics that segment their Meta campaigns book more inquiries at a lower cost. The ones that don't, struggle.

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Your OT Clinic

Sponsored · Sydney

Helping kids and adults
show up as themselves.

Paediatric OT. NDIS-friendly.

Ad

1,243 likes

Paediatric, adult, NDIS. Sensory, fine motor, school readiness.

yourotclinic.com.au

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Stop the scroll. Earn the booking.

What works on Meta for OT

OT isn't one audience on Meta. It's three or four. Build for the right ones.

Each segment of OT has a different decision-maker, a different tone, and a different buying pattern. Parents of kids on NDIS are not the same audience as adult workplace injury clients. The campaign needs to recognise the difference and run different creative for each.

Paediatric campaigns aimed at parents (school readiness, sensory, autism)
Adult NDIS campaigns aimed at participants and support coordinators
Workplace and ergonomic content aimed at HR managers
Practitioner introductions for each clinical specialty
Educational content tailored per segment
Lead forms that route to the right team member

Each segment needs its own creative library, its own audience, and its own conversion flow. We build them as separate campaigns inside the same account so you can see what's working in each. Parents convert differently to support coordinators. We make sure the data tells you which is which.

Where agencies go wrong

Most agencies treat OT as one audience. It isn't.

Sit inside enough Facebook and Instagram ad accounts run by occupational therapists and one mistake is doing most of the damage.

The clinic runs one campaign. The ad copy is generic 'occupational-therapy services'. The audience is everyone in the suburb. The creative is a stock photo of a hand holding a pen. Nothing about this ad speaks to a specific buyer. The result is a flood of cheap leads who don't match your services, plus a few real inquiries you'd have got anyway.

The right approach is segmentation from day one. A separate campaign for paediatric services, aimed at parents, with creative that shows kids learning skills and copy that meets a tired parent at 11pm. A separate campaign for adult NDIS, aimed at participants and support coordinators, with creative and copy that respects the participant's autonomy. A separate campaign for workplace assessments, aimed at HR managers, with creative that looks like it belongs on LinkedIn but runs on Facebook.

Each segment also needs its own lead form. The paediatric form asks the parent's questions. The NDIS form asks about the participant's plan and goals. The workplace form asks about the company size and assessment scope. One generic 'contact us' form can't serve all three.

OT isn't one audience on Meta. It's three or four. Build for the right one.

How we run it

How we run Meta Ads for OT clinics.

Same four steps every clinic gets, sharpened for OT segmentation.

Build segmented campaigns from day one.

We start by mapping the OT segments your clinic actually serves: paediatric private, paediatric NDIS, adult NDIS, adult private, workplace, schools. Each segment that matters to your clinic gets its own campaign, its own creative library, its own audience targeting, and its own lead form. The campaigns share the same Meta account but run as separate experiments. You see what's working segment by segment.

Tune creative for each buyer.

Paediatric campaigns feature kids learning skills, parents being supported, and clinicians who specialise in children. Adult NDIS campaigns feature participants in their daily lives, with messaging about goals and independence. Workplace campaigns look more corporate. We don't ask one ad to do every job. We ask each ad to do one job exceptionally well.

Layer the audience strategy by segment.

Paediatric: custom audience from current paediatric clients, lookalike, plus parent of young kids targeting and parents of NDIS children behavioural signals. Adult NDIS: custom audience from current adult NDIS clients, plus support coordinator friendly targeting layers. Workplace: HR managers and people and culture interest categories. Each segment gets the right audience, not a one-size-fits-all approach.

Route inquiries to the right team member.

Each lead form asks the qualifying questions that matter for that segment. The submission tag tells your front desk which team member should follow up: paediatric inquiries go to the paeds lead, NDIS inquiries go to the NDIS coordinator, workplace inquiries go to the principal OT. Time to first contact drops. Conversion rate goes up.

One profession, four ad sets

OT on Meta is four campaigns, not one.

The breadth that makes OT hard to advertise on Google makes it equally hard on Meta. Each buyer is on a different platform mix, responds to a different creative tone, and asks different questions before they fill in a lead form. The clinics that segment all four book at a fraction of the cost. The ones that don't, burn budget on the wrong inquiry.

