Facebook Ad Objectives…Which Is Right For Your Practice?


Most practices should advertise on Facebook, if you do it right, it can help your healthcare business to grow month after month.

The issue is that while Facebook ads are effective, a lot of private practice owners don’t know which objectives to choose for their ads. With that in mind, here’s a rundown of Facebook ad objectives to help you understand which objective makes the most sense for your practices.

What are the available ad objectives on Facebook?

When you create an ad for your practice on Facebook, you can choose from 11 objectives divided into three categories: Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion. 

Let’s get started!

  1. Brand Awareness

These ads generally do not get a high click–through rate because their objective is to make people aware of your brand. They are best used as the first step in a campaign to attract new patients.

  1. Reach

If you want to get your ad in front of as many people in your target audience as possible, this is the objective to choose. Here again, you may not get a ton of engagement but you will be sure that your ad appears in your target audience’s feed.

  1. Traffic

Traffic ads are designed to direct more traffic to the URL you choose, usually a link on your website. Facebook tracks only the number of people who click on your links, meaning that you’ll need to track conversions separately.

  1. Engagement

On Facebook, engagement means likes, comments, and shares. If you want to get more people to engage with your content, this is the ad objective you should choose.

  1. App Installs

This one’s self-explanatory. If you’ve got an app to sell or promote, choose App Installs as your objective.

  1. Video Views

Have a video to promote? Choose the Video Views objective to get more people to watch your video. This objective is ideal for service demos and explainer videos.

  1. Lead Generation

If you’ve got a great lead magnet to promote, the lead generation objective is ideal because it allows the people who see your ad to opt in and get your lead magnet without leaving Facebook.

  1. Messages

Message ads are designed to get more people in your target audience to message your practice on Facebook. They can be useful if you want to initiate conversations, answer questions, and nurture leads.

  1. Conversions

If your goal is to get more people to take a specific action, such as adding an item to the cart, availing a service, or RSVPing to an event, this is the ad objective to choose on Facebook. It works best when targeted to people who are already familiar with your brand.

  1. Catalog Objectives

Another ad objective that may be effective when targeted to people who already know your brand is the Catalog Objective. You can use it to connect to Facebook with your brand catalog and display individual services to your audience.

  1. Clinic Visits

If you have a brick-and-mortar store, this ad objective can help you entice more patients to visit your store. To use it you’ll need to make sure that your clinic location(s) are accurate in Clinic Staff Manager.

 

Which Facebook ad objective is right for your practice?

Now, let’s talk about which Facebook ad objectives make the most sense for your practices. Some simply are not good choices if you’ve got a small audience to target.

Here are a few pro tips:

Brand awareness is a good objective particularly if you feel like your competitors have more brand recognition than you do or if you haven’t been in service for a long time.

Unless you have a large audience, the reach objective is probably not ideal. The goal of that objective is to reach as many people as possible. Most small practices should steer clear of this objective.

Traffic can be a good objective for practices that want to get more people to visit their websites. However, you should make sure that you have a well-designed landing page before you spend any money on traffic. You need to give people a reason to stay on your website once they click the link.

I also really like the store visits at the objective for practices. It’s arguably the most highly focused objective available. The key if you decide to use it to make sure your location information is up to date. You’ll also need to target the ad to people who live within a small radius of your store.

Visiting your Facebook ads manager page will give you additional information and guidance as you create your ad. Remember, the ad objective you choose should be carefully selected to align with your growth objectives for the best results.

So… if you are a private practice healthcare business owner and you are looking to grow and scale your practice or generate more new patients for the practice – we are here for you!  Drop a comment below if you have questions or if you’d like to set up a call with us go here: https://chat.practiceinsidersedge.com/PIE-Triage-Call


Why Messenger Ads are AWESOME for your Practice

Why Messenger Ads are AWESOME for your Practice

Advertising on Facebook has been around for a while. It’s practically a granddaddy in the world of online marketing. Facebook Messenger Ads are ads that appear either on the newsfeed or directly in people’s Messenger inboxes and practices to connect directly with potential leads.

And they’re great options for practice. They allow you to personalize ads and connect directly with the people who are most likely to buy from you.

