[Facebook Ads are driving lots of new dental patients to dental offices. Many dental offices don’t care about Facebook because business is good and they have plenty of patients. They feel they don’t need Facebook ads. All dental offices SHOULD care. Facebook is NOT creating new patients. Facebook ads are siphoning off ‘would be’ referrals, ‘new in town’ patients, high-value cosmetic & dental implant patients.]
ConversionSmiles is a dental patient marketing company focusing on dentist Google ads. We are not suggesting dental practices focus exclusively on Facebook ads. However, we do think dental Facebook ads should be part of the overall strategy for every dental practice.
Every day your dental practice is not testing dentist Facebook ads your competitors are likely becoming experts at the art and science of Facebook ads. Eventually, those other dental offices will have ninja skills when it comes to Facebook ads and your dental practice will be an amateur unable to compete.
Why Dental Practices Should Consider Facebook Ads?
OK, this is kind of obvious but dental offices want to fish where the fish are. The total Facebook audience in the United States is 214 million users. With more than 1.8 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most popular social network worldwide.
That means there are lots of prospective dental patients who you can market to easily and inexpensively in your area.
What about Instagram for dentists?
Aren’t people leaving Facebook for Instagram? Some people have left Facebook for Instagram. Some younger people are bypassing Facebook altogether and going right to Instagram.
Guess what? It doesn’t matter. Facebook owns Instagram. Facebook’s ad management tools allow dental offices to advertise directly on Facebook and Instagram.
Want to do smart dental patient marketing? Fish where the fish are! The fish (your prospective dental patients) are swimming in Facebook and Instagram!
How Much Do Dental Facebook Ads Cost?
Dental practices can start testing Facebook for as little as $20 per week. Once your dental office finds offers that work in your area you will obviously want to spend more money to find more dental patients.
If there was a store where you could by $10 bills for $2, how many would you buy?
Why Is Facebook Advertising For Dentists So Darn Powerful?
With Facebook, dental offices have the ability to get do dental patient marketing in an extremely targeted way they could never dream of before.
Want to target only dental patients within 10 miles of your dental office? No problem.
Want to target females ages 24-32? No problem.
Want to target a household with a certain income or net worth? No Problem.
Want to target recently engaged females for a teeth whitening campaign? No problem.
Want to target Moms of young kids to grow your pediatric dental office? No problem.
Why Free Social Posting On Facebook Does Not Work For Dentists Anymore.
When Facebook first became popular around 2010, Facebook made it easy for businesses to show their posts to their “Facebook fans” for free.
Facebook has changed how they do business. Today, if your dental practice posts something without an advertising boost, you can expect only 10 out of 100 of your Facebook followers will actually see the Facebook post in their feed.
Here’s how the New York Times describes the change to the Facebook algorithm.
“Facebook is making the changes by tinkering under the hood, reconfiguring its algorithms that guess what you may be most interested in. Here’s what it means for you. Publishers and brands are the losers. Facebook is not being coy about this: Those third-party organizations that took over large swaths of your News Feed years ago — sites that post funny pictures and memes, sell your clothing, or deliver articles about the world — will have the visibility of their posts scaled back under the new arrangement.” Source NYT Article January 2018
Why is Facebook For Dentists Still Relatively Cheap?
Facebook has an auction-based pricing model. Many local businesses still do not pay to advertise on Facebook so targeted local traffic can still be very inexpensive.
This is changing quickly! Facebook ad management is becoming a cottage industry. As more Facebook ad agencies appear, more businesses will advertise on the social network and prices will go up.
In the early days of Google ads, dentists could advertise for $.05 per click. We are still in the early days of Facebook advertising.
Why Facebook Ads Make More Sense For Dentists Than The Local Pizza Place.
A local pizza place is probably already known in their community. A successful Facebook ad for a pizza place might result in a $40 takeout order.
For a dental office, a $6 teeth whitening lead could result in a woman who becomes your ‘forever’ patient and brings along her family over decades.
What Types of Dentist Offices Are Using Facebook Ads?
Like with most technology, early adopters include the following type of dental practices.
Modern Dental Practices
Start-Up Dental Practices
Younger Dentists
Bold Dental Office Willing To Try Something New
Types Of Dental Patients Facebook Ads Are Attracting
Young Dental Patients
High-Value Dental Patients
In-Market Dental Patients
Motivated Dental Patients
Learn more about Dental Facebook Ads on our Dental Facebook Marketing For Dentists page.
ConversionSmiles is a dental patient marketing company.