Do you want to promote your practice on Facebook? Did you know that for as little as a few dollars a day you can see real, measurable results? Here’s a few tips on how to maximize the effectiveness and longevity of your investment.

According to a recent report by eMarketer, Facebook’s piece of the mobile market pie went from zero in 2011 to 5.3 percent in 2012 and wound up at about 15.8 percent in 2013. So, how can you reach these patients and create Facebook ads that work?

Focus on the News Feed, Forget the Right-Hand Column

facebook ads

This is the default “Create Your Audience” screen when setting up an ad for one of our clients. Spend some time here because reaching 180,000,000 people won’t really help fill your clinic schedule (trust us).

Have you used Facebook on a mobile device recently?

Notice that there is no right-hand column – which means you must focus some of your content on News Feed placements.

With 60 percent of all users visiting Facebook on their phone or tablet, this is not a segment you’ll want to miss out on. In fact, according to a study by SocialCode, Facebook mobile ads earn up to 2.5 times more than their desktop-only counterparts.

How can you ensure your ad will show up on your target’s mobile News Feed?

You must use the Facebook Power Editor – which is essentially a fancy term for their advanced editing tool to give you more options when creating your ads. In the editor you’ll find a “Placements” feature that allows you to select where your ad will display for users – their desktop News Feed, mobile-only News Feed or both.

When choosing one of these options, note that your ad will be seen in the News Feed and not in the right-hand column. Ever. In our opinion, that’s a great thing, because when was the last time you looked over there for anything?

Thought so.

More people will show engagement (clicks, “likes”, “comments” and “shares”) when the story appears in the News Feed.

Use Targeted Advertising

Don’t have a huge fan base yet?

Well, you should… but we digress. Kidding aside, to ensure you get the most “bang for your buck,” consider selecting a very specific target for your ad or promotion. Rather than trying to reach 10,000,000 people in the U.S., consider your primary demographic.

We’ve seen this work time and time again for clients. By boosting a post on your wall for just $5, you will reach about 5x the amount of people and you will easily double the amount of likes on your post.

Are you a pediatrician looking to reach moms with kids under 12-years-old on iPhones?

You got it. Facebook makes it very easy to choose target demographics. Although this will lower your total reach, it will help place you in front of the exact audience needed to build your practice and grow your social media presence.

Also, consider using the “Sponsored Stories” option to help people discover your office through their friends. No increase in budget is required and this has been reported by some of our clients to work very well (you know, the whole, “Well, if she likes them, they must be good,” thing).

Promoted Posts Can Help Increase Engagement

facebook ads

Promoted posts will help you increase your likes, comments and shares in just a few hours.

Although it’s great to reach new people and put a lot of advertising dollars into making new fans, sometimes the most powerful patients are the ones you’ve already got.

Promoting posts is one of the best ways to get more people to look at your status updates. When someone has never heard of you and they see your promoted post, odds are they will treat it like spam.

You’ve probably seen a few of these ads yourself when perusing your News Feed. But, if a fan of your page sees your promoted post and they’re already familiar with your practice, odds are they trust you and are more willing to engage with you on some level.

Putting Your Ad Out There

Don’t be afraid to try a few different ads and audiences when experimenting with the Facebook ad tool at first. One of the great things about advertising on Facebook is that you have complete control over the budget and you can monitor results and return essentially why they happen. Now get going. We hope you “like” what you see.