The first mistake that we see is that when they run Facebook ads, it’s that they’re simply boosting existing content. Now, boosting is great and it can get you a lot of reach, a lot of impressions for your content, but the problem is that that is what we call top-of-funnel. Just because people see it, it doesn’t mean that they’re actually going to take action. What you want to do is that if you’re going to do boosting, that you want to design your funnel properly, which we’re going to talk about later, and that you’re only boosting top-of-funnel content and not bottom-of-funnel content.

Bottom-of-funnel content, which is what most dental practices do, is free Invisalign consult, free dental implant consults, you want people to take action. That’s pretty much right at the bottom of the funnel of people making enquiry and you’re using boosting to get people to make an enquiry. They don’t know you from a bar of soap, they’ve got no idea who you are, and you want them to make an enquiry? So that is a big jump. All you’re doing is boosting bottom-of-funnel in your setting of your Facebook ads.

Instead, what you want to do is that if you are boosting, you do top-of-funnel content. It could be an educational video like this. All you’re doing is you’re not asking people to make a booking, but you’re actually just building relationships and getting them to be familiar with you and your practice and your voice. Then what you do is that you will remarket them with a Facebook funnel, which I’m going to go into shortly.

Mistake number two that we see is that you are going for enquiries with cold traffic, which is similar to the boosting that we’re talking about, but it might not be just boosting in your setting, but you set it up so that you’re driving cold traffic but to get people just to make an enquiry. Like I mentioned before, if you’re going to drive cold traffic, and cold traffic means people who have never heard of you, don’t know who you are, and you’re putting an enquiry ad in front of those people, it is very unlikely that they’re actually going to make an enquiry, simply because there’s no trust, there’s no relationship. That’s a common mistake that we see often.

The third mistake that we see is that you’re using the lead gen objective when setting up the Facebook ads. Now, Facebook has got so much data of everyone that uses their platform, so one of the objectives that you can use when you run a Facebook ad is called the lead gen objective. What it means is that your ad will be showing in front of those people and then you can have a button that says Book Now, they click on the Book Now and a form pops up and it’s pre-populated with their information and they just need to click submit.

Now, as a marketer, you’re going to go, “Well, that’s awesome. There’s reduce the friction so that it makes it really easy for people to inquire, and then voila, done.” Well, that’s exactly what we thought too until we started running those campaigns for our clients. What we’ve found is that whilst we’re getting a lot more leads, the quality of those leads has gone down.

What do I mean by the quality of the leads is gone down? It means that when the receptionist tries to call these people, they either don’t answer or they confirm the appointment and they don’t show up. The problem is that we’ve made it so easy for them to make an inquiry, that there is not much effort in there. Instead, what you want to do is add a little bit of friction so they need to put a bit more effort in to fill in the enquiry form so that they remember they’ve done it, that they want to do it because they put in the effort, and that they will actually show up to the consultation.

You want to have top-of-funnel, middle-of-funnel, bottom-of-funnel. You’re nurturing people through this process so that it becomes a lot more cost-effective for you to acquire the patient, but at the same time, you are nurturing the relationship in each stage of the funnel. You’re introducing yourself to them by adding value so that you are educating them. Then in the middle-of-funnel, what you’re doing is that you are showcasing your work so that you are validating that you can do what you say you can do. Then the bottom-of-funnel content is the call-to-action to actually get people to enquire. You are actually getting people to enquire to warm traffic rather than cold traffic.

It’s kind of like dating. You don’t ask someone to marry you right away, unless you’re on the show, what is it, Married At First Sight, which we know how that goes. Instead of doing the Married At First Sight method, what you want is you want to invite someone for coffee, go out for dinner, go on a few dates, get to know each other and see how that goes. Then when they’re ready, and if it’s the right person, then you ask them to marry you. It is exactly the same. You want to nurture your prospect so then they can get to know you, they don’t feel pressured, they can validate it, you’re good at what you do. Then when they’re ready, then you become the provider of choice and then they will come to you and make an enquiry with you and they’re ready to go. Then when they make an enquiry or when your receptionist call them back, it’s that they will book the appointment and actually show up.

For us, with our Practice Growth Program, we don’t run any promos or any campaigns for our clients. What we do is we use an integrated approach, like what we talked about, where we nurture these prospects so that these prospective patients will get to know our clients through all the digital marketing channels. They will see their face everywhere, they will see the video, get familiar with them, so that over time when they’re ready and they need a dentist, that our clients become the natural provider of choice and that they’re willing to pay full price.

Whilst it is not a quick fix, it does take a bit of time, but in that time that you invest, like all great things you need to invest with time, like great wine, great honey, great balsamic vinegar, that I learned recently, with the time, that is where that the value is being built, that’s where the relationship is built. When you have the relationship, then they’re willing to pay full price.