$71 Cost per Lead for ABA Therapy

Client Overview

HUG Center provides ABA therapy for children in the Metro Detroit area. Families can choose in-home or in-center sessions, and each program is tailored to the child. Its advertising speaks to parents looking for help with communication, behavior and daily living skills.

JumpstartROI launched HUG Center's Google Ads program on April 20, 2026, targeting families within 20 miles of the clinic.

The Challenge

HUG Center wanted a steady flow of calls and form submissions from local parents. The goal was to reach families actively searching for therapy and keep acquisition costs in check on a modest budget.

Search volume in this niche is limited. Every irrelevant click spends money that could have reached a family looking for help. The campaign needed tight targeting, clear messaging and tracking for each way a parent could reach out.

What We Did

• Rebuilt conversion tracking. We tracked form submissions, calls from ads and website click-to-call taps as separate actions, so HUG Center could see how parents chose to respond.

  

• Focused Search on high-intent demand. We launched a non-brand Search campaign around terms such as "ABA therapy," "ABA services" and "autism center."

• Added Performance Max. A Performance Max campaign ran image and video assets alongside Search. Both campaigns used Maximize Conversions bidding and a 20-mile radius around the clinic.

• Matched the message to what parents need. New ad copy highlighted in-home and in-center therapy tailored to each child. Ads sent traffic to a dedicated landing page with a short inquiry form.

• Kept cutting wasted spend. We added negative keywords throughout the program to keep the budget on relevant searches.

The Results

Reporting period: April 20 to October 16, 2026.

• 124 leads (form submissions, calls from ads and click-to-call taps)

• $70.81 average cost per lead

• 4.65% conversion rate across the account

The non-brand Search campaign produced 71 of those leads at a 10.3% conversion rate: 46 form submissions, 17 click-to-call taps and 8 calls from ads.

Key Outcomes

• Launched a local Google Ads program aimed at parents searching for ABA therapy

• Set up separate tracking for forms, calls from ads and website phone taps

• Paired high-intent non-brand Search with Performance Max image and video assets

• Generated 124 leads at $70.81 each from launch through October 16, 2026

• Reached a 10.3% conversion rate on non-brand Search

The Creative

Our Search ads led with what parents care about most: compassionate, family-focused care and a choice between in-home and in-center therapy. Headlines such as "Compassionate ABA Care - ABA Therapy For Children" and "Family-Focused ABA Care - Hug Center ABA Therapy" paired with copy about therapy built around each child and real-life routines. Call and sitelink options gave parents a direct way to reach the clinic.

Every ad pointed to a dedicated landing page with one clear message: start ABA therapy in-home or in-center, with a short form where parents can tell HUG Center about their child.

The Bottom Line

HUG Center needed to reach local parents actively looking for therapy and make a modest budget go further. We built the program on focused Search targeting, a supporting Performance Max campaign, a dedicated landing page and tracking across every response path. From April 20 to October 16, 2026, the account generated 124 leads at $70.81 each.