For outpatient physical therapy clinics
Physical therapy marketing software and PT marketing for clinics
AiMarketer runs the marketing a clinic director never has hours for: direct access search ads, review requests after a good visit, emails that bring back patients who stopped mid plan, and monthly updates to the doctors who refer to you. Each piece is written in your clinic's voice, checked against the claims you block, and launched only after you approve.
The agent drafts a real starter campaign for your business: the angle, three ads, a five-post calendar and a budget split. One free run, about 30 seconds.
You have had your free run here. Create your account and the agent writes you a full 90-day marketing plan for your business.
Campaign for . Describe your own business above to run yours.
Campaign angle & audience
Ready-to-run ads
Suggested budget split
First week of content
This is a live generated draft. Want AiMarketer to actually launch and optimize it for you? Describe your business above to run this on yours, or have AiMarketer launch and optimize the campaign for you. You have had your free run on your own business. Create your account and the agent writes you a full 90-day marketing plan for it.
No card required for the demo. Nothing goes live without your approval, and every approved ad and email is logged.
The short answer
Physical therapy marketing software comes in four kinds. Texting and review tools start at $199 a month. PT marketing platforms start at $399. PT agencies charge $1,495 to $3,095 a month on 12 or 24 month terms. An AI marketing agent writes and launches the ads, review requests and reactivation emails for $49 to $499 a month.
The cheapest new patient in a PT clinic is often the one you already had. WebPT reported in 2017 that about 20% of patients drop out within the first three visits and 70% never finish their course of care. That is why reactivation sits next to ads in every plan the agent drafts.
Prices were read on each vendor's own US page. Vendors that only quote are named without a number.
Where a ten visit plan of care leaks
An illustration built on the 2017 WebPT figures. Your own scheduling data is better.
Visit number
About 20%
stop within the first three visits
70%
never finish the full plan. Each one gets a short email sequence you approved once.
What PT marketing costs a month
Five ways a US outpatient clinic can pay for marketing, read on the vendors' own pages in October 2026. They do different jobs, so many clinics pay for two: something for texting and reviews, and something that brings in new patients. Ad spend sits on top in every row.
Patient texting and reviews
Weave
From $199
A month on the entry plan. Higher plans are priced on request. Used for reminders, two-way texting and review requests.
PT marketing platform
Breakthrough
From $399
A month. Five plans from Core to Enterprise, only the starting price is published. Setup and term are not stated.
PT marketing done for you
PhysioFunnels
Under $1,000
A month, in the vendor's own words, with no exact figure. A 12 month commitment, then 60 days notice to cancel.
PT marketing agency
Practice Promotions
$1,495 to $3,095
A month across three systems. The lower number in each pair is a 24 month term, the higher one 12 months. No setup fee. Extra locations $175 a month.
AI marketing agent
AiMarketer
$49 to $499
A month. Writes and launches direct access ads, review requests, reactivation emails and referral updates after you approve each one.
Quote only, so not in the table: WebPT, Prompt Health (which now sells the former PT Wired as Engage), Podium, Birdeye, Tebra, SPRY, Raintree, Net Health and Ignite Digital. Practice Promotions also publishes its own estimate that PT specific agencies charge $1,500 to $8,000 a month and that clinics invest 5 to 8% of gross revenue. Both are an agency's claims, not survey data.
Physical therapy advertising pays back on the plan of care
U.S. Physical Therapy, the largest listed outpatient operator, reported $105.76 in net revenue per patient visit for 2025 across 780 clinics. APTA puts a typical outpatient course of care at 7 to 10 visits. Multiply the two and a patient who completes care is worth roughly $740 to $1,060 to the clinic. That multiplication is ours, and your own billing data will give a sharper figure.
Now the cost side. LocaliQ's healthcare benchmark, built on US campaigns from October 2024 to September 2025, reports $4.95 per click and $32.79 per lead for physical therapy, half the $66.02 healthcare average. If one inquiry in three books an evaluation, a new patient costs about $100 in ad spend. The management fee decides whether that still works: a $1,495 retainer on $1,000 of ads multiplies the cost of each patient by two and a half.
