Dental practices are increasingly turning to social media advertising (we’re talking Facebook and Instagram) as part of their core patient acquisition strategy. We see social media advertising as a blue ocean for dental practices seeking new patient growth, and here’s why…
For every person who turns to a search engine to find a solution to their desires for [insert reason] (a better smile, more confidence, less pain)… there are another 4-5 people who haven’t yet taken the step to do something about their problem.
This is the blue ocean…
Those 4-5 people who sit on the fence when it comes to taking action.
That is, of course… until they see a well targeted advertisement that seems to follow them around everywhere they go. And then they take that step. They make an enquiry. Because your ad really resonated with them. Compelling them to take action.
Social media advertising is a perfect strategy for practices seeking to be more visible within their local area (we call this ‘achieving local area domination’) right through to cosmetic dental practices wanting to attract more high end treatments through targeted advertising.
So how do you win in the blue ocean? How do you outperform your competition?
Here are 7 tips to leverage social media advertising for your dental practice:
#01
Know the difference between organic content and paid advertising. Ads are for lead generation (aka bringing new enquiries to your clinic). Organic content helps to build know, like and trust with your page followers. Ads give you targeted reach. Organic content builds trust. They both work together but serve completely different purposes.
#02
Know your target audience. Right down to the benefits and anxieties of that specific target market that you're going after. Your advertising messaging and offer then must align with this. Getting this right can mean the difference between 5-10x returns on your advertising investment and, well... nada.
#03
Be different. Imagine your target market seeing exactly the same ads and the same offer from you and your competitors. Where's the differentiation? Your advertising is your opportunity to build brand awareness and connection with your local audience.
#04
Respond to your enquiries quickly, within 5 minutes. If you want leads to answer their phones when you call, then make sure to call them within 5 minutes of their enquiry.
#05
Use scripts and follow a process to understand the needs of your prospects (including what it was about the ad that made them decide to reach out) before offering to book them in for an appointment. Not every practice takes 5-mins to learn more about their patient’s current situation and what they’re looking for prior to offering to book them for a consultation. Your patients will notice the difference.
#06
Use personalised booking reminders to make contact with your leads at least 48 hours before their appointment. It helps to lift show up rates but also builds towards a 5-star client experience.
#07
Use a lead management tool or CRM for collecting the valuable details of all of the enquiries that are generated from your ad campaigns. Not only will a CRM (we provide our clients exclusive access to our RAPIDconvert platform) help you to track your ROI from case acceptances, but you can later use emails and SMS campaigns to reactivate prospects and generate new booked appointments without spending money on ads.
