Social media is considered one of the most influential platforms when it comes to being body-conscious and appearance obsessed. In particular, Instagram has been a platform that has exposed users of the site to what society considers an ‘ideal’ body image and made them become obsessed with changing their appearance to improve their self-esteem and confidence.
Considering this, it makes it an ideal platform for plastic surgeons to utilise as part of their digital marketing strategy. By promoting your surgery practice and business through Instagram, you’ll be targeting audiences that are likely to be interested in your services.
It’s a great platform to engage with and promote your services and attract potential new customers. As a plastic surgeon, you may be wondering how you can make the most of it. Here are 4 top tips on how to utilise Instagram to promote your surgery practice and services.
Ensure the content you produce is quality
Aesthetic appearance is important when it comes to plastic surgery, therefore you need to make sure the image content that you produce on Instagram is quality. This means your social media photos are crystal-clear and framed well to engage with users.
Instagram is a photo-sharing platform so it thrives on images that are of high resolution. By producing such content, your profile can really stand out from the rest of the businesses on there. If your images come across blurry or have low resolution, it won’t matter how skilled you are as a plastic surgeon because the photos don’t reflect your expertise. This will prevent users from being interested in your services. If possible, make the most of the frames and filters that you can apply to the photos to make them appear clearer and stand out.
Also, be sure not to just flood your profile with before and after photos. Be sure to vary the type of content that you produce – videos, staff profiles, behind the scenes and promoting discounts are just some of the ideas that you can have, but just be sure that you don’t promote nudity as this is forbidden by Instagram.
Utilise hashtags
Hashtags are a tool created for social media to help posts gain more awareness and be exposed to several users of the site. Not making the most of them will make it harder for the post to gain exposure and reach a larger audience on the platform. Hashtags are searchable within social media platforms, so it’s important to use the correct ones for your posts so they reach the right audience.
A good way to understand which hashtags are best to use is to research other plastic surgeon businesses on the platform. Use tagging to tag the photos with the correct procedure name hashtags but just be sure that the hashtag you use isn’t too common, as it can easily be lost in all the other posts using the tag too.
Tell your stories to your users
A useful way to engage your users and involve them in your brand is to provide them with your own brand stories. Social media shouldn’t just be about posting relevant images and videos to your social networks but you should also consider the story you’re telling through your captions.
If you can provide your users with added information about what you’re posting and its purpose, your users are more likely to invest into your brand and posts, and take a greater interest. At the same time, just be sure that the caption or information isn’t too long, as this can take the interest away from the main image or video that you’ve posted.
Utilise other social media channels too
Your options aren’t just limited to Instagram. There are various other social media platforms that you can use as a plastic surgeon to help increase brand awareness and encourage more customers to your practice. Consider platforms such as Twitter, Linkedin, Google+ and even Snapchat.
By using these different platforms, you can help to reach out to more users that are likely to be interested in your services. It’s also great to link the posts so they can be posted across several social networks – just be wary that there can be different audiences for different social networks. It’s a great way to share content across several social media platforms if you need to.
Final takeaways
Trying to stand out in an overcrowded industry can be extremely tough and sometimes, time-consuming. However, putting in place a plan with your digital social media, Instagram in particular, can help to overcome the hurdles that are laying in front of you.
First and foremost, make sure your content is unique and engaging for your users as this will encourage them to look through your social media profile more often. You can then project this information and content by posting it online with hashtags, which will create brand awareness and expose your content even further.
Finally, don’t think that Instagram is your only route for engaging with users. There are plenty of other social media platforms that you can use to help link with Instagram or post completely different content depending on the audience.
