8 Social Media Tips for Cosmetic Surgeons

If you are a plastic surgeon or esthetician, you should be on social media. The popularity of social media, video and photo editing has had a significant impact on the demand for cosmetic surgery and aesthetics. It has also changed how people shop for surgeons. Engagement is high for cosmetic treatments especially on Instagram. Potential clients or patients look for before and after pictures, procedure demonstrations, educational posts, product reviews, etc. As more and more videos and photos are shared online people are more focused on appearance creating a greater demand for cosmetic surgery.

Reasons why cosmetic surgeons should be on social media include:

• An increase in visibility making it easier for patients to find you.
• Increased website traffic.
• Reputation management – social provides a way to monitor and respond to what people are saying about you online.
• Through social you can learn more about your customers.
• Researching and monitoring competitors.
• Social media is a cost effective digital marketing strategy.
• Staying connected and nurturing existing clients and patients.

Many practices use the approach or strategy of posting and forgetting. This typically doesn’t work as it is a one-way conversation or antisocial. It is important that you not only be present but in order to truly be effective on these platforms it is important to have a plan. Having a plan will save you time, keep you organized and integrated with other marketing efforts and increase the chances of engagement and conversions. Here are proven tactics that will help you get started.

1. Create a Social Media Strategy

Don’t just post it and forget it. You need a plan. If you have a plan in place you will save lots of time and be way more effective. Your strategy needs be specific and measurable.

• How will you respond to comments, likes and follows?
• What tactics will be used to increase followers?
• Include any advertising campaigns and budgeting.
• Branding, themes, images, fonts, etc.
• What will you post?
• When will you post? Include a content calendar.

2. Use posts that engage with your potential patients

The target market for plastic surgery and aesthetics engages with these types of posts:

• Before and After pics
• Testimonials
• Educational Videos
• Demonstration
• Product Review

For more post ideas check out our blog post “20 Social Media Post Ideas“.

3. Include a Hashtag Strategy

Every post should include hashtags. Using the right hashtags is a must for getting your posts shown more to your target market and boosting engagement. Hashtags are way to categorize social media to a specific topic, event, theme or conversation. They make it easier for users to find particular content. Some basic tips for using hashtags include:

• They always start with a pound symbol “#” with no space such as #hashtagstrategy.
• Your social media accounts need to be public or posts will not be seen by people who do not already follow you (an effective way to get new followers).
• Hashtags should be simple such as #plasticsurgeon vs. #plasticsurgeonsonspringbreak
• Use relevant and specific hashtags for your business.
• Use the appropriate number of hashtags. More isn’t necessarily better but too few isn’t going to get you the engagement you need.
• Not every hashtag is created equal.
• Each platform is different when it comes to hashtags.

Not all social networks are alike. On Facebook you don’t need to use hashtags in the posts. However, when posting videos, you will be prompted to add tags.

For an in-depth hashtag strategy check out our blog post “Find the Best Instagram Hashtags for your Business”.

4. Use High Quality Media ONLY

With today’s technology the ability to edit photos all media should be high quality. Pictures tell a story and may be the first opportunity to make an impression. High quality media is essential as it can influence whether a customer will choose your practice over a competitor.

Tips for creating high quality media for cosmetic surgeons:

• Have designated area or professional photo studio within your practice for capturing images.
• Excellent lighting is probably the most important factor for creating quality photos and videos.
• Use a template for your before and after photos to create consistency with your brand.

5. Comment, Respond and Engage

In order to increase followers, improve engagement and ultimately get more clients or patients you need to like, comment and share other people’s content. The more active you are the more people will engage with you. A strategy of “posting and forgetting” will not work.

Avoid generic comments such as “nice work”. You may be mistaken as a bot. Take the time to post meaningful comments.

Respond to comments and likes left on your posts in a timely manner. Most of your engagement will be within the first hour that you post. Be ready.

Why commenting and sharing will get you more engagement:

• People get notifications when you like and comment on their posts and may check out your profile to return the favor.
• Other people will see your comments and may check out your profile if they find them thoughtful or intriguing.

6. Focus on Two – Three Social Media Platforms

You don’t need to be everywhere, but you also don’t want to just be anywhere. Be where your target market, fans and existing patients are. Those are mostly likely:

a. Instagram
b. Facebook
c. YouTube
d. TikTok
e. X

7. Video, Video and more Video

Did I mention that video is the most engaging form of media? Don’t just take my word for it. Have a look for yourself. When scrolling through social media take note of how many videos are in your feed and what posts get the most engagement.

On the various social media accounts, I manage whether it is cosmetic surgery, real estate, fertility doctors or sanitizing wipes, video gets the most engagement. I know many of you are reluctant to do video including myself, but it is not optional anymore but rather required if you’d like to rank in search engines, get more engagement on social and increase conversions. Don’t even know where to begin? I provide detailed instructions and examples in this post.

8. Hire a Professional Social Media Manager or Agency

An easier way to be on social is to have it all done for you. Social media is a significant investment of time versus money. Although social technically is “FREE” creating profiles, content, videos, captions, hashtags, strategies, a content calendar, media library, etc. takes a lot of time.

Learn more about our social media services

For a FREE 15 minute consult please contact us.

LET’S CHAT