Parents of paediatric clients

Ad set 01
Platform mix
Instagram + Facebook
Creative angle
Mum-led explainer reels, sensory regulation tips, school-readiness content. Reassuring. Outcome-focused for the child.
Lead form qualifies on
Child's age, presenting concern, NDIS or private

Support coordinators

Ad set 02
Platform mix
Facebook + LinkedIn
Creative angle
Capacity-led posts, plan-type clarity, goal-and-supports phrasing, walkthroughs of how your team works with plan-managed participants.
Lead form qualifies on
Participant age, plan type, goals, capacity

HR managers and return-to-work coordinators

Ad set 03
Platform mix
LinkedIn + Facebook
Creative angle
Workplace ergonomic case content, return-to-work outcomes, reporting examples. Professional tone, business outcomes.
Lead form qualifies on
Industry, role count, assessment type, urgency

Adult carers and family

Ad set 04
Platform mix
Facebook (older skew)
Creative angle
Empathic, practical content. Home assessments, post-stroke recovery, supporting an older parent.
Lead form qualifies on
Relationship, person's age, situation, NDIS status

Each ad set runs its own creative library, its own audience targeting, and its own lead-form questions. Same clinic, four conversations, four reporting columns. That's the Meta build that actually works for OT.

The economics

Four OT segments, four different acquisition costs.

There is no single number for what an OT client costs to acquire, and any agency that quotes you one hasn't segmented the account. The funding pathway and the buyer between you and the client both move it.

Cost to acquire, private

$80 to $120

Self funded paediatric and adult private. Meta usually comes in under this band.

Cost to acquire, NDIS

$120 to $180

Higher, because the parent or coordinator compares providers before they make contact.

Typical session fee

$194

The default we model on, before assessment and report work is counted.

Paediatric private is the cheapest client an occupational therapist can buy on Meta, because parental concern is the strongest hook on the platform. A video of an OT describing exactly the handwriting or sensory pattern a parent has been quietly worrying about does the work that a search keyword can't. Pair it with a screening session that lowers the cost of finding out whether you're the right clinic and the acquisition cost drops under the private band comfortably.

NDIS is a different economy. The parent has already done their research, the coordinator is comparing providers on paper, and you're bidding for attention against every teletherapy provider in the country. That's why NDIS clients sit at $120 to $180. They're still worth it when the client runs an assessment, a report and a block of therapy across a plan year, but the payback is measured in months, not weeks.

The strategic question underneath all of this is which line you want growing. Successive NDIS pricing reviews have squeezed the hourly rate in real terms and plan managed volume is contracting. Paying $180 to acquire an NDIS client made sense when rates were rising. Building the private and Medicare pipeline while the NDIS one still works is the safer play for most occupational therapists in 2026, and Meta is the cheapest place to build it.

The numbers nobody publishes

What a new patient enquiry costs a occupational therapy clinic.

We do not publish tracked figures for occupational therapy clinics yet, so this is the band we hold those accounts to. It is a standard we set, and every row on the benchmarks page names which of the two it is.

These are Google Ads search figures. They are here as the market rate for winning a new patient, the number any Meta campaign has to be judged against, not a Meta benchmark.

$100

middle of the band we hold those accounts to

$80 to $120

bottom to top of the band

$1,552

what one new patient is typically worth, at $194 across 8 visits

See where occupational therapy sits against every other discipline

What good looks like

What a healthy OT Meta Ads account looks like.

OT isn't pain led, so the Meta playbook is different. The lever is parental concern. Paediatric private (with a clear offer like a discounted screening session) typically books at $50 to $75 per patient, in line with the rest of the allied health Meta benchmark. Paediatric NDIS runs higher ($90 to $140) because the audience is harder to define and the parent has already done research. Adult NDIS is harder again ($120 to $180) because the NDIS market is competitive and the patient is often choosing between providers. Workplace OT is low volume but high value, $200+ per booked engagement, worth several thousand dollars in service. The thing that moves all of these is the same: a video where the OT speaks directly to the concern the parent is already losing sleep over (handwriting, sensory regulation, getting through a school day), then an offer or screening that lowers the cost of finding out if you're the right clinic. We track each segment separately so you see exactly where the spend is producing return.

The Meta trade off

Decrease the barrier to entry, not devalue the service.

Most occupational therapy owners hate the idea of running a discount. Fair. But the patient on Meta isn't comparing your full price to your discounted price. They've already googled, tried something else, and been burned. A $69 initial or 40% off the first session isn't devaluing what you do. It's lowering the cost of saying "I'll give them a chance" for someone who can't justify another $200 first appointment.

