The team at Dental Media provides a wide range of social media ad services for dentists and because of this we receive free consultancy services directly from Facebook to assist with our campaign management.<\/p>\n
Whilst we already have a lot of experience, Facebook\u2019s consultants have access to information that isn\u2019t directly available to third parties and hence they have better visibility than we do when it comes to assessing the performance of campaigns relative to others. This is particularly useful in competitive environments and helps to give an edge for our dental clients. Of course Facebook won\u2019t directly reference other people\u2019s campaigns by name, but they will give insights to help with incremental improvements \u2013 and this can make all the difference between mediocre performance and excellent performance.<\/p>\n
One of the key learning points from our discussion with Facebook\u2019s own experts is a clear idea of how Facebook\u2019s ad algorithm works. This is the \u201chidden\u201d mechanism which works out how your ads will be placed and works in conjunction with the targeting you set up when the campaigns are configured.<\/p>\n
In simple terms, Facebook\u2019s algorithm rewards success \u2013 so if your dental ads are popular<\/a> and users engage with them, Facebook learns this and preferentially shows them to people most likely to convert i.e. make an enquiry about your services.<\/p>\n Conversely, if your ads are unappealing and users don\u2019t engage, then Facebook will see these as less valuable and will preferentially show other ads to users rather than your own. This doesn\u2019t mean that your ads won\u2019t be shown at all, on the contrary. Indeed Facebook will still be very keen to use your budget. However, your ads will be seen as secondary compared to others which have historically proved more successful. Basically you won\u2019t be first past the post and by that stage, your treatment enquiry will likely have gone elsewhere.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n To make sure that Facebook sees your ads as being the most relevant and useful for its users, you need to ensure that they are engaging from the start. Remember that the pixel tracking code Facebook uses to track activity will pick up when an ad actually converts to an enquiry. This information feeds back to Facebook and the algorithm tunes accordingly. If your ads and associated landing pages aren\u2019t converting, then the algorithm can actually start to work against you.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve seen this happen where dentists are reluctant to work on a compelling value proposition for their ads and campaigns, relative to what is being offered by the competition. Users preferentially click on those ads which are more compelling and the less appealing ads get de-prioritised.<\/p>\n Like it or not, users are looking for a great deal when it comes to selecting dental services. Irrespective of what some business coaches might suggest, you need to demonstrate that your services are excellent and<\/strong> that they offer great value too. You can\u2019t just expect success on the back of appearing to be the best at what you do in your area \u2013 this will get you some business from the most discerning clients, but in a competitive niche such as Invisalign where there is lots of choice, don\u2019t make the mistake of thinking that price doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\nWhat does this mean for your own dental Facebook ads?<\/h3>\n
A compelling treatment proposition<\/h3>\n