Facebook Ads for Dentists

More traffic, more exposure, more dental patients, and more revenue. Don’t you wish you can get them without having to go through the strenuous process of SEO?

While it’s always possible to get on the first page of Google using the right SEO strategies, it can take you six months or even more. What if you need online traffic now?

Three words: Dental Facebook Ads.

 As of this post, there are more than 4 million advertisers cashing in on Facebook’s ad platform to reach their target audience. What’s more, the social media giant has an advertising audience of 2.14 billion. Imagine that!

And here’s the icing on the cake: The average cost per click on Facebook for healthcare industries is $1.32. No wonder dental marketers are going gaga over Facebook Ads!

 Sure, one might say that creating quality Facebook content is essential to any marketing strategy, but they fail to realize that ad campaigns are just as useful.

Dentist holding phone with Facebook App open

 Facebook advertisements give businesses the freedom to hyper-target audiences based on demographics, interests, and behaviors - and this is what makes their advertising platform stand out from the rest.

 As a dental practitioner who’s itching to attract new patients as soon as possible, Facebook ads for dentists should be your best bet.

 

Why Facebook Ads for Dentists?

So, what’s all the fuss about Facebook ads? Why are thousands in the dental industry around the world running them? How can they help you with your dental practice?

 Here are three reasons:

Precise Targeting

Facebook always outranks its competition, thanks to its precise targeting options. Unlike most social platforms, it allows advertisers to narrowly target audiences according to various factors they input.

 For example, you can use Facebook Ads Manager to create dental ads and target Facebook users based on the options you set.

Cost-Efficient Marketing

Advertising your dental practice on Facebook is way cheaper than traditional advertising like radio or newspaper.

On average, Facebook ads cost $0.97 per click and $7.19 for every 1,000 impressions.

With more than a billion active users, and the advanced targeting that lets you hit your audience on the nose, it’s not surprising that Facebook ads have become one of the most cost-efficient marketing tactics out there.

Reach New Audiences

Another great thing about Facebook ads is that they let you give you an opportunity to reach out to people other than your target audience. 

Image Source: Something Great 

Your dental clinic can also target users who are likely to take an interest in your practice. By using Facebook Lookalike Audiences, you can find and target users who share similarities to your current customer base.

 

Your Guide to Creating a Dental Facebook Ad

Now that you know how powerful Facebook ads for dentists can be to your practice, let’s look at some of the best tips to publish an effective Facebook campaign.

 1.  Choose a Goal

Before creating a dental Facebook ad, think of the goals you want to achieve. It’s important to know what your business goals are in order to choose the right objective. Your ad objective is what you want Facebook users to do when they stumble upon your ads.

 For instance, if your purpose is to drive more people to your dental website, you can create attractive ads that encourage them to do so. Here are other ad objectives to consider:

  • Reach new patients who are looking for a dentist
  • Build and spread awareness of your dental practice
  • Get leads to convert and choose you as their dentist
  • Get leads to contact you and learn more about your dental business
Screenshot of Facebook Ads manager

2.  Determine Your Target Audience

Once you have your goals all mapped out, it’s time to decide who your target audience are.

 For your campaign to be a success, you need to identify your ideal patients first. That way, your dental Facebook ads can catch their attention.

 With Facebook’s advanced targeting options, you can target audience based on the following:

  • Demographics (age, location, gender, family status, language)
  • Behaviors and other categories (buying habits, income, device usage, hobbies)
  • Interests (liked pages on Facebook)
  • Lookalike audience (users with similar attributes and interests as your audience)
  • Custom audience (information you’ve collected about your audience, including email, address, and phone number)
  • Connections (audience members that like your dental clinic’s page)

 

3.  Pick the Best Ad Type for Your Dental Practice

Dental patients want ads that are relevant to their needs, which is why you should choose the best type for your dental Facebook ad.

Aside from image or video ads, Facebook offers other forms of advertising which can help boost your dental practice.

 

l  Stories

Story ads are just like traditional videos ads. The only difference is, they are in full-screen vertical format. This means that they can provide more engagement since there’s nothing to divert your audience’s attention from your ad.