Acquisition

Cheaper to get them in.

Lead form ads typically deliver leads at around $25, with 1 in 2 to 1 in 3 leads converting to a booking. That's $50 to $75 cost per booked patient. Meaningfully lower than Google.

Intent

Colder when they arrive.

They weren't searching. They were scrolling cats and dogs. They've usually tried Google first and been disappointed. Lower intent. Less qualified. Lower lifetime value by default.

Retention

Your first session decides the LTV.

Done well, a Meta patient is just as valuable as a Google patient. Done poorly, the discount becomes the story your team tells themselves about that patient. The comms before the session, the session itself, and the follow up all have to be outstanding.

The ethics, plainly

AHPRA's concern is encouraging indiscriminate use of healthcare services. Lowering the price of a first appointment for someone who has already tried other options and is hesitant to try again isn't indiscriminate use. It's making care more accessible to people who would otherwise stay stuck. We think that lands in a strong ethical spot, and we'd defend it.

Pricing

Simple, honest pricing.

No hidden fees. No long contracts. Pay for the work, pay for the spend, get the results.

ROI calculator

See your return before you spend a cent.

What the patient pays you per visit

$

Average number of visits per patient

Your media budget, separate from management fees

$

Select your specialty above to see your numbers.

Meta Ads

Monthly management

$725/mo

+ GST + 15% of ad spend

One off setup

$795

+ GST

What's in the setup

  • Strategy session
  • A clear, defined Meta Ads marketing strategy
  • Conversion tracking installed
  • Keyword research
  • Full campaign build
  • Everything wired up and working before launch

Ongoing, every week

  • In your account every 24 to 48 hours
  • Measuring, refining, optimising
  • Constant split testing. Always trying to beat our best ad.
  • Monthly reporting in plain English
  • Pete in the account, not a junior or overseas VA

Min. ad budget: $500/mo

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Pete Flynn, lead consultant at Clinic Mastery Marketing

Written by

Pete Flynn

Co-owner, Clinic Mastery. Co-founder, Physio Fit Adelaide.

Two-time Telstra Business Awards winner (2019, 2022). Five-time Telstra Awards judge. South Australia Top 40 Under 40 (2019).

Read more about Pete →

Common questions

The questions clinic owners ask us.

Do Facebook ads work for occupational therapists?

Extremely well for paediatric work, because the buyer is a parent and parents live on Facebook and Instagram. An OT talking to camera about the thing a parent has been losing sleep over, whether that's handwriting, sensory regulation or getting through a school day, will out perform any keyword campaign for reach. Adult NDIS is harder and more expensive, workplace OT is low volume and high value. The mistake is running all three from one ad, which is what most OT clinics do.

How much do Meta ads cost for an OT clinic?

Ad spend from $500 a month plus our management fee. Paediatric private clients come in cheapest, usually under the $80 to $120 private band. NDIS clients cost $120 to $180 because the decision cycle is longer and the auction is crowded. Workplace engagements cost more per booking again but are worth thousands each. We report the segments separately, always, because one blended number for an OT clinic is worse than no number at all.

Should I run all my OT segments under one Meta campaign?

No. Almost every OT clinic we've worked with has done this at some point and regretted it. The data gets muddy, the creative gets diluted, and the cost per booking stays high. Splitting into separate campaigns adds zero extra spend and dramatically improves the result. We've seen clinics cut their cost per qualified booking in half just by segmenting an existing campaign.

What if my clinic only does one OT segment, like paediatric NDIS?

Then we run one campaign, not three. Most of this approach scales down cleanly. We'd build paeds NDIS creative, target parents and support coordinators, and use a paeds NDIS specific lead form. The principles are the same: tight segment, sharp creative, careful audience, qualifying form. Single-segment OT clinics often see the cleanest Meta numbers in the entire portfolio because the targeting is so focused.

Why is Meta cheaper per booking than Google? Is the patient worse?

It's a quality-and-intent trade-off, not a quality-of-service trade-off. Meta typically books patients at $50 to $75 each (around $25 per lead, 1-in-2 to 1-in-3 lead-to-booking conversion). Google sits at $75 to $140 depending on city and specialty. The Meta patient was scrolling, not searching, which means lower urgency, often lower awareness, and on average $30 to $40 lower lifetime value than the Google patient. Done well, with the right offer in the ad and a world-class first session at the clinic, that Meta patient can be every bit as valuable. Done poorly, the discount becomes the story your team tells themselves about that patient and the lifetime value never materialises. The campaign is only half the work. The clinic is the other half.