Running search ads yourself first? Our AI for Google Ads page shows what Google automates and what still needs a person, and affordable PPC management lays published management fees next to the ad spend they sit on.
Search ads, physical therapy vs healthcare
Cost per lead
$32.79 vs $66.02
Conversion rate
15.35% vs 8.09%
Cost per click
$4.95 vs $5.64
$105.76
Net revenue per visit, U.S. Physical Therapy, full year 2025
LocaliQ Healthcare Search Advertising Benchmarks, January 2026. Bars show physical therapy against the healthcare average on each line.
Marketing for physical therapists, run every week
Tell it once about the clinic: the conditions and services you treat, sports and work injury programs, the towns you draw from, the payers you take, your state's direct access limits and the claims you never make. Every draft starts from that brief.
Direct access search ads
Ads on "physical therapy near me", your town names and the services you offer, saying a referral is not needed where your state allows it, pointing at a page with hours and a booking link.
Facebook and Instagram ads
One program per campaign, such as post surgical knee rehab or running injury screens, written about the service and never about the reader's condition.
Plan of care reactivation
A short email sequence for patients who missed two visits or stopped before discharge, sent only to people who agreed to hear from you.
Review requests
A message after a visit where progress was logged, sent the same way to every patient and with no reward tied to a good rating.
Referral partner updates
A monthly note to the surgeons, primary care offices, chiropractors and coaches who send you patients, with new services and open evaluation slots.
Google Business Profile
Weekly posts, current hours and services, because that profile is what a referred patient sees when they search your clinic's name.
-
1
It drafts
The month's ads, emails and partner updates, each with audience, budget and dates.
-
2
You approve
Edit a line or approve it. Approved work goes out through the accounts you connect.
-
3
It reports
Every Monday: spend, inquiries, booked evaluations and what it changed.
Direct access is your best ad line, within your state's limits
APTA's 2025 report found that patients in all 50 states, DC and the US Virgin Islands can see a physical therapist without a referral in some form. The same report cites studies where direct access episodes needed fewer visits than physician referred ones. "No referral needed" is a strong line in an ad, but in most states it comes with a limit, and the ad must not promise more than the law gives.
50 + DC + USVI
Allow direct access in some form, as of July 1, 2025
21 states
Unrestricted direct access, with no time or visit limit
29 states + DC + USVI
Provisional access, with a time or visit limit, or a referral for some procedures
Who may advertise "physical therapy"
Title protection laws decide which words an ad may use. They matter most for gyms, chiropractors and wellness studios that employ a PT, and for clinics that let an agency write copy. Three examples show the pattern.
Texas
Occupations Code 453.201(d)
Only a licensed physical therapist may use "physical therapy", "physiotherapy", "PT", "DPT" or words that imply PT is provided, in connection with a name or business. The rule reaches employees and agents too.
California
Bus. and Prof. Code 2633 and 2630
Only a board licensed PT may use "physical therapist", "P.T." or words that suggest a license. Section 2630 makes holding out as a PT without a license unlawful.
Florida
Fla. Stat. 486.135(1)
An unlicensed person may not use terms that imply they are a physical therapist. "D.P.T." and "P.T.A." are protected as well.
Gifts to Medicare patients
Federal law, 42 USC 1320a-7a(a)(5), penalizes inducements to Medicare and Medicaid patients to choose a provider. The OIG treats gifts up to $15 an item and $75 a year as nominal, and never cash.
Patient stories
Using a patient's name, photo or recovery story in marketing needs a signed HIPAA authorization under 45 CFR 164.508(a)(3). A reply to a review should never confirm the person is a patient.
Reviews
The FTC rule at 16 CFR Part 465 bans fake reviews, buying reviews, undisclosed staff reviews and suppressing bad ones. Ask every patient the same way.
Meta ads
Meta rejects ads that assert or imply a personal health condition. Write about the program and the location, never about what the reader is going through.
A planning summary, not legal advice. Read your own state's practice act and board rules, and have an attorney review any offer aimed at Medicare patients.
