I looked at how people around Bromley search for treatments such as dental implants, Invisalign, composite bonding and cosmetic dentistry. The opportunity is not simply to buy more clicks. It is to use Google to capture active demand while Meta builds visual consideration around treatments people often think about before they ever search.
Shmile is already doing the difficult part well: an independent private practice, strong patient reviews and a treatment mix with meaningful commercial value. The question is where paid media can add incremental patients without forcing spend into low-value or low-intent traffic.
The research found live local demand for treatments where a single new patient can be worth substantially more than a routine appointment.
The searches reviewed suggest surprisingly little paid competition around some of Shmile's higher-value treatment terms. That makes a controlled test more interesting.
Bromley-specific search demand is not huge. That is exactly why the strategy should combine Search with visual demand-building rather than trying to force large Google budgets into a thin market.
Search visibility and ad competition change by user, device, location and time. The research is best read as a snapshot of the local acquisition environment rather than a claim that no competitor will ever appear.
For Shmile, I would not ask one channel to do both jobs. Search is strongest when somebody already knows what they want. Meta is useful earlier, when visual proof, transformations and repeated exposure can shape the decision before the search happens.
Google and Meta should be judged together against the same question: are we creating profitable new treatment patients? The channel mix can then move as Shmile's real enquiry quality, treatment values and capacity become clearer.
The opening test should focus on treatments where patient value can justify acquisition cost, while keeping the plan simple enough to learn quickly.
A single treatment can carry enough value to support a meaningful acquisition cost. Search can capture immediate intent while Meta helps explain outcomes, process and trust.
Published from-price used: £1,900Strong fit for both channels: active comparison behaviour on Google and highly visual consideration on Meta. A useful treatment for testing how the channels reinforce one another.
Working value in model: £1,250Before-and-after creative can do more of the selling here than a text ad alone. Meta can create interest, then Search and retargeting can convert that consideration into consultations.
Working case value: £1,160I have deliberately kept the inputs to things Shmile is more likely to know. There is no need to guess CPCs or platform conversion rates. Change the number of additional treatment cases and average values to see what the commercial opportunity looks like.
Important: this is intentionally a simple revenue model, not a forecast of profit. The output subtracts both media spend and the ThinkingMan fee, but it does not assume Shmile's gross margin, clinician cost or exact treatment mix. The useful next step would be to replace these working values with Shmile's actual averages and then set a maximum acquisition cost per treatment.
The point of the model is not to defend the assumptions. It is to expose them, test them and change the media plan when Shmile's real numbers tell us to.
Shift more acquisition budget toward implant intent and the creative that produces qualified consultation demand.
Do not force more Google spend into a thin local market. Let Meta expand consideration and use Search to harvest the demand that follows.
Buying more traffic is not the answer. Tighten qualification, creative, treatment messaging and the consultation journey before scaling.
ThinkingMan is a paid media and marketing science agency. We use channels such as Google and Meta, but the decision layer is commercial: what a patient is worth, what it should cost to acquire them, and whether the economics actually stack up.
ThinkingMan strategy, Google + Meta management, tracking, optimisation and commercial reporting.
Suggested media range: £500–£750/month, paid directly to Google and Meta. I would start controlled, establish which treatment enquiries turn into real work, and then scale only the parts of the system that earn it.
Agency capability. Direct specialist relationship.
I personally handle the marketing science, strategy and account rather than passing it through layers of an agency.
The useful conversation is what implant, Invisalign and cosmetic cases are actually worth to Shmile, how many consultations become treatment, what capacity you want to fill and how Google and Meta should share the job of getting there.