Here are a few ways that you can use Messenger ads to boost your profits:

  1. Increase Local Awareness Of Your Practice

Too much personalization can seem downright creepy, but Facebook Messenger ads allow companies to straddle the line without crossing it. Because you can only send direct messages to people who’ve already connected with you on Messenger, it doesn’t feel as intrusive and it lets you tailor your offers in a way that’s highly likely to result in a sale.

  1. Give patients the response time they want

With Messenger Ads, you can automate your replies to ensure that potential patients aren’t stuck waiting for a response from you. An, in case you don’t know, people prefer messaging to any other form of patient service.

Research shows that 73% of consumers prefer live chat to email…and 56% prefer messenger to a phone call.

  1. Start a conversation

Lead nurturing is something that you can do 1 on 1 with Facebook Messenger Ads. You can even customize your newsfeed ads to encourage people to chat with you about your product and service. This option allows for 1 on 1 contact – even if it’s largely automated – that makes potential patients feel valued.

  1. Increase local awareness of your practice

One of the best things about Facebook Messenger ads is that you can select “increase local awareness” as your ad objective. This is a particularly effective option for practices that want to reconnect with existing patients. You can use Messenger to send them an offer that is tailored to them.

Another way of looking at Facebook Messenger ads is that they’re the modern-day equivalent of going door to door. They don’t require any more effort than traditional Facebook ads, but they offer a degree of personalization and one-on-one contact that will allow your practice to connect with potential leads in a meaningful way.

Getting a great ROI on Facebook advertising can be tough!

There’s a ton of competition and as a private practice healthcare business owner, your marketing budget is limited. Facebook Messenger ads can help you leapfrog over the competition and connect directly with the most valuable people on social media – your patients!

If you are a private practice healthcare business owner and you are looking to grow and scale your practice or generate more new patients for the practice – we are here for you!  Drop a comment below if you have questions or if you’d like to set up a call with us go here: https://chat.practiceinsidersedge.com/PIE-Triage-Call


Facebook Ad Objectives…Explained


Most practices should advertise on Facebook. That’s what I believe, and the evidence backs me up. It’s cost-effective and, if you do it right, it can help your practice to grow.

But that is easier said than done.

While Facebook ads are effective, many health care business owners don’t know which objectives to choose for their ads. Choosing the wrong objective may lead to a low return on your investment and possibly a dreaded feeling that you’ve wasted money.

With that in mind, here’s my rundown of Facebook ad objectives to help you understand which objective makes the most sense for your practice.

 

What are the Available Ad Objectives on Facebook?  

When you create an ad for your practice on Facebook, you can choose from 11 objectives divided into three categories: Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion. Let’s review them.

  1. Brand Awareness. These ads generally do not get a high click-through rate because their objective is to make people aware of your brand. They are best used as the first step in a campaign to attract new patients.
  2. Reach. If you want to get your ad in front of as many people in your target audience as possible, this is the objective to choose. Here again, you may not get a ton of engagement, but you will be sure that your ad appears in your target audience’s feed.
  3. Traffic. Traffic ads are designed to direct more traffic to the URL you choose, usually a link on your website. Facebook tracks only the number of people who click on your links, meaning that you’ll need to track conversions separately. 
  4. Engagement. On Facebook, engagement means likes, comments, and shares. If you want to get more people to engage with your content, this is the ad objective you should choose.
  5. App Installs. This one’s self-explanatory. If you’ve got an app to sell or promote, choose App Installs as your objective.
  6. Video Views. Have a video to promote? Choose the Video Views objective to get more people to watch your video. This objective is ideal for service demo and explainer videos.
  7. Lead Generation. If you’ve got a great lead magnet to promote, the Lead Generation objective is ideal because it allows the people who see your ad to opt in and get your lead magnet without leaving Facebook.
  8. Messages. Message ads are designed to get more people in your target audience to message your practice on Facebook. They can be useful if you want to initiate conversations, answer questions, and nurture leads.
  9. Conversions. If your goal is to get more people to take a specific action, such as adding an item to their cart, buying a service, or RSVPing to an event, this is the ad objective to choose on Facebook. It works best when targeted to people who are already familiar with your brand.
  10. Catalog Sales. Another ad objective that may be effective when targeted to people who already know your brand is the Catalog Sales objective. You can use it to connect Facebook with your service catalog and display individual services to your audience.
  11. Store Visits. This ad objective can help you entice more patients to visit your practice. To use it, you’ll need to make sure that your practice location(s) are accurate in Practice Manager. (Be mindful of this objective as recent changes to mobile operating systems like iOS 14 might negatively impact your results)

You should think first about which objective you want to achieve. Consider the options we’ve explained above. Then, choose the ad objective that will help you get there.

