We left off in Part 1 talking about 2 of the 5 changes Facebook has made in 2012 that will help dentists acquire more new patients & retain a greater portion of existing ones throughout the upcoming year…you can read part 1 here.
The $64,000 question left dangling back in 2012 that we’ll answer now, was how could page owners (you or us) target all – or a significantly larger portion of – our fans, followers, and dental pied pipers?
Here are a few ways to do that…
Sponsored Stories, Page Post Ads, & Promoted Posts
Facebook changes affected what and how their EdgeRank algorithm displays info about how your audience interacts with your Timeline…and beyond. If you haven’t been following all the dental social media hubbub, only roughly 10% of page fans or followers actually see posts from pages they ‘Liked.’
Without getting into the intricacies of Facebook’s EdgeRank or social analytics, or ways to increase your page post reach – another conversation & blog post – dental Facebook page owners can now pay to have their most important posts play to a larger segment of their target audience with Sponsored Stories, Page Post Ads, or Promoted Posts.
With ‘Promoted Posts‘, you can simply choose if you want to increase your reach – and by how much – without leaving the page or having to deal with any confusing multi-step process or advertisingspeak.
Here is a snapshot of the Promoted Posts option:
‘Sponsored Stories‘ are really only effective for large group practices specifically promoting an event or special announcement. It’s somewhat confusing to set up as the advertising dashboard (and all its confusing vocabulary) and a multi-step process comes into the equation.
‘Page Post Ads‘ are another option to have your links, images, videos, offers, questions, or status updates play to not only your Facebook fans but also people who are not even connected with you – yet. What begins as a regular page post disseminates into ads shown in the sidebar or Newsfeed – but again, you need to use the ad tool or Facebook’s Ad Tool, Power Editor, or API to setup…you’re good with that right?
It’s definitely not as complicated as a root canal for those that want to dive in head first.
If not, forget about the game-changing social dental tactics some best of breed opportunistic dentists are already deploying with a dose of social PPC, a sprinkle of Marketplace Ads, & a pinch of Facebook Exchange for an extended retargeted remarketed social dental reach.
We didn’t even get into mobile yet either, but that’s a more in-depth conversation for another day. If you think mobile advertising on Facebook is useless for dentists, the socially adept mobile ad equipped dentists won’t try to change your mind.
*Click the link to download the official Facebook Ads Create User Guide
Facebook Gifts
Facebook has ventured into ecommerce, we can now send and receive gifts to or from friends…here are some ideas on how dental practices could possibly use this (or any next generation future version) to acquire new patients by socially sharing some local dentistry.
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Valentine’s Day (Fresh breath products, kits, promos…)
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Wedding Day favors (Bride & Groom give Whitening Pens, At Home Kits…Office Appts…)
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Girls spa day (create the package much like you would with Groupon)
There is a catch though; Facebook requires local businesses to contact them before showcasing their ‘gifts’ (products or services). You can do so by clicking here. No promises, but we’re betting donuts to dollars (we prefer confectionery payment) this little diddy of social commerce gets a re-tooling in 2013.
New Facebook Admin Roles
OK maybe we’re the only ones excited about this small change in administrative oversight of your dental Facebook Timeline, but now page owners have 5 different admin roles to apply toward specific users responsible for page management.
Here is a look at the 5 different types of Page Admins:
How does this Facebook change enable dentists to acquire more new patients?
Simple, many times existing page admins (us for example) are not in the same time zone as the dental practice…so when someone comments or asks a question, there is often a time lag in responding.
That is a new patient lead dying on the vine…like someone calling your office to schedule an appointment and being put on hold immediately.
It goes something like this; we see the comment then call and email the dental office – usually within 2 hours at most. Since the front desk always thinks anyone calling a dental office that is not a patient is only trying to sell something (they are already members BTW) and they usually never check email until it’s overflowing with spam, those messages about Facebook comments or questions usually go unanswered.
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What if this person was inquiring about your Holiday schedule?
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Or how your office is handling patient parking with the ongoing construction??
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Or how they can make an appointment for their Facebook friend???
Open the lines of communication, delegate functions, and use the Page Admin tools to improve dental Facebook efficiency, and then make sure the system is working!
Now you and your team can use these dental social media tools to both enhance your dental practice Facebook page and engage your audience from a more personal perspective.
Those aren’t the only changes Facebook has thrust upon dental practices and local businesses in 2012; WordPress plugins, scheduling apps, Instagram photo sharing, messaging page owners, and privacy alterations aside, what changes do you foresee Facebook finagling in 2013?
Rumor has it a Facebook phone could be on the way sooner rather than later…or is it a search engine functionality…or maybe something we don’t even know about…
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