Did you know that 90% of people on Instagram follow at least one business? As one of the most popular social media platforms, Instagram offers a powerful opportunity for aesthetic plastic surgery practices to connect with potential patients in 2024. If you’re not fully utilizing Instagram, your practice is missing out on a wealth of opportunities to increase visibility, build trust, and drive consultations.
So how can you capture the attention of prospective patients on Instagram?
Here are a few key things to consider:
Where Should I Start?
Your first step should be creating a social media strategy that includes when you will post and how often. Consistent posting is key to building an engaged following and quality content always trumps quantity.
Next, you need to make your Instagram account into a Business Profile, as well as optimize your profile by having an interesting bio, professional profile picture, link to your website, and phone number. You also want to create branded imagery for your story highlight cover photos.
If you have an online store, you should also connect it to your account. Instagram Shopping is a set of features available with your Business Profile that allows people to shop the products and services shown in your photos and videos.
What Content Should I Post?
Now that you have a better understanding of the platform, what exactly should you be posting on Instagram? Your before and after procedure photos are some of the strongest assets you have for setting yourself apart from your competition, and you should already have a photo gallery full of incredible transformations to use. The next step is creating a branded before and after template to make it easy for you to share these transformations consistently on Instagram.
For powerful before and after photos, patients should be photographed at the same angle, with the same posture and similar facial expression in both the before and the after photos. They should also have consistent lighting and depth.
Instagram users want to see real people, so ask your patients to tag you in their photos and make sure to share photos of your team and yourself on your feed and stories. After all, you are the face of your company and people want to know who they will be trusting with their results.
On Instagram, video is king, so you will want to make sure and consistently engage with your followers in this format. Some video ideas include sharing interesting procedure videos, an office tour, or asking one of your patients for a video testimonial User-generated content is another amazing content idea that builds trust with your followers by showing your audience that people are generally happy with their results.
Remember to ask patients to tag you in their results photos. Also, use hashtags like #WomanCrushWednesday or #TestimonialTuesday when you post. Remember you must have consent from your patient when you share their results.
How Do I Interact and Gain New Leads on Instagram?
To increase engagement and interact with your following on Instagram you can comment on, like, and share your followers relevant posts, as well as engage with popular hashtags that fit your practice. It is also important to respond to direct messages as quickly as possible and obtain their contact information so you can get the potential patient connected with your patient coordinator asap.
With your Business Profile, you can use the Insights feature that Instagram provides to help see what is working, including which stories and posts are reaching the most people, what time your audience is more frequently using the app, as well as help prove your ROI down to the cost per click, view, and lead.
Are you ready to grow on the Gram? Social media marketing should be an essential part of your business strategy. MD Internet Marketing is a focused social media and marketing organization that has built our reputation as a leader in the cosmetic surgery industry. Contact us to learn more today!