If you own a business, you know all too well how important it is to advertise. Strategically placed marketing brings in new patients and promotes patient retention. But nailing your dental ads to a tree near your office won’t suffice as it could have in 1992. Likewise, relying on oral communication from your patients isn’t enough to keep your practice thriving.
While word-of-mouth marketing is compelling in its own right, references that happen in person are slowly going out of style. Today, social media acts as word-of-mouth marketing.
The power of social media
The exponential growth of social media has made it an incredibly powerful tool for marketing. Online communities today are a frontrunner in advertising for businesses across the globe, as their ability to reach a vast, diverse audience in a short amount of time is unparalleled among any other marketing tool.
This is why dental Facebook marketing is essential for acquiring new patients and retaining existing ones.
Facebook Ads: Why they’re worth the hype
Facebook is a terrific resource for creating dental ads. Yet, Facebook ads are one of the most under-utilized marketing tactics used by dentists. While it may feel easier and more comfortable to continue your traditional advertising methods– it’s time to toss out those mailing card reminders and log in to one of the most effective and intelligently designed marketing platforms: Facebook.
You’ll reach the right audience
Out of all your social media marketing platforms, Facebook offers the most robust ad-targeting options. Facebook’s specific audience targeting feature is unbeatable at reaching particular groups of people. Thus, you’ll be able to generate more patient leads if you leverage its hyper-targeting power to create dental ads.
Think about it, Facebook knows more about its users than practically any other company in the world– thanks, Mark Zuckerberg. This online community knows its users’ income, location, hobbies, relationship status, age…. the list is exhaustive. So, dentists who use Facebook advertising can easily connect with patients who are interested in oral health and live near their practice.
You’ll pay practically nothing
This platform is an exceptionally cost-effective way to market your business and generate new patients. Advertising on Facebook costs about ninety-seven cents per click and $7.19 for every 1,000 impressions, which is far less than traditional advertising and other types of social media marketing.
Why your Facebook dental ad needs to stand out
In our increasingly digital world, Instagram shots have replaced postcards, and writing on someone’s Facebook wall or sending a DM has replaced mailing a letter. Likewise, online profiles have become the new “business card.”
Your Facebook ad, Facebook page, or profile is your virtual business card, so it must represent your brand effectively. Your social media presence is likely going to be a potential patient’s first interaction with your practice. This is why you should put effort into making creative dental ads to promote your practice. Here are some times to make your ad pop.
- Use eye-catching colors to capture the attention of a user who’s quickly scrolling through their news feed.
- Make sure your images and infographics are high-quality.
- Add a picture of you and your staff to add a personal touch to your business ad.
- Write copy that represents the tone of your brand and resonates with your targeted audience.
- Include a special offer like a teeth whitening package, an Invisalign deal, or a new patient special.
How to create Facebook ads for your dental clinic
In terms of making an ad that pops, you can look at tons of dental Facebook ad examples online and follow the tips mentioned above. But you can’t make an ad stand out if you don’t know how to create the ad in the first place. So, below are the steps to creating a standard Facebook ad.
Access Ads Manager
Facebook Ads Manager is where you’ll begin. You can access the Ads Manager from your Facebook business page. So, you’ll need to log in to your page or create a new page if you don’t have one. The Ads Manager is a powerful tool that you’ll use to create, manage, and view reports on your ad campaigns.
Decide on your goal
Goals are the crux of successful marketing strategies because they ensure you move in the right direction and enable you to measure the success of your efforts. So, you’ll need to think about what you want to achieve from your advertisements. Are you simply trying to build awareness of your practice and reach new patients? Do you need to drive patients to your website and book appointments?
You won’t be able to set a goal until you know who you need to reach. This is why Facebook will ask you which part of the buyer’s journey you want to target consumers in.
The buyer’s journey
The three parts that make up a buyer’s journey are awareness, consideration, and decision. We’ll go over all three, so you can see which one resonates best with what your practice needs.
Awareness
Dental ads created for the awareness stage in the buyer’s journey are designed to generate interest in your practice and heighten your brand’s visibility. These ads are also aimed at introducing your practice to potential patients who live close to your location.
So, if you operate from a small, single dental office, you’ll likely benefit the most from an awareness Facebook campaign.
Consideration
If your Facebook business page already has an audience of potential patients, a consideration Facebook campaign is going to be your best bet at conversion. Ads created for this phase are designed to pinpoint prospective patients who may be interested in your practice. So, these ads should educate your audience on the importance of oral health and what services your practice offers.
Decision
If your dental practice needs interested patients to take action, like scheduling an appointment with you, you need to target patients in the decision stage of the buyer’s journey. Thus, your ads should offer a special deal for services, such as discounted teeth whitening. This will boost your chances of converting interested users into regular patients.
Target your audience
Once you’ve set the goal for your Facebook campaign in the appropriate stage of the buyer’s journey, you’ll need to tailor your dental ads to your target audience.
By location
It’s best to target your local area since most of your patients will come from within a certain-mile radius of your office. Facebook will give you the option of targeting users based on the region, city, or even specific suburb they live in.
By demographics
You also have the option to narrow down your target audience by demographics, such as gender, age, income, and more. Facebook even lets you select whether you want to target people who have kids, which is a smart option if you have a pediatric dentistry.
By interests
Facebook finds users by their interests by targeting them based on what pages or events they’ve engaged with, liked, or shared. This means that your dental ads can have a target audience of users who have liked “health and wellness” pages or teeth whitening products.
Choose your ad type
You’ll need to consider which medium you want your ad to run in. Will you use a simple image, a video, or a promoted post? Facebook has many other options as well, so you can browse through them when deciding which one will work best for your campaign.
Choose your ad placement
Lastly, Facebook will ask that you select where you want your ads to show up on their platform. Facebook recommends automatic ad placement since it runs off of tried and true algorithms.
Your perfect marketing solution
Many dentists are challenged with standing out among local, competitive practices. But, as you know now, in 2022, Facebook dental ads are the secret weapon to bringing new patients through your door and helping you retain existing ones.
So, what are you waiting for?! Get on the drawing board and start creating your ads today.
