You’re probably already marketing your dental clinic on Facebook. If you’re not, you should be – but it’s not just a question of having a Facebook page and using it. You’ve got to use it wisely if you want to get great results.
It’s not uncommon for dental clinic owners to dive into Facebook marketing without really knowing what they’re doing at first. I mean, come on, at some point you just have to dive in, right? You may even have some decent results but I’m willing to bet they’re not as good as they could be.
So… let’s get back to basics. What do you need to know to earn a big return on your Facebook marketing investment? Let me break it down for you.
Create Your Page
If you don’t already have a Facebook page for your clinic, the first step is creating one. To do it, click the plus sign at the top right-hand side of your page once you’re logged in. (Note: this used to be on the Pages sidebar, which has been removed with the latest Facebook update.)
You’ll be prompted to enter information about your clinic including what type of specialties, if any, you have.
Use Consistent Branding
When you create your Facebook marketing business page, make sure to keep your branding consistent. That means using the same photo across all social media sites. I suggest using your clinic logo as your profile picture.
You should also keep your language consistent with your brand’s tone and personality. It’s a must to create a seamless cross-channel experience for patients when they interact with your clinic on social media or your website.
Optimize Your Listing
When you add your profile picture, you should also be optimizing your listing. You’ll need to include:
- A link to your website
- Your clinic hours
- Your physical address
- Your contact information
You may also want to add a call to action button that will appear on your page. Some of the options include:
- Learn More
- Sign Up
- Book Now
- Send Message
Decide what action you want visitors to your page to take and use that as your call to action to get the best results.
Use Facebook Groups
One thing that a lot of dental clinic owners forget on social media is that the social part is just as important as anything else. People follow their favorite brands on Facebook because they want a give-and-take.
You can start by joining Facebook groups and starting a Facebook group of your own. Research shows that approximately 1.4 billion people use Facebook groups. More importantly, consumers welcome brands’ participation in groups provided they offer real value and aren’t just trying to make sales.
Interact With Your Patients
The name of the game in Facebook marketing is engagement. If your followers aren’t liking and sharing your posts, commenting on them, or asking questions, your Facebook marketing strategy isn’t working.
In other words, if someone comments, write back! If they ask a question, answer it. If they share a post featuring your service or brand, reshare it with their permission. The more you do to let your followers know that you see and hear them, the more loyal they will be.
Integrate Customer Service With Facebook
Speaking of interacting with your patients, you should also be integrating your customer service as part of your Facebook marketing strategy. It doesn’t matter if you prefer to field patient questions or complaints on your website or by phone. Patients expect the brands they follow to be responsive to their requests across all channels.
Your best bet? Assign an employee to monitor your Facebook messages and respond to service requests as they arise. In addition to expecting to get service wherever they request it, Facebook users also expect speedy responses.
Run Facebook Marketing Ads
Facebook advertising is quite affordable and if you do it right, it can be a great way to attract more followers, build your list, or increase your patient base.
Let’s talk about what ‘doing it right’ means. You’ll need to:
- Identify the best target audience for your ads
- Create a compelling ad with a hero image or a video
- Decide on a goal for your ad
- Test alternatives for headlines, calls to action, etc.
- Monitor your results and tweak your ad content accordingly
While you’re testing content, you may want to start with a small budget until you’ve optimized your ad. Then, you can increase your spending to get the results you want.
Post Useful Content
The key to engaging your followers through Facebook marketing is posting useful content. Here are some suggestions:
- Provide answers to common questions and concerns
- Give options on how to make the most of your services
- Use Facebook Live to do a Q & A, introduce your staff, or offer a behind-the-scenes tour of your clinic
- Run Facebook contests and giveaways
Keep in mind that you should share a mix of original and curated content. With curated content, make sure to offer your own take on it – and only share content that is relevant to your brand and followers.
Use Messenger/Chatbot Marketing
It can take up your valuable time if you need to monitor Facebook messages around the clock. The best way to take the stress out of the situation is to use a chatbot to send automated responses to people who message you.
Building a chatbot for Facebook Messenger is easy and affordable. If all you’re looking for is a series of automated responses, you can use a tool such as Chatfuel or MobileMonkey to quickly create a chatbot that meets your needs and provides patients with the immediate responses they expect.
Take Advantage Of Retargeting
It would be great if every potential patient who visited your website filled out your lead form the first time they interacted with your brand. Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works!
The solution is to use Facebook’s retargeting option to reconnect with people who stopped short of completing your opt-in form, downloading your lead magnet, or booking an appointment. Retargeting can help you to reconnect with those people, educate them about your brand, and get them to take the next step. All you need to do is install a Facebook pixel on your site. You can read more about it here.
The bottom line is that Facebook marketing is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to meet your marketing and growth goals. Use the information here to optimize your page, engage with your target audience, and take your dental clinic to the next level.
Talk to the dental industry experts at Dental Marketing Heroes today for help implementing these highly effective Facebook marketing strategies!
