8 Plastic Surgery Marketing Strategies To Drive Leads (2024)
Marketing strategies are necessary and beneficial for every business. With the rise of the digital age, it is crucial to consider the impact of an online presence. Web marketing channels are the primary source of new business, and the shift to online marketing has created access to additional demographics. So, how do you approach marketing from a medical perspective and convert casual browsers to patients? We’ve compiled a list of 8 strategies to help you market and–most importantly–grow your plastic surgery practice.
1. Key Marketing Channels
Knowing where to promote content is equal to knowing what content to produce. Key marketing channels for plastic surgery practices are:
- PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Advertising
- A User-Friendly Website
- Social Media Platforms
- Review Acquisition Campaigns
Combined with knowledgeable use of SEO and keywords, these channels will provide your practice with a comprehensive and diverse marketing strategy.
2. Understanding The Marketing Funnel
The marketing funnel is a visual image of how marketing generates awareness and converts it to action. The four main marketing funnel stages are:
- Awareness
- Interest
- Consideration
- Action
Some patients may quickly move from awareness to action, while others may linger in the interest or consideration phases for an extended period.
3. Role Of Marketing Channels In The Funnel
Different marketing channels align with the funnel stages. For instance, Google ads (or other PPC ads) and social media would be the primary channels in the awareness stage. The interest and consideration stages would benefit from SEO content on your website, such as informative blogs and detailed landing pages. Forming a cohesive marketing approach across channels will help potential patients see a consistent and trustworthy message.
4. ORM
Online Reputation Management (ORM) is a high priority in marketing. Review platforms and websites where patients leave feedback on their procedures, overall care, and results can provide your practice with a positive online reputation. These praises can encourage others to seek more information about your practice, leading potential patients into the consideration stage.
The best strategy for obtaining an excellent online reputation is to request reviews from satisfied patients. You can request reviews in person or through email campaigns or SMS. The benefit of reliable, positive patient reviews can provide your practice with the competitive upper hand.
Healthgrades, Yelp, and Google My Business are highly ranking sites and easily accessible review platforms. While most review platforms can be helpful to your practice, these are a few that medical and cosmetic practices use with success.
Managing your practice’s online reputation means sometimes managing negative reviews. These reviews can leave a mark on the otherwise flawless perception of your practice. Whether they are justified or not, the best method for dealing with negative reviews is to respond to the reviewer promptly, offer to discuss the issue with them further, and then resolve their complaint to the best of your ability.
5. Brand Building
Branding establishes a plastic surgery practice as a unique and individual organization. You can create awareness of your products and services by producing an artistic, eye-catching logo–and a website to match. Your brand can reap long-term benefits by earning a reputation for exemplary, reliable service and results.
While logos are integral to your brand’s identity, they are far from the only key to producing a successful practice. The logo of General Electric is recognized not only for the household appliances and products it represents but also for the dependability and quality of those products. A marketing campaign consisting of advertisements, ORM, SEO, and informative but concise web copy is essential to branding strategy.
The initial steps of building a brand should involve establishing a clear business goal, creating logos and slogans, researching competitors, and focusing on your target audience before launching your brand. Ensuring that branding practices remain consistent across all platforms will guarantee a clear message and a sense of professionalism.
6. Website
A website is crucial to maintaining contact with patients and prospects. Introducing them to your practice through a professionally designed website can boost web traffic, create a stunning visual effect, and provide a smooth, user-friendly experience.
Keeping a clear message across your website can help the site draw more traffic. Avoiding excessive content or clutter that distracts from the website’s message will create a compelling platform to showcase specialties offered by your practice. Well-written landing pages focused on specific procedures will illuminate the details of each surgery and provide patients with the information they need.
Core web vitals measure website performance, such as load time, user interactivity, page stability, and responsiveness. Ensuring that your website’s design and layout are visually appealing is essential to crafting a high-traffic site; however, the images and designs must be compact and in the proper formats so they don’t slow loading speeds.
As potential patients search for information on surgical procedures, they will appreciate seeing previous patient’s results. Photos before and after procedures will help patients decide if a surgeon’s aesthetic style matches theirs. This step is paramount in determining which surgeon is best to help patients accomplish their needs. Showcasing high-quality images that align with your practice’s brand will aid in this impactful decision.
7. SEO Strategies
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is essential for increasing web traffic. Patients may search keywords and phrases that relate to plastic surgery. If your practice has an ad, landing page, or blog article containing those keywords, the content will rank higher in search results, leading to more views and website interaction. SEO that includes geographic location can boost your ranking when people search for surgeons in their area.
Schema markup allows search engines to understand the basic message of content. This process leads to better rankings in search results, more web traffic, and a competitive advantage over other practices. Rank Math and Yoast SEO can help you utilize SEO. These plugins provide SEO information and keywords tailored to the services you provide.
Well-written web copy can help the effectiveness of SEO. When a reader searches keywords or phrases, the content they read should be clear and comprehensive. One of the primary tools for generating web traffic is combining proper SEO practices with inclusive web copy. Informative and detailed content about your practice and procedures will provide a better understanding of these services.
Applying localized SEO is beneficial for producing a higher ranking when people in the geographic location search for cosmetic procedures. If cosmetic surgery is popular in a specific city, location-based SEO can draw website engagement.
Answering frequently asked questions on your practice’s blog can increase visibility and interest in services. These articles are a great way to educate patients on the how and why of plastic surgeries and cosmetic treatments.
8. Leveraging Social Media & PPC
Visual social media platforms allow you to present the public with videos and images. Providing cosmetic education through content creates a way to engage users and build trust. TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook are common platforms where visual content can be effective.
Posting surgical results and patient before and after photos is an effective strategy. Health and beauty tips can also promote engagement on social media platforms. Polls, giveaways, and discounts offered exclusively through these sites can increase interest and encourage people to seek more information.
While social media is an effective marketing tool, you should not rely on only one marketing method. Digital marketing, in combination with traditional marketing, can reach a broad audience.
Pay-per-click (PPC) ads mean the advertiser pays the publisher for every engagement their ad produces. Google Ads is an example of where this type of advertising can be especially effective for promoting plastic surgery practices.
Once you create a digital advertisement, an A/B test can determine effective wording, images, or styles. Alter one element and run it alongside the original ad to see which produces the most interaction. The successful ad will then feature across all platforms.
Conclusion
Staying up-to-date with the latest marketing strategies is essential to creating a successful plastic surgery practice. By spending extra time and money on your marketing strategies from the start, you can provide a basis for making subtle adaptations to these strategies.
Researching and keeping up with the current patient demands will provide an edge over the competition. As patient desires change and marketing strategies evolve, keeping a finger on the pulse point of this ever-changing field is crucial to a productive practice.
Holistic marketing views every aspect and department of your practice as a marketing branch. Seeing these departments as a connected marketing strategy can create a sense of unity among the teams and spur your practice toward success.
At Real Dr Seattle, we want your plastic surgery practice to thrive. If you’re ready to grow your practice but the idea of marketing seems daunting, we’re here to help. We have a history of turning stagnant websites into sleek, user-friendly pages that generate web traffic–leading to higher conversions. Schedule a consultation with us to learn how we can take your practice’s web presence to the next level.