Plastic surgery and aesthetics are especially competitive fields within the healthcare industry, because you are often competing for patients' cash or discretionary income, in addition to providing some insurance covered procedures and services. For aesthetics and surgery practices, a large proportion of your business may come from self-pay or cash-pay elective procedures. With inflation impacting the finances of many Americans today, this can present an even greater challenge when seeking to grow your practice, bring in new patients, and grow revenue.

In a recent survey of plastic surgery practices conducted by Paradigm Search Group, which specializes in assisting with recruitment of plastic surgeons, 62% of respondents indicated that new patient acquisition is one of their top challenges in their business.

Additionally, 80% of respondents said that inflation's impact on their patients' finances is one of the most significant reasons that growth is so challenging.

That said, the top 3 methods that plastic surgery practices tend to leverage most to grow their revenue, according to the survey, include: Patient Referrals, Social Media, and their Healthcare Marketing team or consultancy. Here are a few key tips for growing your practice, patient panel, and revenue.

1. Develop a Strong Brand Identity

Establish a unique brand identity that sets you apart from the competition. What are your surgeons' specialties? What are the strengths of the services you offer that other practices may not be able to do as well? Codify your brand with a memorable logo and tagline that stands out. Be sure to consistently incorporate your unique brand in all of your messaging across all platforms.

2. Optimize Your Online Presence

Once you've established your unique and memorable brand identity, it's time to push it out to your target audience. Is your website professional and user-friendly? Can it be found easily via search? Be sure to optimize SEO to increase visibility for search terms related to the services you provide. This should include local SEO strategies and creating and maintaining an updated Google My Business profile, to be sure that people within your catchment area find you first and easily. Additionally, don't forget to optimize your site for mobile use. Below are all the ways to leverage your online presence for healthcare marketing purposes:

A. Social Media

  • Be sure to choose the right social media platforms where your target client consumes media most frequently. For plastics and aesthetics for example, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok are great for visually presenting before and after photos and videos.
  • Some example of content ideas include: before-and-after photos, patient testimonials, educational videos.
  • Utilize video options on each platform such as stories, reels, and live sessions to engage with followers.

B. Content Marketing

  • Create valuable, informative, searchable content.
  • Topics to cover include: common procedures, recovery tips, industry trends.
  • Maintain a regular posting and updating schedule to keep the audience engaged.

C. Online Reviews and Testimonials

  • Encourage satisfied patients to leave positive reviews.
  • Respond to reviews professionally and promptly.
  • Showcase testimonials on your website and social media.

D. Professional Photography and Videography

  • Investing in high-quality visuals is key to showcasing your work in the best possible light.
  • Professional, eye-catching before-and-after image galleries also help pique consumer interest.
  • Video testimonials and educational content should be professionally produced for greatest impact and credibility.

3. Email Marketing

Email marketing is a great way to send promotional content and information about your services directly to current and prospective consumers. Start by curating a list of potential and existing patients and their email contacts. Craft personalized and informative newsletters that contain a variety of tips and updates about your services and trends in aesthetics and plastics. Here you can also highlight any special offers, new services, and success stories. The content that you feature online (website, social media channels, etc.) can also be repurposed for use in email campaigns, and vice versa.

4. Paid Advertising - Digital and Traditional

Paid advertising is a vital component of a comprehensive healthcare marketing strategy for growing your aesthetics/plastic surgery practice. It's best to deploy paid ads in traditional media and digital media.

On the digital front, utilizing PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising on platforms like Google and social media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc.) allows you to target specific demographics and track performance metrics. When tracking metrics, it's paramount to remain in compliance with HIPAA and OCR regulations that protect patient privacy. Crafting compelling ad copy and visuals is essential to attract potential consumers and drive traffic to your website, and ultimately to your practice. Additionally, implementing retargeting campaigns can help re-engage visitors who have previously shown interest in your services, increasing the likelihood of conversion.

Complementing your digital strategy with traditional advertising methods such as TV, radio, and print ads can further enhance your reach to a wider variety of consumers. These channels enable you to connect with a broader, more diverse audience and build brand recognition among them too. It's important to allocate your budget strategically between digital and traditional media based on your target audience and marketing goals. Regularly analyzing the performance of each channel ensures that you can optimize your spending effectively.

Creating cohesive ad campaigns that blend digital and traditional media efforts can reinforce your messaging and maximize reach. Utilizing analytics tools to measure the effectiveness of both digital and traditional ads allows for adjustments to be made, ensuring optimal return on investment (ROI). By integrating these strategies, you can develop a robust marketing plan that effectively promotes your practice.

5. Patient Referral Programs

Patient referrals are among the top methods to grow revenue at an aesthetics and plastics practice. Create a referral program to incentivize existing patients to identify and introduce new patients to the practice. You can also offer discounts or special perks for referrals to help sweeten the deal and attract more referrals. You can track the success of patient referral campaigns in several ways - either through digital campaigns via email marketing, or on your website.

Conclusion

There are a lot of 'moving parts' to a comprehensive, productive healthcare marketing strategy. Keeping all the various media and marketing channels up and running effectively and efficiently can be challenging to grow your revenue.

Additionally, monitoring results and adjusting tactics accordingly is also labor-intensive. Implementing a strong engagement strategy in today's market is not an option - it's a must.

If you need expertise and extra resources to supplement the efforts of your in-house marketing team, we would love to partner with you to help you identify your target market, establish your unique brand, and manage all of the above channels to engage your target audience most effectively for optimum results and revenue growth.