As a social media marketing agency, a popular question we get asked is, 'What are the best social media platforms for plastic surgeons who want to keep their calendars booked with new patient appointments? Ultimately this will depend on these three key aspects of your business, your goal, your target audience, and your objective. We'll address each of them individually in this blog post and highlight our top 3 social media platform choices.
Understanding who you want to attract, setting overall business goals, and clear objectives on what you need to do to get there will help you determine which platform is best for your spa or practice.
Here are a few examples of client videos that we have created, (these are just previews of the full videos) but they were effective at attracting a younger demographic, with an objective to increase online engagement and a goal of generating brand awareness. We decided to use TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts as our platforms of choice for that reason.
How does your audience use social media?
When building a content marketing strategy for your cosmetic practice or medical spa, knowing the demographics of your potential audience is essential. You can’t access your target audience if you don’t use the same social platforms that they use—that’s like expecting to win the lottery without buying a ticket.
You can do this by comparing two things - Your target customer profile and actual social media statistics.
For instance, if you're trying to attract both genders who are ages 20-29, these statistics would mirror that demographic profile: 57% of all TikTok users globally identify as female, and 43% identify as male. In the USA, 22% are aged 20 to 29.
Pro Tip - Your business can have multiple target audience groups instead of just one. For instance, you can attract older women who have a higher income and are looking for long-term antiaging solutions like facial rejuvenation treatment plans and you can also attract millennials who just need a quick glow-up like lip fillers, facials, or botox.
Multiple target audience groups would mean creating different content marketing strategies for each social media platform. If you need help developing a content strategy that works for multiple target audience groups then book a free virtual consultation with our team, we'll help you get started.
What is your goal for using social media?
Every solid content marketing strategy should begin with a goal and a plan of action. Now that you know who you need to attract and have identified some key platforms that mirror your target audience, you need to create a game plan.
With the social media landscape moving so quickly, new goals and ways to measure success are regularly emerging and I’d love to hear what goals you’re currently focused on at your plastic surgery practice.
What social media goals are you focused on this year?
0%Increase Brand Awareness
0%Drive traffic to your website
0%Generate new leads
0%Grow revenue (more scheduled appointments)
1. YouTube is a Great Social Media Platform for Plastic Surgeons
Youtube is a great social media platform for creating and sharing quality video content. Unlike other social media platforms, YouTube allows you to create content in two different size formats which stand for different purposes.
YouTube shorts is their version of Instagram reels, this is basically a long format video size that is typically shorter in actual video length. YouTube shorts are ideal for creating bite-sized informational video posts or content that is used to generate awareness and grow online engagement.
YouTube video is the standard wide format video size that we are used to and it works well for SEO on both the social media platform and your website.
OK so why does YouTube have two different video types?
Well just like every business, YouTube also has competitors like TikTok and Instagram who are thriving online with short-form video content, YouTube picked up on this threat and due to the increase in demand for shorter videos they have adjusted its platform to create its own version - hence YouTube shorts.
OK but if shorts are trending then why do I need the standard wide-format videos?
YouTube is originally known for its informative content, so much so that it has its own phrase for DIY projects, "Just YouTube it". Wide-format videos are still very much needed for your YouTube strategy because they play a significant role in appearing for specific keyword phrases and search terms.
The ideal goal for creating this type of video content on YouTube would be to appear for specific searches that your audience is looking for on that platform. If your target audience is searching for solutions to problems like, "how to plump my lips" or "how to remove acne scars" and these are solutions that you provide then you need to create content to show up for these search terms first.
If your competitors aren't thinking strategically about the video content they are putting out, this can be your competitive advantage to show up on top.
Pro Tip - Not all keywords have a high search volume, and if you create content for low-volume searches, your videos will naturally get low views.
For instance, we helped this client create YouTube video content to increase their rank for emsculpt, and without running any ads she now has over 100, 000 video views based. Or even this client, we also filmed and edited this hydrafacial video and optimized it to get them over 20, 000 views for that search term as well.
If you need help organically growing your YouTube video views or developing an SEO strategy or creating and editing video content that captivates your audience, then book a free virtual consultation with our team, and we'll help you get started.
2. Here's Why Every Plastic Surgeon Needs to be on Instagram
Quite possibly the most popular social media platform for plastic surgeons, and a great tool for generating leads is Instagram. Instagram, like YouTube accommodates several different content formats but what makes it the most versatile social media platform is its ability to make social media interactions more engaging.
Instagram offers several different types of social media content for plastic surgeons and medical spas to use like, interactive story stickers which can be used for polls, quizzes and adding links to content, the ability to set reminders and go LIVE, the option to tag users in your content and so much more!
Instagram should be a mandatory platform for plastic surgeons and medical spas who want to reach a little bit of every audience group all at once using both long and short-form video content, before and after images, office, team, and product photos, graphics, and interactive content.
One of the most unique features that Instagram possesses is it's ability to use both stories and feed content. Story content allows you to share shorts moments of your day, just not the ones you want to keep on your profile. As you share multiple photos and videos, they appear together in a slideshow format: your story.
While feed content is sort of like a digital brochure of your brand since it lives on your profile. A recent Instagram algorithm update now allows you to pin your most relevant posts to stay at the top of your profile, which is perfect for placing your best work, showing us what you do, and highlighting your latest promos.
3. TikTok is Becoming More Popular for Plastic Surgeons
TikTok is the newest social media platform to join the digital world. TikTok allows users to create and share 15, 60, or 90-second short-form videos. TikTok as the name suggests is a play on the phrase Tik Tok (like the clock) because it focuses on shorter video content. Unlike YouTube's more dynamic video format options, TikTok just uses long-format videos since users primarily access it on their phones. It offers options to make videos more engaging with snippets of music and various filters to add interest.
Now if we look at the types of people TikTok attracts. Recent statistics indicate that TikTok has about 80 million monthly active users in the United States. 60% are female, and 40% are male. 60% are between the ages of 16-24. 26% are between the ages 25-44. This present a great opportunity for plastic surgery practices that are trying to attract a slightly younger audience.
Check out this blog it you need help finding video content ideas for TikTok posts.
What makes TikTok great, is its use of videos trends, and its user friendly video editing tool which encourages all users to participate in creating video content on its platform. This makes it a great budget-friendly platform for fast, engaging short-form content.
This makes TikTok an effective social media platform for your plastic surgery practice especially if your goal is to build awareness and drive online engagement from a specific audience group.
It's Time to Grow your Practice on Social Media
So there you have it! I hope you found this blog post helpful in deciding which social media platform is best for plastic surgeons. These are our top three based on what we've seen work with our medical aesthetic clients but if you have experienced better results from others like Pinterest, LinkedIn or even Twitter, then definitely stick with whatever is working for your business!
On that note, I want to encourage you to keep creating content and showing up on social media. If you need extra help putting these social media strategies into action then book a free virtual consultation with our team, and we'll help you get started.