Plastic Surgery Practice Marketing – 7 Underused Tips

As a plastic surgery practice, building your clientele and boosting your reputation might be at the top of your list of things to accomplish. With all of the advances in technology and social media platforms over the past decade, creating a marketing plan to help you check those items off of your to-do list has never been easier.

Constructing a marketing strategy for your plastic surgery practice does not have to be complicated. With a little research and attention to detail, you can position your practice as the top choice amongst your target audience. 

Keep reading below for 7 underused tips to help you successfully market your plastic surgery practice.

What is Plastic Surgery Practice Marketing?

Marketing for a plastic surgery practice will increase awareness, enhance reputation, convert ad-clicks into clients, and potentially aid in increasing revenue over time. By using digital advertising and/or social media marketing, the target audience can have a first-hand look at the procedures and results offered by medical professionals.

Creating blog posts, videos, before and after photos, and having an active social media presence will help you appeal to future clients while building the trust and personal connection between you and your existing clients.

How Can I Get More Cosmetic Patients?

Unfortunately, there is not an “easy” button that you can click to magically bring more clients through your door. However, you CAN convert ad clicks into leads and video views into consultations. There are 3 ways to help you achieve this goal:

• Build a website with a blog.  It is one thing to have a website, but you raise the stakes when you have a website that has educational and informative content. By utilizing a blog format, you can highlight procedures and services, raise awareness, and keep your clients in the loop with everything happening at your practice. Building your reputation as a trusted source for cosmetic enhancements through blog posts can help you bring in more patients.
• Be active on social media. The easiest and quickest way to update your current clients and appeal to new clients is by utilizing social media to get your content out to the masses. You can post short updates with links to your website, or even post something as small as an “out of office” announcement. When you are active on your social media accounts, you are bound to get more followers, likes, and comments which can be converted into more patients in your office.
• Utilize paid social media advertising. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is an avenue you can explore to help you gain leads while you are sleeping. Most social media platforms offer full-service options to take you from creating the content to analyzing real-time results on who your ads are reaching. You can target your ads to specific demographics and stay within your budget to gain more clientele.

Learn more on how to optimize your Facebook page to maximize exposure and appeal to your target audience.  You can apply several of the tips listed in that article to all of your social media platforms and your website to keep people engaged and build awareness for your practice.

Tip #1 – Have Previous Clients Promote Your Practice

Promoting your plastic surgery practice does not have to be a costly endeavor. Sometimes word of mouth, especially when the experience is exceptional, can have a larger return on investment than traditional or social media advertising.

The key factor is the customer experience. Esteban Kolsky, an expert in customer service strategies and founder of ThinkJar, states in this Slideshare presentation that 72% of consumers will talk about their positive experiences with 6 or more people. On the flip side, if a bad experience is had, 13% will tell 15 or more people.

You can always ask clients to leave a review after their visit, however, that might come off as phishing for compliments. If you want your clients to promote your practice without any hassle, consider trying out one of these options:

• Implement referral programs.
• Connect with them on social media.
• Have them sign up for newsletters.

If you shift a little more of your focus to a positive customer experience you are likely going to see an uptick in retention, and also an increase in first-time clients.

Tip #2 – Target High-Value Clients

In the world of plastic surgery marketing, knowing your target audience is key. When it comes to plastic surgery, it is likely that your clients either have a little bit of disposable income, or they have been dreaming about augmenting their bodies for quite a while.

Aim your marketing towards mature and wealthy clients.

You can tailor your marketing plan to fit a certain demographic based on the services you offer and the need for those services within your target audience, but you have to be aware of how to successfully market to each generation.

Generation	Born Between	Best Marketing Strategy
Baby Boomer	1946-1964	Direct Marketing/Sales
Generation X	1965-1980	Email Marketing
Generation Y/Millennials	1981-2000	Social Media Marketing
Generation Z	After 2001	Social Media Marketing

Likewise, when trying to appeal to a wealthier clientele, keep these things in mind:

• Use high-quality products.
• Prove you are an expert in your field.
• Be willing to spend a little more money to attract quality clients.
• Offer a money-back guarantee.

Converting these clients into repeat customers is the goal, and you have to be willing to play the long game in keeping them satisfied.

Have a customer avatar. 

You might be asking yourself what a customer avatar is. In short, it is a snapshot of your ideal client. If your plastic surgery practice has been around for a while, you likely already have an idea of who your typical client is, but you can take it one step further by drilling down the specifics to help market to that person more effectively.

Forbes says “you don’t really create an avatar, you discover it.” 

To discover your customer avatar, you need to do a deep dive into the following item:

• Demographics, i.e., age, gender, marital status, location, occupation, income, education.
• Customer’s Goals and Values
• Sources of Information, i.e., books, blogs, gurus, etc.
• Challenges and Pain Points
• Objections to Services

There are several customer avatar templates, like this one from Einstein Marketer, that can help serve as a guide when you are discovering your ideal client.