 

l  Slideshow Ads

With slideshow ads, you can promote your dental business by creating short videos using a collection of text, images, or video clips. What makes these ads great is that you can tell a story through it, and it’s up to you to organize its flow to give your audience an immersive experience.

 

l  Promoted Posts

Also known as boosted posts, promoted posts allow you to advertise an organic post on your dental Facebook page. You have the option to boost any post you publish so that your followers can always see your updates.

 

l  Instant Experiences

Similar to stories, Facebook Instant Experience ads are displayed in full screen. These ads let you place a fast-loading landing page straight on Facebook’s mobile platform, saving your audience time to convert to your dental practice.

 

l  Carousels

You can use carousel ads to feature up to 10 images in a single Facebook ad for dentists.

 For example, in one ad, you can highlight the types of dental services you offer. In another, you can give potential patients a sneak peek of your clinic. This is your chance to show your audience why you’re the real deal!

 

4.  Personalize Your Facebook Ads for Dentist to Speak Directly to Your Audience

We gotta admit, writing ad copy can get pretty monotonous at times.

 As much as possible, resist that tiny voice in your head telling you to rush through your dental ad copy or use bland text. A little TLC can go a long way. Trust us, the benefits you’ll reap will be far greater.

 A powerful ad copy should resonate with your ideal patients. A Facebook ad saying “best dentist in the city” isn’t enough to get people flocking to your dental clinic. You need to do more than that - customize your messaging.

 Before working on your dental ad, imagine talking to your audience as if they were standing right in front of you. That’s how you should write your copy. Be authentic and unique.

 Here’s a good example for pediatric dentists:

Image Source: Bristol Marketing Group

 

 

5.  Use a Local Approach

As with any dental practitioners in your city, you want your dental Facebook ad to target your local area.

 Facebook gives you the choice to target leads based on your location, and it can even set up geofencing for your ads. With geofencing, you can target people as they physically get closer to your dental clinic.

 All Facebook ads allow you to adjust your location targeting according to radius, as what you can see below:

 Image Source: Social Media Examiner 

6.  Show Off Your Dental Team

Nothing says getting personal like featuring the smiling faces that make up your dental staff. They don’t call it Facebook for no reason!

 Featuring your team is the best way to build rapport and familiarity with new patients. You can post individual photos along with a short bio of each member, a group photo of the entire dental team, or even videos of their daily routine.

 By seeing their radiant personalities shine, potential patients will want to pick up their phones and book an appointment.

Image Source: WebFX 

Like the staff here at St. Lucie’s Center for Cosmetic Dentistry, you can post holiday photos greeting your audience.

 

7.  A/B Test Your Dental Facebook Ad Copy

A/B testing is crucial to any ad campaign. Just ask any successful advertiser.

 A/B testing allows you to pit one ad against another to determine which gets better results. Running some A/B tests continuously helps you upgrade your ads, engage your audience, and optimize your results.

 After you come up with clever headlines, images, and CTAs (calls-to-action), test each of them out to see whether they can easily tempt potential prompt patients to click on.

 Tweak the setup of your dental ads and landing pages, show them to different subgroups of your audience, and you’ll be able to identify which ad works best for lead generation.

 Unless you test different versions, you won’t know what setup is best at enticing your target audience and converting them.

 

Dentist taking a photo of a smiling patient

It’s Time to Grow Your Practice with Facebook Dental Ads!

While it’s a given that Facebook ads for dentists should be a part of your dental marketing plan, you don’t have to be the one doing the dirty work. Balancing your time between taking care of your patients and creating ads will give you nothing but gray hair and sunken eyes. 

This is where we come in.

We don’t mean to brag, but our marketing team here at Digital Resource has an impressive track record of success with dental businesses across America. Don’t believe us? Partner with us and you’ll see what we’re talking about!

Besides that, we also offer a range of award-winning digital marketing services that will no doubt take your dental practice to the next level. Feel free to reach us here.