Which PT clinics this physical therapy marketing software fits
Owner operated clinics
You treat a full caseload and the marketing happens after hours or not at all. A 24 month agency term at $1,495 a month is $35,880 before ads.
Clinics leaving an agency
You paid for a retainer and want the same ads, review requests and newsletters without a fee that is larger than the ad budget.
Multi location groups
Each clinic gets its own area, programs, budget and approver, with one report across them. Scale covers up to 15 locations.
New clinics
No patient list to reactivate yet, so direct access search ads, the Google profile and referral partner outreach come first.
If you want a new website, a brand and a person on the phone each month, a PT agency is the right buy. If the plan is clear and the weekly work is what never gets done, software is cheaper and faster to start.
Which plan
Starter at $49 a month runs one clinic on one channel, usually search ads or the review and reactivation emails. Growth at $149 runs ads, email and social together with budget optimization, which is where most clinics should start. Scale at $499 covers up to 15 locations, each with its own approver.
What we are not: an EMR, practice management or scheduling system, a texting platform or a website builder. Keep the system you document and book in. The agent works through the ad, email and social accounts you connect.
AI marketing agent
Get next month's new patient and reactivation campaigns drafted this week
Create your account. We will email you a 6-digit code to confirm, and you are in.
No card required. Your data stays yours.
Questions about physical therapy marketing
How much does physical therapy marketing cost?
Physical therapy marketing costs $199 a month and up for a patient texting and reviews tool such as Weave, from $399 a month for a PT marketing platform such as Breakthrough, and $1,495 to $3,095 a month for a PT agency such as Practice Promotions on a 12 or 24 month term. Ad spend is extra. An AI marketing agent costs $49 to $499 a month.
How much should a physical therapy clinic spend on marketing?
No neutral survey publishes a figure for PT clinics. Agencies suggest 5 to 8 percent of gross revenue, which is a vendor claim. A better way to set it is per new patient: LocaliQ reports $32.79 per search lead for physical therapy, so $1,000 of ads buys about 30 inquiries before any management fee.
How do physical therapists market themselves?
Most physical therapists market themselves through a steady Google Business Profile with real reviews, search ads for people looking for a PT nearby, updates to the doctors and trainers who refer to them, and emails that bring back patients who stopped before finishing their plan of care. The clinics that grow run all four every week, not in bursts.
How do you get more patients for physical therapy?
Get more physical therapy patients by advertising direct access, since every state lets patients see a PT without a referral in some form, by asking each patient for a review after a good visit, and by contacting patients who dropped off before finishing care. A returning patient costs far less than a new one, and most clinics lose a large share mid plan.
Can physical therapists advertise on Facebook?
Yes. Physical therapy clinics can run Facebook and Instagram ads, but Meta's personal attributes policy bans ads that assert or imply the reader has a health condition. "Shoulder rehab in Plano, no referral needed" follows the allowed pattern. "Is your knee pain stopping you from running?" follows the pattern Meta rejects.
Can I advertise physical therapy without a referral?
Yes, in every state. APTA reports that as of July 2025 all 50 states, DC and the US Virgin Islands allow some form of direct access. In 21 states it is unrestricted. In 29 states plus DC and USVI it has limits on time or visits, or certain procedures still need a referral, so an ad should not promise more than your state allows.
Do PT clinics need marketing software or a marketing agency?
A clinic that needs a new website, a brand and a named account manager should hire a PT agency and budget $1,495 a month or more on a 12 month term. A clinic that mainly needs the weekly work done, ads, review requests, reactivation emails and referral updates, can use software or an AI agent for $49 to $499 a month and approve every piece.
Related reading
Chiropractors compete for many of the same patients and face similar ad rules; chiropractic marketing software prices their agencies and tools. If you are holding an agency proposal, chiropractic marketing agency pricing shows how to turn a monthly fee into a year one cost and a break-even patient count, and the same arithmetic works for a PT agency. Other local care practices: med spa marketing software, home care marketing software, optometry marketing software and veterinary marketing software. Every industry we cover is on use cases.