Which Facebook Ad Objective is Right for Your Practice?

Now, let’s talk about which Facebook ad objectives make the most sense for local practices. Some simply are not good choices if you’ve got a small audience to target.

Brand Awareness is a good objective, particularly if you feel like your competitors have more brand recognition than you do or if you haven’t been in practice for long. Recency bias can get you started down the path of getting your audience aware of your practice. It’s a good idea that the ad you create is a compelling representation of your brand, including your brand’s personality, voice, and ethics.

Unless you have a large audience, the Reach objective is probably not ideal. The goal for that objective is to reach as many people as possible. Most small practices should steer clear of this objective.

Traffic can be a good objective for practices who want to get more people to visit their websites. However, you should make sure that you have a well-designed landing page before you spend any money on traffic. You need to give people a reason to stay on your website once they click the link. That reason should be very clear and we would recommend the objective is to capture a lead or opt-in. For instance, getting an email address or SMS Text numbering exchange for something of value.

Store Visits as an ad objective for practices was awesome. It’s arguably the most highly focused ad objective available. But, with recent changes to mobile operating systems and privacy concerns, leveraging this objective might need to be revisited as results may be skewed based on target users’ privacy preferences.

 

The key with this is to test and see how your ad costs and the results of your campaign area affected. The argument worth considering is the results may still be compelling as a patient who registers as an actual store visit may be more valuable to a practice owner than say an ‘aware’ community. 

If you decide to use the Store (practice) Visit objective make sure your location is and information is up-to-date. It’s worth mentioning to target the ad to people who live within proximity to your practice! Then test and expand your ad’s radius to see if it makes sense reaching people who aren’t necessarily within an easy traveling distance.

If you have an online store, then the Catalog Sales objective may be useful as well. It can help you show off your most popular services and get them in front of an audience. Again, targeting is going to be important. You should use this ad objective with an audience already familiar with your brand for the best results.

The Messages objective may be right for your company if you feel that you need one-on-one contact with patients to overcome their buying objections. However, you should only use this objective if you’re ready to monitor your messages and respond promptly when people write to you. A slow response time can undo any good you do with the ad itself. You may want to consider installing a chatbot in Facebook Messenger to send an immediate response.

Visiting your Facebook Ads Manager page will give you additional information and guidance as you create your ad. Remember, the ad objective you choose should be carefully selected to align with your practice growth objectives for the best results. 

So… if you are a private practice healthcare business owner and you are looking to grow and scale your practice or generate more new patients for the practice – we are here for you!  Drop a comment below if you have questions or if you’d like to set up a call with us go here: https://bit.ly/PIE-FB-Triage-Call 


8 Social Media Myths and Misconceptions to Forget in 2021


There’s no question that social media marketing is, and will continue to be, important for practices. If we hold this to be true, we should also acknowledge there to be some myths around social media that could contribute to being harmful to your practice.

Ready to bust some myths?

Here are 8 of the most widely believed myths you may want to avoid if you want to grow your practice with social media.

 

#1: You Need a Presence on Every Social Media Site

The idea that you need a presence on every social media site is one of the most harmful myths for healthcare business owners. It takes time, effort, and money to maintain an active presence on ANY social media site and nobody has time for all of them.

A better idea is to have an active and meaningful presence on the sites that offer you the best opportunity to connect with your target audience and engage your patients. Nothing else matters!

It’s my opinion most practices should be on Facebook. B2B companies should have a presence on LinkedIn. If you’re selling an aspirational service, then it makes sense to be on Instagram or Pinterest.

Does this mean you should never try something new? 

Of course not! 

