Creating a strong social media presence is a great way to get more clients, and interest in your clinic. You can use social media to make your aesthetic clinic more reputable, connect with your clients, showcase your results, and elevate your business. But where do you start? Here are our top tips for creating and building a great presence on social media for aesthetics clinics.
Strategy
Before you launch anything, you should consider what your individual goals are and the kind of content you want to put out, with a content strategy to match. When creating a content strategy, you will want to think about what your niche is, and how you can stand out in relation to other people in your field.
Your strategy should include:
- Goals for your business
- Researching your audience
- Researching your competitors
- Choosing social media platforms
- Planning your content on the platforms
- Managing and engaging with your community
- Growing your following
Research
Make sure that you spend adequate time researching. For example, you will want to research your target audience (which will be potential clients and existing customers). It’s useful to research the age range, and demographics of your target audience, so that you can tailor content to suit these factors.
You should also spend time researching your competitors and seeing what they are doing in regard to social media content. This can help give you tips on how they are marketing their content, identify any gaps in the industry, and discover trends, so that you can use this information when making your own marketing strategy.
After setting up your social media accounts, you will also want to spend time researching and creating content.
How to Choose Social Media Platforms for Aesthetics:
Finding the right social media platform for you can be confusing, especially as there are so many these days! It’s important to note that you do not need to be active and uploading content to all social media platforms, either. Actually, we would recommend that you are not posting on all social media channels from the outset. Choose one or two platforms to begin with until you feel comfortable with those, and then you can reassess.
This overview of the social media channels and the types of audiences on these can help you to decide, which ones are best for you.
Facebook:
Facebook is ideal for getting patients reviews, and helping potential customers to find you. It tends to have an older user demographic, so this is something to bear in mind when uploading content. Content posted to Facebook is also available to search engines, such as google. This means that it can improve your search engine rankings, which is SEO (search engine optimisation). Facebook is also great for forums and groups, where you can hear from people in the field.
Instagram:
Instagram is one of the most popular social media channels, especially for aesthetics and clinics. You can post photos, reels/videos, and stories. The wide variety of content options, and the wide range of user ages, means that you can get a wider reach with your content.
TikTok:
TikTok is popular among younger audiences, but it is becoming increasingly popular for skincare and dermatology. There tends to be more light-hearted content on TikTok, so it may not align with the rest of your brand identity, if this isn’t the vibe of your content.
LinkedIn:
LinkedIn can be a great tool for discussing business and anything industry related, rather than attracting clients and customers. This is not necessarily something that’s considered vital or essential at the start, but it could be something that you work towards.
Twitter:
Twitter is the least visual when it comes to social media platforms. You can attach images, but it’s best for short text posts and sharing links. There’s also a wide age demographic, so it can be good for connecting with people (other businesses, and clients).
We would recommend starting with Facebook and Instagram, as these are a great place to get started, and they go hand-in-hand. You can also post on both at the same time.
Planning Unique & Interesting Content:
Now that you’ve decided which social media platforms you would like to use, you can begin to research and plan content ideas. Take time thinking about the kind of content you would like to post, before you create anything. You should spend time researching content, creating design templates, and planning an upload schedule. Make sure to check what other clinics are doing, so that you can tailor your social media to aesthetics.
Now that you have content and a schedule, you can upload content on a regular basis, communicate and engage with your new and existing followers. We would recommend posting to Instagram around 2 to 3 times a week, at the same time and day of the week, but quality is more important than quantity.
Most Common Content Posted on Instagram for Aesthetic Clinics are:
- Treatment related photos
- Positive reviews and experiences
- Before and After photos
- Behind the scenes content (including vlogs)
- Educational materials
It’s important to note that treatment related content, and before and after photos, are very common in the field. These are great posts to put out from a business perspective because it shows your expertise, skill set, and trustworthiness, but they may not help you to stand out as lots of clinics with a social media following will also have this type of content. We’d recommend posting content of this style once a week, along with some unique and original content.
An example of an Instagram/Facebook schedule could include 3 posts a week, as follows:
Post 1: Before and After Images
These posts are great to have, but they can get repetitive. Another thing to be mindful of is that if you are presenting this as a carousel post (swipe post), place the after image first, as this will be the one that will be visible in your feed.
Post 2: Informative Text Post
This could be your prices, information about products you use, or aftercare information, to name a few. You could also include reviews and testimonials from patients. These are ideal because they can help to encourage a potential patient to make up their minds regarding treatment.
Post 3: Reel/Video/TikTok
Videos, such as reels and TikToks, are increasing popular. The content is a great contrast to the other kinds of content you are posting, with lots of room for creative freedom. However, they may take more time and require editing. If you do not feel confident with this kind of content, you could work up to this. Examples of reels or TikToks include behind the scenes content from your clinic, or a clip of a practitioner with a patient, unboxing products, and so on.
Conclusion: The Takeaway
If you work on building a social media presence, it can play a big factor in growing your business. However, you should take the time to create your own social media strategy, think about the type of content you want to post, and ensure that you have unique content with a cohesive brand. Don’t forget that building a social media presence can take time, and consistent hard work.
Some simple tips to get started:
- Focus on setting up your social media on a few platforms at a time. This will give you the chance to get familiar with them, before adding more.
- Post consistently with unified brand identity and voice. This should include original content in your own unique style.
- Post a variety of content with call to action’s included. Call to actions are prompts, which explicitly tells the potential customer what action they should perform next. For example, ‘call now’ or ‘click here.’
- Invest time and personality into your social media, so that you stand out.
- You can check out our Beginners’ Guide to Aesthetics Marketing, so that you have a solid basis and understanding of marketing in general.
