What if you have the best copy, images, and offer, but you’re still not getting likes or comments on your Facebook or Instagram posts? The problem might be that you’re still using Facebook like it’s 2015.
I’ve been using Facebook to market my practice for a long time. Back when I first started and was deep in debt, it was the best way to stretch my limited marketing budget. As I got more knowledgeable about it, I realized it was the best way to market a dental practice no matter what your budget.
But Facebook has changed over the years. Years ago, everyone who liked your page would see every post of yours. As people commented, others would see it. You could make a post go viral without spending a penny.
Facebook became concerned that people’s feeds would become too business-focused. To avoid people leaving Facebook because their feeds became a never-ending run of promotions, they slowly started throttling organic reach. Now, it’s not uncommon for a post to reach only a very small percentage of people who like your page.
While that may make it feel like Facebook is no longer effective for promoting a practice, the opposite is true. In fact, Facebook is as effective as it ever has been, and you can stand out even more if you know how to get more engagement on your posts.
A Common Frustration for Dental Facebook Pages
If you’ve been following Delivering WOW for any amount of time, you know the importance of Facebook for dentists. In particular, you know how important it is to create engaging Facebook posts for your dental practice.
But what if you’ve done everything right and you still get no results? I recently had a conversation with a Delivering WOW U member who was having this challenge.
They were frustrated that nobody was liking or commenting on their posts on Facebook (and Instagram, too). I had a look at their Facebook page. I had a look at their Instagram page. Everything was amazing.
Their content was incredible. They had a bunch of videos. Their team was planning out campaigns for holidays and celebrations. Their posts showed people they had an amazing practice culture and were having fun. But they had very little engagement.
Why Facebook (and Instagram) Posts Don’t Get Much Engagement
After looking at their Facebook and Instagram posts, the problem became clear. Their pages weren't the problem. Their posts weren't the problem. Their target audiences (or lack thereof) was the problem.
A few years ago, their posts would be going viral on a regular basis. They’d be growing their pages and getting incredible engagement by doing exactly what they were doing now. But Facebook and Instagram changed their algorithms a few times since then, and their posts sat there without any engagement.
I asked her whether she was boosting her posts. She wasn’t. In fact, she had never boosted a post. She had amazing content, but nobody was seeing it.
How to Look at Facebook (and Instagram) in 2018 and Beyond
Imagine you could find a magazine that was read by thousands of ideal patients every day. You come up with a great promotion with beautiful artwork, copy, and a compelling offer. If you just sent it in to the publisher, nothing would happen. A few people in their office might see it, but they wouldn’t put it in the magazine. It would just stay on the publisher’s desk until you paid them.
Facebook is only slightly better than that today. If you post an amazing post, a few people might see it, but you have no idea if those people are ideal patients. They might be friends from across the country. They could be random people who like your page. For all intents and purposes, nobody will see your post.
How to Get More Engagement on Facebook (and Instagram) Posts
Although Facebook and Instagram allow you to post for free, you need to spend a few dollars boosting your posts to relevant audiences to get real value in return.
That’s a good thing for two reasons. First, it allows you to be very specific with the type of people who see your posts. You can target people based on behavior, income, wealth, location, and more. This helps you ensure you’re attracting the right people to your practice.
Second, it allows you to reach people who don’t like your page. You can target people who have never heard of you. You can target people who visit your website but don’t like your Facebook page. You can even create “lookalike audiences” full of people who share characteristics of your patients or website visitors. Here are three Facebook ad targeting audiences every dental office needs to set up.
You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars boosting posts to get good results, either. I generally start with a few dollars and increase it from there. To this day, I only spend around $500 per month in Facebook advertising and regularly attract dozens of new patients to my practice each month. Many of these patients come in for high-profit procedures such as Invisalign, dental implants, and crowns.
Similarly, Dr. Ashley Joves got hundreds of leads and had 50 people schedule appointments before she even opened the doors of her new practice with an ad budget of only $650.
By boosting your post, you can target people who are more likely to be interested in your practice. They’re more likely to engage with your post. They’re also more likely to become a patient.
If you’re struggling to get engagement on your posts, consider investing a few dollars to boost key posts to targeted audiences.
If you want more help growing, running, and marketing your practice, sign up for your 14-day trial to Delivering WOW U. There, you will find my best training, systems, strategies, and dental software suggestions. You’ll also find exclusive deals and discounts from the best dental product and service providers.
You can also join my free Dental Marketing and Profits Facebook group, where thousands of dentists and I help each other build better practices.
Finally, if you want even more personalized help, sign up for my next business bootcamp session, where I work directly with you and a small group of other dentists to improve your dental practice.
This article originally appeared on DeliveringWow.com.