One of the best benefits of growing your Facebook page audience is the social proof it provides when people are looking to choose a new dentist.
When people come across your Facebook page and see that their friends or family members like your page, they become more likely to either call their friend or family member to ask about you or be comforted enough by the fact that their Facebook friend publicly likes your page to make an appointment.
Typically, all of that happens on Facebook and requires people to discover your Facebook page in order to see which of their friends like your page. With the free Facebook Page plugin, however, you can now take advantage of that same powerful social proof right on your website.
The best part is it only takes a few minutes to set up your Facebook Page plugin. Here’s how it works.
What is the Facebook Page Plugin?
The Facebook Page plugin is a piece of code that Facebook will generate for you that allows you to promote your Facebook page right on your website so your web visitors can like your Facebook page without leaving your site.
When you install the code, your website visitors will see a miniature version of your Facebook page in a small box that shows your cover photo, a tab to like your Facebook page, a tab to watch the featured video, and even a list of their friends who like your page, with their friends’ profile images prominently displayed. That is where it gets powerful and can lead to an immediate Facebook page like or appointment.
If you don’t have your practice’s Facebook Page plugin installed, here’s how you can get yours in a matter of minutes.
How to Create Your Custom Facebook Page Plugin
Currently, this is the page to create your Facebook page plugin code, but Facebook changes their pages from time to time, so if this doesn’t work, just Google “Facebook Page plugin,” and it should come right up. When you get to the page, all you need to do is copy and paste your Facebook page URL into the box that says “Facebook Page URL.”
That will create a box using Facebook’s standard dimensions and options. If you like that look and those options, all you need to do is click Get Code and either give it to your web developer or copy and paste it into your website at the appropriate place. Each website platform has a different place, but it’s a simple copy and paste either way. The only difference is where you put it.
Although the standard options are okay, it looks a bit long and doesn’t have all the best social proof elements active by default, so I recommend you customize your code.
How to Customize Your Custom Facebook Page Plugin to Get the Best Results
To get the maximum benefit of the social proof, however, I suggest you customize your Facebook Page plugin for the best results.
The first thing I suggest you do is to improve how the plugin looks. To do so, I suggest you insert 300 in both the height and width fields. This will create a nice-looking square version of your Facebook page. I also suggest you check the box that says “adapt to plugin container width,” which will help you make sure the width of your plugin will fit your site’s column width. This is a good option to make sure your plugin looks good on your page.
I also recommend you check the box that says “Show Friends’ Faces.” This is how you activate the feature to show pictures of people’s Facebook friends who like your page when they land on your site. I always recommend people select this option to take advantage of that potential influence.
Finally, although you can also elect to show only a small version of your header image and remove your cover photo, I suggest leaving those unchecked. Having a large header image and including your cover photo makes the plugin look more familiar and authentic. I suggest you don’t select those two options.
Get Your Custom Code
Once you’ve customized the look of your Facebook Page plugin, click the “Get Code” button.
Facebook will then generate your custom code to paste on your site. Depending on the platform your site is built on, the code you want and the place you will paste it will be different. If you want help finding your code, pasting it on your site, or learning more ways to use Facebook to grow your practice, join our free Facebook group, where thousands of dentists are helping each other grow their practices.
You could also reach out to your web developer to guide you.
Facebook will give you both avaScript SDK and IFrame options. The IFrame option is an html code you can paste in a WordPress text widget, so if your site is built on WordPress, you can click the IFrame option, copy the code, and paste it into a text widget where you want it on your site, and you’ll be all set.
Don’t let this last step stop you from using this great social proof. If you don’t have a web developer, ask for help in our free Facebook group! You can also get access to my full Facebook course and more inside Delivering WOW U. Sign up for your no-risk trial today!