Word around town is that there’s a cheat code of plastic surgery marketing tips that can elevate your business. While water-cooler talk tends to naturally spread like wildfire, it’s hard to find the real gems thanks to all the hubbub on the web.
Here to separate the wheat from the chaff is our special presentation of the top plastic surgery marketing tips that will see your business fortunes improve.
By the time we’re done, you’ll get to see that as a plastic surgeon, you need to keep your ears not just close to the stethoscope, but also, close to the ground.
Know Your Worth
Plastic surgery patients tend to care a lot about how they look and feel. So much so that they’re willing to invest lots of effort, time, and money to get contented. What this means is that they have a sense of foresight, a general idea of what they’d like to look like years down the line.
For your practice, this is the best-case scenario because it means that there’s a minefield worth exploring. If you can work out the quirks in your system, then, chances are that you’ll have multiple return patients all because you took the time to attract new patients and nurture relationships with them.
10 Plastic Surgery Marketing Tips to Grow Your Practice
1 Go for Higher-Value Patients
There are two ways you can work here, either treat everyone as a prospective patient or narrow down your approach to specific audiences.
The Jack of All Trades and Master of None approach may result in more patient walk-ins at your practice but may not necessarily boost your earnings.
With specificity, you can put your energies towards attracting profitable patients who will enhance your bottom line. If you’re unsure about where to begin, first try to get the basics first. With females comprising 85% of the market, it would be in your best interest to first create a strategy that appeals to them then work from there.
Let's Talk!
Get your free 30-minute consultation with an Aesthetic Marketing Consultant
Schedule A Consultation2.Put Yourself in Your Patients Shoes
Prospective patients are usually bombarded by all sorts of information from multiple practices. When it comes down to making a decision, they’re likely going to have a hard time.
However, you can make things easy for them by sharing social proof about your practice. This level of reassurance may just see patients who were unsure about a procedure ring you up to book a consultation. As such, it’s wise to feature before/after photos, patient testimonials, and online reviews about your practice.
3. Boost Revenues-Per-Patient
Never assume that patients know what you’re all about just because they’ve come to you about a niggling problem. Instead, make a point of laying out your profile and highlighting your specializations (where this applies) so they can get a 360-degrees feel about your practice.
If you don’t do this, you may as well be leaving money on the table. Patients tend to feel comfortable if they perceive you as a one-stop-shop solution since you’ll be able to sort them in the long-term.
4. Invest in Current Patients
Your current patients may opt to go to other practices not because you did a shoddy job but becaus they didn’t feel the love.
Indifference towards them may compel them to check out other plastic surgery establishments that have been courting them.
If you’re looking to avoid this scenario, it’s worth making an effort to keep in touch with the patients in your current database. Once they know you care about their well-being, they’ll be more receptive to the idea of giving you more business.
5. Don’t Forget Referrals
Word of mouth referrals forms the backbone of most plastic surgery practices. This is because unlike other forms of advertising, they don’t sound so “salesy” and are more organic.
For more referrals, it’s prudent to deliver excellent patient service beforehand. Doing this will put you in their good books and they’ll be open to the idea of referring your friends and family to you.
Importantly, make sure you make a big deal out of it by issuing out thank you notes and gift cards to patients who recommend your services. It’s all about appreciating them for expanding your horizons.
6. Reconnect with Lost Patients
Landing new patients isn’t always easy. It’s way costlier, there’s less convenience, and it takes lots of time. On the flip side, it’s easier to reconnect with patients who have moved on to other practices.
When you take this approach, reach out in a heartfelt way, don’t be quick to castigate them. Instead, ask if there’s something that went awry with their procedure or if their experience wasn’t pleasant. The feedback they share should give you pointers on areas you can improve.
If the conversation flows well, invite them back to your premises with a promise of things getting better.
Vitally, never let go of them once they decide to come back.
7. Enhance the Patient Experience
You may have the best plastic surgeons in your employ and your marketing strategy may be right on point. However, if you don’t work on improving the patient experience, all this may be moot.
In many ways, the patient experience ranks highly among plastic surgery marketing tips for good reason.
It’s what sets your practice apart from every other establishment.
If your patients can form a connection with you and your staff, then, you can be sure that they’ll be willing to keep coming back for more.
To improve the patient experience, you need to work on ensuring that every interaction with patients is a pleasant one. Ideally, you want to make them feel right at home and trust in their environment.
8. Acknowledge Your Patients’ Concerns
There’s a lot of emotions in the plastic surgery scene. The patients that come to you want to make tweaks in their appearance because they’re self-conscious about it.
As a business owner, you need to be empathetic and compassionate about their well-being. Being aware of their needs will allow you to provide procedures that put that bounce back in their step and improves their esteem.
By creating a comfortable setup, they’ll get a sense of belonging and connect with you deeper.
9. Create a Loyalty Program
It’s cheaper to retain existing patients than it is to find new ones. Aware of this fact, you must implement a loyalty program that creates an incentive for patients to return for other procedures, refer you to their near and dear ones, and freely share online reviews about how magnificent your services are.
As you think about developing a loyalty program, you need to keep it simple. Your staff need to be able to monitor activities, and patients need to find it relatable and easy to use.
10. Collaborate
As the adage goes, “no man is an island.”
You will need third-party endorsements to push your brand to that next level. For this, you may need to collaborate with someone else who is credible and whose praises of your business are believable.
That way, the transference of credibility will happen because they will feel comfortable going to your practice if someone recognized vouches for you.
So think about it, who do you know in your circle who has a large following? It could be anyone, maybe a non-competing physician, salon owners, social media influencers, cosmetic dentists, or local personalities. Have a look at your contacts list and reach out.
Conclusion
We’ve highlighted 10 plastic surgery marketing tips that are guaranteed to improve your business.
Objectively, you need to strive to balance your advertising budget to land new patients and the amounts you spend nurturing patients to return.
If you play this long-term strategy well, your accounts will forever be in the black.
To get you started on this path, we recommend taking on aesthetic consulting services to illuminate your path. With a guiding hand by your side, you’ll find it easy to identify specific pain points to address and improve upon.