Understanding Good Results with Facebook Marketing
By Distinct Advantage Partner
All of this applies to marketing with social media and, specifically, Facebook. (Other social platforms offer pay-per-click advertising, but don’t have the reach/benefit of Facebook quite yet.) To help in understanding the why, let’s pull back and view some of the basics of Facebook marketing:
- Tails through the door. The goal of marketing is to increase a business’s bottom line—either through new business or by increasing sales to existing customers. Marketing goals should change focus over time, but the goal should always be tails through the door.
- Facebook makes the rules. Many people have a difficult time swallowing the concept that Facebook makes the rules on Facebook and Instagram. When Facebook wanted to make more money from small businesses, it throttled back the possible reach from a simple post on a hospital’s page. Now, if a post is made, typically only 1–6 out of 100 people who “Like” a practice’s Facebook page will see the post. In order for everyone who Likes the page to see the post or message, money needs to be paid to Facebook. This is a very important why that paid advertising is required on Facebook and Instagram.
- Ongoing management, not “set it and leave it”. In the golden age of yellow pages advertising, people created one ad a year, set it, and left it. Today, online digital marketing of all forms requires constant attention and management. If working internally or externally with a company that is not touching the hospital’s ads, campaigns, etc., on a consistent weekly basis, then changes need to be made to work with someone who has the time to provide constant maintenance. Otherwise, the costs could very well outrun the desired results.
- Advertising works well. Here at Beyond Indigo, we have been utilizing Facebook advertising since it became a “thing” over five years ago. We have seen increased tails through the door with ad campaigns that focus on specific goals. Most campaigns are $100 to $300 dollars. For example:
Union Lake Veterinary Hospital (ULVH) is thrilled with its recently wrapped December donation campaign. ULVH pledged $5 in services and supplies to a local rescue for each new Page Like received in December. Beyond Indigo ran paid advertising and coordinated with the rescue director to promote the campaign to their fans and followers. ULVH received 5,055 new Page Likes in December, raised $25,275 for the rescue, and received 17 new reviews and a ton of positive comments, visitor posts, private messages, etc. This almost doubled their Facebook following and it is now full of devoted dog lovers who are grateful for their work with the rescue. We're going to build on that throughout the year as ULVH partners with the rescue for events, vaccine clinics and other areas where they will cross-promote.
The road to tails through the door
Today, we don’t just “pop” up an ad, like a yellow pages display from eons ago, and wait for the tails to flood through the door. Online advertising works differently because of the data-rich environment in which it operates. Facebook alone has 92 unique variables that can be combined to target the specific demographics that most likely would utilize a hospital’s services.
For example, clearly an ad should focus on people who have pets, money to pay for the services, and are in the geographical area of the practice. However, from there, more refinement can be added. Once an ad is created, there are indicators that should be monitored to fine-tune the campaign even further. Whether paid advertising is being managed in-house or by a marketing agency, business owners should understand the following terms:
- Click-Through Rate (CTR). How many people click on an ad is called the click-through rate. The higher the CTR, the more likely someone is going to do the something the ad wants them to do. For example, if an ad is about boarding, a person would then make a boarding reservation. When an action is taken, it is called a conversion. A CTR is usually defined in percentages. A typical/average CTR across all industries has been defined as:
“The average click-through rate (CTR) for Facebook ads across all industries is 0.90 percent.” (https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/02/28/facebook-advertising-benchmarks)
For the veterinary space, across our clients here at Beyond Indigo, we have found the average CTR is 1.25 percent. When running ads, make sure that the CTR is running at least 0.9 percent, but more toward 1.25 percent. If it’s not, the ad needs to be fine-tuned to achieve better results.
- Cost-Per-Click (CPC). Facebook wants money—period. To run an ad costs money but, as a company, a hospital needs to keep a handle on its costs. The number that should be monitored is cost-per-click. WordStream reports that across industries the average CPC is $1.72. However, this varies based on the type of campaign, who is targeted, timing, etc. The results should be outweighing the costs of the campaign. If it is the other way around, then adjustments need to be made.
"Combining the data that the online marketing generated and the results that were created in the practice will give the complete story."
Wait—marketing doesn’t stop at the click
Many marketing programs come to a screeching halt once the click has been made. The real result happens after the click. Did the click generate a new appointment? A boarding reservation? Scheduled dental cleaning? Whatever the ad on Facebook was trying to generate, did that happen?
This is where feedback from the hospital is essential. The person who is assigned to work with the marketing person/team needs to provide feedback by reviewing internal data. For example, were more dentals done? A report should be pulled to see if there is an increase for that service. Combining the data that the online marketing generated and the results that were created in the practice will give the complete story. If the click is generating great results, then it is doing its job. If it’s somewhat lackluster to just plain dismal, changes need to be made to get the results needed.
Beyond Indigo is an expert in Facebook and social media paid advertising. We can also manage a hospital’s social media brand. We know how to generate revenue and tails through the door by increasing conversions and dropping the cost per conversion. We focus on results first and discuss costs second. Beyond Indigo has been on the cutting edge of digital marketing for the last 20 years. We deeply know how Facebook and social media work, are Google AdWords Partners, and can expertly manage reviews to integrate and enhance the rest of a hospital’s marketing to empower clicks to websites. Call Melissa Neff at 877.244.9322, ext. 100, or email her at Melissa@BeyondIndigo.com to have us assist you!
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