Over time it has been proven that Facebook’s user base and the engagement rate is high as compared to other social media channels. According to recent statistical report, the social media giant has recorded 2.07 billion monthly active users in the third quarter of 2017.
On an average American user spends 28 percent of their time on Facebook which is indicative of the fact that for reaching your target audience promoting your brand on Facebook is indeed a great idea. Facebook as a marketing platform is unavoidable for businesses of all size and specialty.
From increasing exposure to driving more traffic to your business, creating loyal customers, and generating leads and sales revenue, Facebook advertising if done with proper planning and efficient execution of what you have strategized can lead to successful returns. But often marketers in particular healthcare marketers fail to unleash the real potentiality of this social media platform.
Here are some common mistakes committed by healthcare businesses when they go on for leveraging Facebook Advertising as their social media marketing strategy and end up screwing things up.
1. Targeting the Wrong Group of Audience.
Healthcare marketing is targeted towards a specific group people who are medical professionals like C-level hospital executives, decision-makers, physicians, nurses, pharmacists, influencers and others working in the medical industry. Hence, while using Facebook advertising, you should be clear about who is your potential customer and avoid targeting the general public. This would be the same advice for any business sector. Stay in your niche.
For example, if you are a seller of dental equipment, then your target audience will mainly be dentists who are in need of those related medical supplies and not pharmacists. Also if your medical supplies are used by a specific group of medical professionals, targeting other categories makes no sense at all. So, stop targeting everyone from the industry in general with your campaigns.
Approaching customers who have nothing to do with what you sell will end up wasting the budget and the effort you have put into a specific Facebook ad.
2. Publishing Irrelevant Content.
What can be a bigger blunder than posting content that has no relevance to the industry or the product you sell? Remember that audience engages with different brands selling the same product and are always on the lookout for information that addresses their concern or requirement. Any irrelevant content posted on your Facebook brand page can disappoint visitors, leaving an unsatisfactory impression on their mind.
Facebook marketing will work wonder for your business only when it is supported by useful and contextual content that can keep your prospects engaged and serve their purpose of visiting your Facebook page.
3. Improper Use of Hashtags.
When a user clicks on a hashtag, messages with similar hashtagged keyword shows up opening a search list with multiple options for the user to choose from and get to know about in detail. A hashtag is much more than just a symbol. It expands your reach to a broader audience and gives you the visibility among millions of users searching for the services and medical products you offer -- and by the same token, any business use should have the correct hashtags.
First used in the year 2007, hashtags have gained immense popularity in all these years across various social platforms like Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Correct and relevant use of hashtags on your organic Facebook posts can take your business to users with related needs and let them know about your brand and what you specialize.
Some common medical hashtags include #mhealth, #HealthReform, #patientengagement, #physicians, #healthcareprofessionals, #medicalindustry, #digitalhealth, #healthcareemailmarketing and more.
4. Less Engagement with the Audience.
The purpose of social media is to help individuals interact with each other. Responding to customer queries, acknowledging their comments and reacting to their likes and shares is an essential element that cannot be missed out. If your client is active in interacting with your brand, then you too need to reciprocate the same. Failing to do so may build a sense of distrust and disappointment among the followers.
Moreover, your active online presence may help you in understanding your customers better and using that insight you can frame your marketing strategies, content and thus refine your customer approach for good.
5. Not Using Images that Resonate with the Followers.
While running ads on Facebook about your medical practice or healthcare product, remember to check the relevance of the images used in it. For instance, while posting a campaign that focuses on a new medical device launch, you need to use the device image that justifies the post and fits perfectly into the context. The picture used should be visually compelling and meaningful to be able to catch the attention of your targeted prospects and stay fresh in their mind for a long time.
Also, be particular about the image size of your Facebook Ad. Blurred and unclear images will only create a negative impact on the viewers and make the campaign look unprofessional.
Here is a helpful size guide for images to be used on Facebook:
• For organic post, image size should be 600px x 600px
• 1200px x 627px size is for static images
• The size for multi-image is 600px x 600px
6. You’re Not Creating Mobile-friendly Ads.
Most of the users access Facebook profile on their mobile devices. The ease and flexibility of mobile have increased its usage to a great extent. From viewing emails to chatting with others on social media platforms, people prefer using mobile devices the most.
Hence, the need to create a mobile-friendly website, email and social media campaigns are undeniable. Perhaps, many healthcare marketers forget to give due importance to this factor, and that is why they continue to get poor results from their Facebook ads.
7. Forgetting to Mention Call-to-Actions.
Facebook has some Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons for the advertisers to choose from which are generic and may not be helpful in extracting any action from the user. So, to ensure that users coming across your ad campaigns react to it and gets back to you regarding the same, healthcare marketers can mention the CTA button somewhere in the title or within the message associated with the ad.
What is the use of investing in campaigns that do not compel users to call back to know more about it? CTA is a necessary part of your social media advertising and hence, make sure that your ads have clear CTA button.
A Concluding Note.
Facebook is an ever growing and expanding the platform. Moreover, Facebook continually keeps changing and updating the algorithms, ad design, features, and usage guidelines. So, healthcare marketers need to be attentive to the latest changes and be aware of what’s happening on the platform so that they can craft their marketing and advertising strategies accordingly.
However, next time when you plan your Facebook ad, make sure that you avoid committing these silly mistakes to prevent your social media campaign from going out in vain -- or worse, losing you business.