Set up a profile and give it a try. But if the site you choose isn’t giving you the results you want, cut it loose and add the time you would have been allocating to those efforts and apply them to platforms that deliver the results you’re after!

#2: Fans and Followers are Worthless if They Don’t Become Paying Patients  

You should use social media to attract new patients. That’s obvious and it makes sense. But I hear a lot of healthcare business owners who think that followers who aren’t paying patients aren’t worth having – and that’s simply not true.

Your fans and followers don’t need to buy from you to be useful. Having a large following can raise your profile and help new patients find you. If you’ve got fans or followers who have a lot of clout, you’ll get some of it by association. 

Most importantly, a follower who doesn’t buy your services could still refer their friends and followers to your practice. You should run ads designed to attract paying patients but don’t ignore the benefits of followers who aren’t your patients. They’re still helpful.

Lastly, a fan or follower who doesn’t buy from you today or this month, might convert to a transactional patient tomorrow, next month or sometime in the future!

 

#3: It’s Useful to Have Your Friends and Family “Like” Your Posts

It’s a common misconception among healthcare business owners that asking friends and family to “Like” your posts will help you get more engagement. The bad news? Social media algorithms are more sophisticated than that and you need a wide range of people to engage with your posts.

Does this mean you should tell the people who care about you not to like your posts? Of course not! What it means is that you should always be asking your fans and followers to engage with your posts – and giving them a reason to do so. Ask a question, encourage them to share your posts, and most of all, share content that’s useful and entertaining to them so they’ll want to engage with you.

You never know, sometimes family and friends can be great referrals for you should they have contacts that need what you offer!

 

#4: You Shouldn’t Schedule Posts on the Weekend

It’s a common trend for practices not to share new social media content on the weekend. While it’s true that some of your followers might not spend as much time on social media on the weekends as they do during the week, you shouldn’t assume that weekend content is unnecessary.

Instead, try scheduling a few weekend posts to see how they do. You can use Facebook Insights or whatever analytics tool you prefer to determine which days and times are the best for posting.

Social platforms don’t close down on the weekends nor does the attention of your audience. I’d recommend posting on the weekends!

 

#5: You Must Respond to Social Media Comments Immediately

There’s no doubt that it’s important to respond when a social media follower asks a question or leaves a comment. But responding in a timely manner doesn’t mean you must drop everything to respond immediately – with one exception.

If you have incorporated your patient support with social media, then you should be sure that you can respond as quickly as possible. A lot of practices have added chatbots to Facebook Messenger to minimize wait times for their patients.

However, a comment that doesn’t require patient support involvement can wait a little while for a response. As a rule, try to respond within 24 hours.

 

#6: Social Media Posts Must Always Be About Practice

Social media is social first and media second, but a lot of healthcare business owners forget that. 

Their social media posts are as dry as dust and don’t get any engagement. And they wonder why.

Don’t be afraid to inject some personality into your social media posts. Even if you offer a professional service, you can still use appropriate humor or compassion in your posts. This is the place to showcase your brand personality. Make sure that anybody who is empowered to post on your social media accounts understands the persona you want to project.

 

#7: You Need Endless New Content to Post

You need to have some new content to post on your social media sites. However, there’s nothing wrong with repurposing or resharing old content if you don’t have time to write something new.

Keep in mind, too, that you can “curate” content by finding articles in industry publications and posts from influencers to share with your followers. Provided that you keep the content you post relevant your followers will be happy to see it.

Curating content can be a rewarding method delivering different perspectives while saving time of producing your own original content all of the time!

 

#8: Social Media Marketing is Free

This final myth is one that I hear often. While it is free to set up a social media account for your practice, you’re unlikely to get the results you want without spending some money.

Social media algorithms have grown increasingly sophisticated. The only way you can be sure that your followers will see your most important content is to boost it. Social media marketing can help you get your content in front of potential patients. The good news is that you don’t need to spend much to get the results you want.

You can build a substantial audience rather quickly without a massive advertising budget. Our recommendation is to leverage social media to build an actual audience list in the form of email and sms list acquisition. Once you build this list, you have a true asset that pays for itself!

Consider these 8 myths…My recommendation is to contextualize them in your marketing and you’ll see your social media marketing results improve – and your practice grow.

