A Beginner’s Guide to Facebook Ads for GP Surgeries
Facebook ads are a powerful tool for GP surgeries looking to increase their online presence, attract new patients, and engage with their community. With over 2.9 billion active users on Facebook, it’s a platform that can help you reach a wider audience quickly and effectively. In this beginner’s guide, we’ll break down the basics of Facebook advertising and how to make it work for your GP surgery.
1. Why Use Facebook Ads?
Facebook allows you to target your ads to specific audiences based on location, age, interests, and even behaviors. For GP surgeries, this means you can promote your services to people in your area, boost vaccination campaigns, or increase patient registrations with laser-focused precision.
Facebook ads are cost-effective, allowing you to set your own budget, and you can track results in real time to see what’s working.
2. Setting Up Your Facebook Ads Account
Before you can run ads, you’ll need a Facebook Business Manager account. Here’s a quick setup guide:
Create a Facebook Page for your GP surgery if you don’t have one yet.
Head to business.facebook.com to set up your Business Manager account.
Link your Facebook page to your Business Manager and add any team members who will be managing the ads.
Add your payment details and you’re ready to go!
3. Define Your Objectives
Every successful ad campaign starts with a clear objective. Facebook offers several campaign objectives, including:
Brand Awareness: Introduce your practice to potential new patients.
Traffic: Drive visitors to your website or booking system.
Engagement: Get more likes, comments, or shares on a specific post.
Conversions: Encourage people to register as patients or book appointments online.
For a GP surgery, typical objectives might include driving traffic to flu vaccination pages, boosting patient registrations, or promoting health awareness campaigns.
4. Targeting the Right Audience
Facebook’s targeting options allow you to create specific audiences based on demographics, location, and interests. As a GP surgery, you might target:
Location: Focus on people living within a specific radius of your surgery.
Age and Interests: Promote flu vaccinations to parents with young children, or target older age groups for health screenings.
Custom Audiences: You can even create custom audiences by uploading patient email lists, or by targeting those who’ve visited your website before.
5. Creating Your Ad
Now comes the fun part—designing your ad! Facebook ads come in various formats:
Image Ads: A single image ad is straightforward and works well for simple announcements or promotions.
Video Ads: Videos can be great for explaining services, showcasing your surgery, or promoting events like vaccination clinics.
Carousel Ads: Display multiple images or videos in one ad, ideal if you’re highlighting a range of services.
Boosted Posts: This option lets you promote a post that’s already on your page, getting it in front of more people.
Keep your ad copy simple and to the point. Include a clear call-to-action (CTA) like “Book Your Appointment Today” or “Get Your Flu Vaccination Now.”
6. Budgeting and Scheduling
Facebook allows you to set a daily or lifetime budget, so you’re always in control of your ad spend. For beginners, it’s a good idea to start small and scale up once you see what’s working.
You can also schedule your ads to run at specific times of the day. For example, running ads in the evenings or weekends might work best if that’s when your audience is most active.
7. Monitor and Optimise Your Ads
Once your ad is live, Facebook’s Ad Manager provides detailed insights into how it’s performing. You can see how many people have viewed, clicked, or engaged with your ad. If your ad isn’t performing as expected, don’t worry—use the data to adjust your targeting, budget, or ad copy.
A/B testing, where you run two versions of the same ad with small changes (like a different image or headline), can also help you figure out what resonates best with your audience.
Conclusion
Facebook ads can be a game-changer for GP surgeries looking to increase patient engagement and grow their practice. By following these simple steps, you can create effective campaigns that reach the right people and drive real results. Whether you’re promoting a new service, boosting vaccination rates, or increasing patient registrations, Facebook ads offer a cost-effective way to connect with your community.
Need some more help? Get in touch and we can help you to hit the ground running.