Why Increasing Facebook Ad Spend Is Important in Today’s Market
Let’s face it—Facebook is too big of a social media and advertising powerhouse to ignore. As one of the first platforms able to uniquely target potential patients based on their demographic details, Facebook presents a major opportunity for services that rely on niche marketing. With this in mind, it is no surprise that Facebook ads are key when it comes to generating growth for medical and dental practices.
As of late 2019, there are over 2.41 billion active Facebook users per month. This figure has increased from the 2.13 billion monthly users recorded in 2018, suggesting that whether one is mindlessly scrolling or actively trying to generate new business, Facebook’s reign shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. In light of the many opportunities for practice exposure, advertising on social media platforms is crucial to the success of your practice—it’s currently where both current and future patients hang out!
What About Organic Reach?
Your digital advertising goal is to get your brand in front of as many eyes as you can. Facebook ads can play a huge role in helping you reach the right audience—your audience. In addition to great content and beautiful design, the ultimate success of your Facebook ad campaign is greatly influenced by your advertising budget.
Facebook’s algorithms are subject to constant change and one such transition has greatly influenced the way businesses optimize their marketing strategies. In 2014, Facebook set an objective to make News Feed about connection-based interactions rather than users consuming media in isolation. The result was that posts on News Feed shifted ranking and users were presented with more relevant info as opposed to all info. Consequently, the organic reach of advertisements—the number of people who see your ad without paid distribution—steadily declined. According to a study done by DataBox®, 67 percent of marketers agree that organic reach for their ads has gotten more difficult since the algorithm change and Facebook has become more “pay-to-play.” Simply put, if you want to see results via Facebook ads, an increase in ad-spend is important in today’s market—especially for plastic surgeons, dentists, and other elective healthcare professionals.
You Are Competing for Ad Space
Given that 93% of companies advertise on Facebook, there is a great deal of competition for ad space. Relatively speaking, marketers in the health and beauty sector—such as plastic surgeons and cosmetic dentists—have one of the highest cost-per-click (CPC) rates, meaning they require a higher budget to see results. On top of that, the female demographic most healthcare clients seek to reach requires a higher CPC budget than males for the same objective. (This may be the result of many business-to-consumer companies marketing to females on Facebook.) All of these factors lead to one simple truth: the more specific your target audience, the more ad dollars you will have to invest.
Targeting Specific Audiences and Action Goals Costs More
The more targeted your audience and action goal (link clicks, video views, post engagement, etc.), the higher the cost per action. For example, the health and beauty industry’s target audience is very specific. This group is comprised of particular characteristics: age, gender, interests, income, behavior, and other demographics. Marketers leverage Facebook’s targeting capabilities to pinpoint audiences that match these qualities to ensure their ad dollars aren’t being used to present an ad to someone who would not likely be interested. So in short, higher ad budgets allow an ad to deliver the targeted actions to a distinct audience, maximizing the value of each dollar spent.
How Much Should My Ad Budget Be?
You know that popular phrase, “It takes money to make money”? This is one of those instances. In fact, many marketing professionals recommend that 1/3 of your entire digital advertising budget should be spent on Facebook alone. If this seems intimidating initially, a good place to start is $10 a day per ad. Just remember: even a captivating ad with a well-targeted audience would not be able to reach its full potential without the support of a solid budget.
Want Help?
Increasing Facebook ad spend can drive the results you need, turning social media users into loyal patients. If you are ready to see real results via Facebook advertising, our knowledgeable social media marketing team can help to develop custom solutions and strategies for budgets of all shapes and sizes.
Contact Rosemont Media today!
Editor’s note: The original version of this post was published on March 13, 2018.