So… if you are a private practice healthcare business owner and you are looking to grow and scale your practice or generate more new patients for the practice – we are here for you!  Drop a comment below if you have questions or if you’d like to set up a call with us go here: https://bit.ly/PIE-FB-Triage-Call 


3 Common Mistakes Everyone Makes Using Facebook Ads To Market Your Practice


Did you know that the average Facebook user clicks on 12 ads per month? It’s true – and it illustrates why Facebook ads are still one of the most cost-effective ways to connect with your target audience and promote your practice.

If only you weren’t messing them up…

Look, we can’t say whether your Facebook ads are perfect. Maybe they are. But the truth is that most people do mess them up – and the mistakes they make cause their ad campaigns to be more expensive (and less effective) than they should be.

Fortunately, there’s a quick fix. Once you understand the 3 most common mistakes people make, you can stop making them – and starting to get the results you deserve. Here they are.

#1: Targeting Ads to People Who Aren’t Already Fans 

There’s a few ways to think about this one…

This first mistake can be a real head scratcher for small healthcare business owners. Aren’t you supposed to use Facebook ads to grow your audience?

The short answer is no, not really. You can – and we’re not saying that you should never run an ad that targets new patients. But you’ll get more engagement and more clicks if you target the people who already like your company.

If you think about it, it should make sense. The people who follow you on Facebook are qualified leads. Some may have already bought from you but all of them are people who had enough interest in your company to click that Follow button. 

Running ads that appear only to followers is a great way to nurture leads, encourage repeat practice, and let your followers know that you want them to connect with you. 

But we get it. It’s the old “Which came first; the chicken or the egg?”

 

What if you don’t have a following or you want to grow your following?

 

If you are a practice, it makes sense to run awareness ads to your locale. ‘Like’ campaigns are still a valuable way to bring that attention and awareness to your FB Page and to your practice.

 

What makes that campaign that much more valuable is your subsequent ad strategy by running ads to people who are already familiar with your practice and those who want to do practice with you.

 

#2: Not Testing Your Ad Images 

Very few people can get an ad right the first time they create it. Even professional marketers struggle with creating ads that work and it’s what they do for a living.

A case in point? Ad images. 

The right image can stop someone mid-scroll and get them to click on your ad. The wrong image will make them ignore your ad or – worse – view it with disdain. 

The goal of your ad is to stop a browser from scrolling in the first place!

There’s only one way to find out which image will resonate the most with your target audience and that’s to test multiple images. 

Now, we’d be remiss if we didn’t say that you should be testing everything in your ads. But images have the potential to make or break your ad in a heartbeat and that means you should be prioritizing them. You may want to check out Facebook’s breakdown of ad image best practices, here.

 

#3: Not Segmenting Your Ads 

The third and final mistake we want to tell you about is one that may also be the most common: not segmenting your ads.

There’s no denying that it requires less effort to create a single ad to reach every follower. The problem is that an ad that’s highly appealing to one follower may be a complete dud for another. You’ll be better off thinking about the various segments of your target audience and creating an array of ads to appeal to each segment than to try to shoehorn everybody into the same box.

Let’s consider one potential example of this. Imagine a practice that has multiple service areas and locations. They create a single ad that targets their entire list of followers. That might be okay, but think about how much more successful they would be if they:

  • Created location-specific ads that let their followers in each service area know that they are a local company.
  • Used images that were tailored to each location.
  • Offered location-based incentives to people who click on each ad.

The main thing to remember is that it’s rare for a “one size fits all” ad to be as effective as an ad that is targeted to a specific segment of your audience. People are far more likely to respond favorably to an ad that is meant for them than to one that’s trying to be all things to all people.

Facebook ads are undeniably effective if you do them right. By reviewing your existing ads and eliminating the 3 mistakes we’ve outlined here, you’re likely to get more engagement, more clicks, and more leads than you are now – without spending more money.

So… if you are a private practice healthcare business owner and you are looking to grow and scale your practice or generate more new patients for the practice – we are here for you!  Drop a comment below if you have questions or if you’d like to set up a call with us go here: https://bit.ly/PIE-FB-Triage-Call