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Online
advertising continues to evolve. A practice website was the first
step. Next, some clinicians got involved with Google AdWords to
raise their profile in search engine results. (See the August, 2010,
PsyFin for more on that.) And over the last couple of years,
some therapists have become active on social networking sites like
Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
But
now, we’re hearing from clinicians who have gone s step further by
creating Facebook ads. That doesn’t mean simply creating a
Facebook page for your practice, and signing up a gaggle of
"friends." This is a targeted ad campaign that puts your
ad in front of potential clients as they use Facebook.
Targeted
how? Remember that
Facebook profiles contain personal data on millions of users. For a
price, Facebook will let you select criteria like age, geographic
location, and even personal interests, and then put your ad in front
of the people who fill the bill. Below, we talk to a pair of
clinicians who’ve gone down this avenue.
l
Joe Bavonese is a Michigan therapist and marketing consultant
who started experimenting with Facebook ads in 2009. After playing
around a bit, he launched a more concentrated program last year, and
he tells us he’s drawing eight new clients a month this way.
He’s spending $200 a week to get them, but says it’s well worth
the cost. (He runs a 15-clinician group.)
"The
average therapy client brings in about $1,200," Bavonese says.
"So if I can spend $200 to make $1,200 times eight, that’s a
pretty good return on investment."
What
kind of client is Bavonese trying to reach?
His practice is called The Relationship Institute, so couples
counseling and therapy groups are emphasized. And like every
therapist we know, Bavonese is interested in expanding the self-pay
segment of his business. With all that in mind, he’s set his
sights on women aged 35-to-60 who: A) have a college degree,
and B) reside in any of 10 affluent towns near his office in
the suburbs north of Detroit.
Facebook
ads must be succinct--not exceeding 135 words. But you can use a
photo. (That could be a picture of you, or a practice logo.) When a
reader clicks on the ad, you can send them wherever you like--to
your Facebook page or your own website.
Like
Google AdWords, you have to bid for placement--paying a "click
through" fee every time a viewer clicks on your ad. But because
you choose who sees your ad in the first place, you can limit
the "wasted clicks" that are inevitable when you advertise
on Google and other search engines. Bavonese is paying between $1
and $1.10 for each click-through. (See the box above for a couple of
Facebook caveats.)
Bavonese
has chosen to send his click-throughs to his homepage, rather than a
Facebook fan page. "The fan pages really aren’t helping
anybody," he believes. "I know therapists who have
thousands of fans on their fan page, but they don’t really convert
to actual contacts."
l
David Sternberg, disagrees. A Washington, DC, therapist we
profiled last August, he specializes in treating clients in their
20s and 30s for depression, anxiety, and relationship issues.
Sternberg tells us he’s sending his click-through to his Facebook
fan page, not his website. Why? As a Facebook user himself, he
thinks it’s annoying when the ads he clicks on take him away from
Facebook.
"My
idea is not to lead people away unless that’s what they want. They’re
on there for a reason. And there’s all kinds of information about
my practice on my Facebook page--with a link they can use to go over
to my website if that’s what they choose to do."
Sternberg
started using Facebook ads last spring. In the first 10 months, he
gained six new clients--four of them just recently after making
refinements to his ad. That’s made the program profitable, though
not greatly so. He pays 85 cents per click-through, and has a daily
budget limit of $6.
"I’ve
gradually increased it over time," he says. His original limit
was $2.50 per day. He averages seven to eight click-throughs per
day. On average, the ad has cost about $180 per month.
Sternberg’s
target market is college-educated men and women age 25-39 who live
within 10 miles of Washington. "I keep experimenting with the
ad... And eventually, I decided it’s imperative to have a
photo." His ad’s headline is: "Need to talk?"
"I
think it engages the reader. Below the headline, I use the words
‘psychotherapy’ and ‘counseling,’ which seem to work well. I
also have my phone number in the ad, which pulls people in.
"Facebook
has worked out well," he feels. "I’m not getting the
return I’ve had on Google, but I think it’s worthwhile. More and
more people are going on Facebook, and the average amount of time
they spend on each visit is 20 minutes. That’s a significant
amount of time. And while they’re on with their friends, these
ads are appearing in the right-hand column...These numbers are
going to keep going up."
Contacts:
1) Joe Bavonese, Relationship Institute, Royal Oak, MI, (248)
546-0407, www.relationship-institute.com, and
www.uncommon-practices.com; 2) David Sternberg, Washington,
DC, (202)588-1288, www.dctalktherapy.com.
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