Do I have to discount? I don't like the idea of discounting healthcare.

Most clinic owners don't like it at first, and we get it. Here's the reframe we use, and we mean it: you're not devaluing the service, you're decreasing the barrier to entry. The Meta patient has usually already googled, tried something, and been disappointed. They aren't comparing your full price to your discounted price. They're comparing the cost of trying you to the cost of staying stuck. A 40% off initial or a $69 first session lowers the barrier to that decision. The two offers above work most reliably across allied health. Value-add bundles (e.g. free rehab pack with first session) work but less consistently than a price discount. Psychology is the only specialty where we don't run an offer at all.

Are discount offers AHPRA-compliant?

AHPRA's concern is encouraging the indiscriminate use of healthcare services. The position we run with, and would defend, is that lowering the price of a first appointment for someone who has tried other options and is hesitant to try again is the opposite of indiscriminate. It's making care more accessible to people who would otherwise stay stuck. That said, the rules are tighter for some professions than others. Psychology in particular sits closer to inducement risk and we don't run discount offers for psychology clinics. For physio, chiro, osteo, podiatry, OT, speech, exercise physiology, and remedial massage, the offer playbook is fair game when framed as access rather than promotion.

If Meta clients are lower intent, won't they churn after one session?

Only if you treat them like a discount client. The single biggest reason Meta campaigns fail isn't the campaign. It's that younger team members see a discounted booking and unconsciously deliver lower-quality care. The patient feels it, doesn't rebook, and the campaign gets blamed. The clinics that win on Meta build the systems around the patient: pre-session calls or messages so they know what to expect, an in-clinic experience that's genuinely impressive, follow-up after the first session. Done that way, a Meta patient delivers lifetime value comparable to a Google patient. The discount is the cost of acquisition. The first session is what earns it back.

How fast will I see results?

Typically, most clinics start seeing results inside the first four to six weeks. We're not promising overnight miracles. Anyone who does is lying. We are promising that your campaign will be live, optimised, and bringing in genuine new patient bookings within that window.

I'm already running ads. Can I keep them?

It depends. Sometimes it makes sense to replace them all and start clean. Sometimes we'll keep one or two of your current ads and run them as a control while we test new creative against them. Either way, we're always split testing. Always trying to beat our current best ad. That's how the numbers compound over the months you work with us.

What's a realistic monthly ad budget?

The minimum we'd recommend is $500/month in ad spend. Above that, it depends on the scale of your clinic and how many new patients you're trying to generate each month. We'll talk through what's right for your situation in your strategy session.

Do you lock me in?

No. We have a 30-day notice period and that's it. We don't believe in 12-month contracts. Clinics work with us because they see value, they get results, and they enjoy working with healthcare professionals who actually understand them. Not because they're trapped. If we're not earning our keep, we don't deserve to keep your business.

Why are you better than a generic marketing agency?

Generic agencies sell ads to every industry: healthcare, real estate, e-commerce, tradies. We only work with healthcare clinics, because we are healthcare clinic owners. We've sat across from patients. We know your margins aren't infinite. We know that every dollar of ad spend has to make the needle move, because we've felt what it costs you when it doesn't. Our promise is simple: we'll spend every dollar of your ad budget as if it was our own. Because we understand what it means to a healthcare clinic owner when it isn't.

Will Pete actually run my ads, or a junior?

Pete will be running your ads. You won't be outsourced to a junior or an overseas VA. The same person you applied to work with is the person managing your account day-to-day.

Ready when you are

We'll show you exactly how Meta ads can grow your OT clinic, segment by segment.

Tell us about your OT clinic. Which segments you actually serve, which buyers you want more of. We'll come back with a one page plan: what creative we'd test first per segment, who we'd target, and what 90 days of Meta Ads should realistically deliver. No pitch deck. No one hour discovery calls that add no value whatsoever.

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Related

We work with healthcare clinics across Australia.

Meta Ads for other specialties

Other services for Occupational Therapy clinics

Looking for our general approach? See how we run Meta Ads for healthcare clinics.

Where we work

We run Meta Ads for clinics in every major Australian city. Each city guide covers local cost per booking ranges, catchment patterns, and the specialty mix we see there: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Gold Coast, Canberra, Hobart. Or browse every city we cover.

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