Using digital marketing to attract patients is vital for building a plastic surgeon’s clientele. Although word-of-mouth referrals are very effective, prospective patients are looking to the internet more than ever before to find a medical professional to assist them in achieving the cosmetic result they desire. The personal nature of altering one’s appearance makes the internet a research tool that provides anonymity and discretion making social media a staple in any practice’s digital marketing strategy.
The visual nature of the field of cosmetic surgery makes it imperative that any social media platform you use for promoting your work and attracting patients is a visual one. People want to see past results with photographs and videos that clearly show procedure outcomes similar to those they want for themselves. Just as your website is more effective when it showcases past patient results rather than just text descriptions, your choice of social media presence should center around the platforms with an emphasis on visual media.
Social Media Marketing in the Medical Field
Social media is a way for people to interact and share their experiences. These networks are used by major brands to promote their products while service providers seek out clients for the solutions they provide. How much are internet users employing social media to inquire about health issues and how much are these platforms being used by medical practices for reaching patients?
A study by the Journal of Medical Internet Research shows that approximately 90 percent of internet users stated that they used sites like Facebook and Twitter to find health information. In another study conducted by the Global Web Index in 2016, about 91 percent of participants stated that online communities play a significant part in their health decisions.
Doctors from different areas of medicine are using their social media accounts to build large followings from which they can build social proof while attracting patients for their practices. Plastic surgeons are showcasing their results and providing answers to questions that prospective patients may have about the procedures they desire. This is evident in a Huffington Post article that shows that as a result of social media, people are reaching out to plastic surgeons and asking for very targeted procedures they became familiar with on these visual platforms.
Segmenting Your Audience
Being able to target users that are looking for specific procedures makes your social media marketing more efficient. You don’t want to be broadcasting your message to a general audience hoping for interested parties to respond. The more you can drill down and speak directly to users that have the intention of undergoing a specific procedure, the higher your closing rate will be and the less you will your advertising expenditure will be. This is a key factor to consider when selecting which social media network you will be placing your emphasis on. Especially with regards to paid advertising, you want to be able to achieve measurable results that show you how much it is costing you per conversion; namely, how much you have to spend per patient that you reach.
Best Social Media Platforms for Your Practice
With internet users taking a proactive approach and reaching out to plastic surgeons for information regarding their needs, an effective social media strategy is a must for any plastic surgeon’s practice. It is important to understand which platforms work best for your service.
- Facebook offers you the ability to build your practice’s brand. You can achieve a high level of engagement with users and make it very easy for prospective clients to locate you. Facebook will also augment the search engine optimization efforts you make for your website as Facebook is one of the top results that appear for a medical practice. From there, you can redirect users to your website for further details.
- As an advertising platform, Facebook ads provide extremely specific targeting that allows you to place your ads in front of people that have interests relevant to your services. You can target specific demographics that are more responsive to certain procedures while your ads can appear before users that have been visiting pages relevant to cosmetic surgery.
- Your Facebook page or group is an excellent way to build brand equity with patient reviews and testimonials becoming a magnet for prospective patients in search of a surgeon. Studies have shown that it takes reading between 1 and 6 positive reviews for internet users to choose a medical provider. A string of positive reviews on Facebook can be just the lead magnet you need to build your clientele.
- Instagram is not only one of the fastest-growing social media platforms, but it is also one that is very heavily based on what is referred to as the selfie culture. Over 59 percent of Instagram users in the United States are 30 or younger, which is a strong demographic for many of the procedures plastic surgeons offer. Instagram offers effective local targeting, which can be great for reaching patients in your area that are ready for a consultation.
- YouTube, being a video platform, can avail you of the opportunity of educating your audience about your work while building trust and rapport. People trust videos more than photos because of the editing that can be done on static images. YouTube ads can target users that are searching for content that is relevant to your practice and the video content you create for your channel is a free commercial waiting for prospective plastic surgery to find and consume.
Finding the Right Social Media Marketer
Running a cosmetic surgery practice is a demanding and high-stress enterprise. Maintaining all the social media profiles necessary for an effective digital marketing strategy can be time-intensive and requires analytical skills for data analysis and quick reflexes for responding to negative comments and other issues. The best way to reap the benefits of social media marketing while staying focused on your practice is to speak with an expert in social media for plastic surgeons. An agency that specializes in the plastic surgery niche will be able to provide you with measurable results without using your practice as a trial-and-error learning ground.
