There is more to Facebook for your hospital than just Profiles, Pages and updates.
Facebook can be a valuable marketing tool for various businesses including healthcare. One way to market your hospital on Facebook, in addition to a Facebook Page, is with ads on Facebook.
Facebook Ads: These are the ads that appear on the right side of the monitor when a FB user logs in. Ads include an image and 150 characters of text and can link to another site for more information. Desired targets can be precisely pinpointed based on the users location, sex, age, interest, etc.
You can choose to pay for the ads based on number of clicks (recommended if you want them to click thru to another website) or by impressions (recommended if the message is limited and does not require a click thru for more info).
Progress can be tracked in real time to know how many impressions are made and how many users are clicking thru. Adjustments can be made “on the fly” to maximize results.
Some ways your hospital can use a Facebook Ad include:
- Market events with a link to page on website for more info
- Promote service lines with a link to page on website for more info. (These must have a compelling headline)
- Announcements such as association with a new doc, new service, new technology, renovation complete, etc.
- Recruitment and retention: Feature a high performing employee including photo or lead with a headline such as “Just Graduated from Nursing School? Now What?”
- Announce a milestone (“We’ve just had our 100,000th baby!”)
- Grow fan base – encourage other users to be fans of your hospital’s page
- Seasonal, relevant info from physicians
- Healthy lifestyle tips with link back to your hospital’s site
In addition, Facebook is constantly developing new tools that can benefit users in both a personal and professional setting. One recent launch will increase the effectiveness of Facebook ads. Advertisers can now target members or even non-members of groups, pages, or events that they own.
So lets say you are using an ad to increase the number of followers of your hospital. This feature will prevent ads appearing to people that are already a fan.
In addition, Facebook is now offering advertisers the opportunity to target those individuals who are having a birthday (i.e. an ad that appears to women turning 40 reminding them to schedule a mammogram).
If you are not on Facebook, get involved first. Watch, read and participate on a personal level. If you are an experienced participant it’s time to consider the possibilities that the social medium can offer in branding, building relationships, and promoting your hospital.
