Fake News? Nope. Doctors Need to Be Wary of Fake Ads!

This one even GOT a Harvard-trained trained Doctor…

So I get a text:

“Did you see the new Facebook marketing thing for doctors?” – asked ChiroSushi Summit presenter and Harvard-trained OBGYN Dr. Adrienne Lara

I really want to stress that this woman is a phenomenal human and doctor. I also again, want to stress she is Harvard trained.

But like most doctors, she can’t know everything – and that especially relates to the rollercoaster ride that is social media advertising.

There is no such thing.

“Wait, what?” I replied.

“Facebook is doing a marketing thing for doctors.” she said.

“No. Way. Facebook wouldn’t do that.” – which honestly, now that I look back, this was a stupid response on my behalf, because they very well could and maybe they SHOULD(?).

But my immediate response was due to years of working in the internet marketing world and seeing such bulls**t as the:

“We’ll do your facebook funnel for free – you pay nothing…except for the ads”

and

“Our video producers for a top major site would like to drop by your office for an interview”

and our favorite:

“We work for Google and we have a #1 spot for you in your city”

It just never ends.

But then I saw this

So I sent this screenshot to Dr. Lara and asked: “Is this what you saw?” and she said, “Yes!”

And then I got pissed.

Here is a transcript of our LIVE Chat:

Welcome to LiveChat

Francesco P

Marketing Representative

Francesco P

Hello, would you like to talk about our services?

Tristan

Hi, are you affiliated with Facebook?

Francesco P

We provide marketing and advertising on their platform. Are you interested in social marketing?

Tristan

(Screen shot of ad)

Yes – I just saw this ad – does Mark Zuckerberg support you guys?

Did he talk about you somewhere?

5 Min Wait – Seriously

Hello?

Francesco P

We run multiple ads and promote the power of the platform to help practices expand their brand reach

Tristan

Did Mark Zuckerberg support you guys because if he did sign me up

Francesco P

Unfortunately we don’t have any affiliation with him. What is the name of your practice?

Tristan

So that’s a photoshop?

Francesco P

It’s an advertising image, we advertise on Facebook.

Tristan

Ok. I’ll let Dr. Lara know – she thought you were with Facebook – sorry

Thanks Read

Francesco P

It’s ok, we are a Google Partner.

Thank you for chatting in!

Ay ya ya….

*I would love to dive into the poor sales and follow-up, but I’ll save that for another article.

The overall thing to get from this is:

Do your due diligence – Check social proof
Don’t be afraid and too burnt to use other programs.

Due Diligence

When any company pops up on the scene and strikes a chord make sure to really check them out – if they say or in this case show that they are affiliated with a company like Google or Facebook, seriously check it out.

In this case. we blew up their spot but if you want to really check it out, just ask the company they are associating with or better yet search their database.

In this situation not only is this company not associated with Mark Zuckerberg or Facebook, they also aren’t listed as Google Partners.

Don’t Be Burnt

This company may very well have a great service – even if I was part of a startup that did the same thing they were doing 7 years ago -but so do others who don’t have to #FakeTheirSocialProof

And some of these companies need you to build their social proof as they are starting out.