Tip #3 – Ease Fears

Chances are that first-time clients might be a little apprehensive when it comes to plastic surgery. However, you can try to ease their fears and build trust before they walk through the door with your marketing strategy.

• Offer free Photoshop consultation. When a potential client sees that you are offering a free Photoshop consultation, it might help to lower their guard and make them more inclined to trust you. Sometimes, clients are just looking around to see what options they have, and while other practices might charge for a consultation, you can set yourself above the competition and help guide the client to choose you for their surgery.
• Show similar client testimonials. There is almost nothing more appealing than seeing the results you are wanting for yourself displayed successfully on somebody else. By having side-by-side comparisons or even a short video of a previous clients’ experience and results, you are assuring the potential client that they can trust you when they want to go under the knife.

Trust is key. Provide proof that they can trust you and your work will speak for itself. 

Tip # 4 – Relentlessly Pursue Reviews

With the onset of review websites such as Yelp, Trip Advisor, and Google Reviews, it is likely that before somebody steps foot in your office, they are looking for reviews to get a gauge on how previous clients feel about their experience with your practice.

According to Local Consumer Review Survey, 87% of consumers read reviews for local businesses and only 48% would consider a business with under 4 stars.

From the consultation to the operation to the post-op check-ins, you want to make sure you are providing excellent customer service. Do not let a client slip through the cracks and have a negative experience, and if they feel like they have been treated sub-par, do your best to mitigate their feelings.

If they have a great experience, encourage them to leave reviews. Oftentimes, if they give you permission to share their story, you can post on your website or social media which leads to shares and conversations that they can be a part of.

A few other habits you can incorporate into your client experience to encourage reviews are:

• Send out emails or texts after the appointment.
• Call a month later to check up on them.
• Respond to reviews you receive.

You do not want to overwhelm the client, but they need to know you are still actively a part of their experience. When you are marketing to higher-end clientele, giving them the VIP treatment helps with retention and client recommendations.

Tip #5 – Have a High-Converting Website

Your website is going to be one of the most useful tools in your plastic surgery marketing plan because it will speak volumes for your practice without you have to physically speak to a client. You can create several calls to action to help guide clients in their search for trusted information.

• Ask for emails. There are a couple of ways you can go about asking for emails. You can have the client subscribe to a client newsletter for updates, or you can have them submit any questions they might have via the email form so that you can respond to their questions/comments/concerns.
• Have a strong call to action.
• Write helpful blog posts for strong SEO. Check out this article on how to maximize search engine optimization by utilizing branded and non-branded words. Your blog posts can be picked up in search results and displayed at the top of the results if you choose your words wisely.

By giving clients an opportunity to connect with you through your website, you are setting yourself up to have a higher conversion rate when it comes to site views.

Tip #6 – Build Native Paid Media Campaigns

Scrolling through social platforms and being inundated with ads is something that has become normal in this digital age. But what happens when you create a campaign that feels more organic? Not only does it build trust, but it also shows clients you care about the content they are consuming every day.

• Ads should feel like a real post, not an ad. Do not overdo it, if you are trying too hard, clients will likely keep scrolling past your ad. If you create content that is short, to the point, recognizable, and relevant, they are likely to stop and give it a second look.
• Keep your retargeting ads fresh. When it is time to refresh your campaign, make sure your ads stay consistent with your brand and in tune with the current trends.

Check out our article that highlights how to utilize Facebook marketing and create the best ad to engage the most customers

Tip #7 – Be Extremely Consistent with Your Branding

Your brand is the backbone of your plastic surgery practice marketing strategy. You have to know the ins and outs of your brand in order to market efficiently so that you can stay consistent and recognizable. So where do you start?  Try starting with a brand guide.

Have a brand guide.

You need to have an answer to each of these questions to fully understand your brand’s persona and how you should move forward with your marketing strategy for your plastic surgery practice.

• What is your mission statement? What are you offering and where do you want your brand to go?
• Who is your target audience? What have you discovered when creating your customer avatar?
• What type of personality does your brand have? What 3-5 adjectives describe the brand?
• What colors and fonts will you use? Will you be bold or classic?
• What is your logo? How will people recognize it is your practice when scrolling through the internet?

Your brand can change over time; however, the key is to stay consistent. The more exposure you have, the more that customers will recognize your company across the market and on social media. Our blog post about brand marketing can help you to discover your mission statement and how to implement it across your strategy.

Conclusion

Drawing in new clients, and retaining old ones, is a goal for most plastic surgery practices. Developing the human touch and implementing it throughout your plastic surgery practice marketing strategies will help you achieve your goal of expanding your clientele and keep your existing customers coming back for me.

Don’t be afraid to try out new techniques to keep your clients engaged. You never know what works if you don’t try it out!

Contact now Mediaboom to boost you plastic surgery practice marketing.