So, to review my situation: I’m a private practice optometrist in Southern California who is closer to 50 years old than 30. (Actually, closer to 50 than 48, but who’s counting?) I have an interest in social media but certainly no expertise. We’ve set up a Facebook page for the practice and a blog. We have two similar but separate goals: We want to get our existing patients to become Fans of our Facebook page, as well as attract new patients to the practice via Facebook.
• Existing patients. I’ve found the key to success in attracting Fans to your Facebook is having staff members that are currently involved with Facebook personally. At first, I did not have staff interested in Facebook and we had only eight Fans for a few weeks. Once the staff found Facebook interesting, they began inviting their friends, which was part of our growth.
Second, after patients come in for their visit, we e-mail them and invite them to join Facebook, which has also been successful. We don’t e-mail everyone, only those who expressed an interest in Facebook. Currently we have more than 50 Fans!
• New patients. Facebook Ads are a means of attracting new patients. You can be hyper-targeted in your approach of these ads—you can narrow the target by gender, age, interests, location, and employment. You can also set how much you’re willing to pay for each click and set a monthly budget.
My very narrow target yielded very few clicks, so I’m now in the process of expanding out my target, hoping to find a better balance. But, the best method I’ve found for exposing your practice to new patients is to become of Fan of other local businesses. Other community-based businesses are in a similar situation as we are, so our practice has become Fans of businesses with a goal of excellent customer service and community involvement.