Advertising is not new to the profession of Optometry. And I’m sure it’s not new to you either. Chances are you may advertise in your local Yellow Pages. You may run local radio spots. You might even have a local TV commercial. That’s all good stuff to market your practice.
As I’m sure you know, more and more people are participating in social networks online with Facebook leading the pack with over 400,000,000 active users. It’s simply incredible – that’s more people than we have as U.S. citizens. Why not get started advertising on Facebook?
If you’re on Facebook, you’ve probably noticed advertisements located in the right hand margin. There are some savvy marketers who are taking advantage of Facebook Advertising. Here are some case studies taken directly from Facebook:
“I have found [Facebook Ads] SO effective. My business wouldn’t be anywhere close to where it is today if it weren’t for Facebook, and the ads campaign.” –Chris Meyer, President, CM Photographics
“Facebook helped our client target a specific audience and offer a solution for their specific needs. Offering college students self storage right at the end of the semester with Facebook Ads helped StorQuest post record-breaking student occupancy rates.” –Dan Hobin, CEO, G5 Search Marketing (StorQuest Self Storage)
Getting started with Facebook Ads is quick and easy. You can create either image-based or text-based ads. You can advertise your own web page or a Facebook Page or Event. You can choose to pay on a cost per click (CPC) basis or on an impression (CPM) basis in your local currency. Remember, Facebook caters to a global audience, so it’s important to use their ad targeting features to make sure your ad is seen by the right people in the right places.
Facebook provides easy-to-use tools for tracking your progress with real-time reporting. By using them, you will gain insight about who’s clicking on your ad. You can use your insights to adjust and optimize the ad.
As an eyecare professional, you may want to create ads around various themes. For example, you might create an ad centered around Annual Exams, Back to School, Holidays, or Year End Flexible Savings Accounts to name a few.
Facebook’s demographic targeting features provide a whole bunch of ways for you to pin point who will see your ad. You can target your ads by country, state/province, city, and metropolitan areas. All advertisements are required to have a location selected. Getting creative with the demographic factors will help your find your market successfully. You can also target your ad by Age, Keywords, Education, Workplaces, Relationship Status, and Languages - If your ad is in English but the user speaks only Chinese, it may best to avoid displaying your ad to them.
Try to create a long term connection with people who click on your ad. Find a way to make friends with Facebook users before selling to them. This is a more long term approach to building a relationship with them. Instead of advertising an exam and having a user view the ad and then move on without scheduling, you might invite them to become a fan of your page and get a special offer as a Facebook fan, for example - download a special coupon. So if they’re not ready for an exam the day they see your ad, you can still connect with them and start building your relationship with them.
Now you’ll have someone who’s interested and will remember you and your practice since they’ll be getting updates from you on Facebook. Clicking on your Facebook ad will be the first step in your relationship marketing.
To Get Started with Facebook Advertising, simply visit Facebook.