Turning Your Followers Into Patients: Is The Juice Worth The Squeeze?
Social media. Some of you will love it, others will hate it. Whatever side of the fence you’re on, it’s a fact that its existence does present opportunities for aesthetics clinics to attract and retain patients, grow their brand and enhance their reputation.
The good.
In many ways, social media has democratised business. It’s blown open the doors and allowed consumers to peek inside and understand and interact with businesses in a way they never could. Where before communication was always one-way, through traditional media and advertising, businesses can engage with its public in a two-way symmetrical process, allowing deeper relationships to be formed and the ability to to react and respond becomes instantaneous. It’s humanified business and has become an effective way for new businesses to become established and attract a rich customer base, revolutionising the cottage industry and radically impacting larger organisations’ ability to understand and engage with its customers.
The bad.
It’s fragmented and a challenge, particularly for small businesses owners. On the one hand they need and often rely on social media as their primary source of revenue opportunities, on the other hand it's time consuming, intense and for many - completely out of their comfort zone. Creating and amplifying content on social media is in itself a distinct industry - it’s a profession. You might be the most amazing jewellery maker in the world, creating the most beautiful items - it doesn’t mean you’re a photographer, a writer, a marketeer or someone who feels confident putting your face on camera.
Unpopular Opinion - You Might Not Need It.
The proliferation and intensity of social media coupled with the industry it’s created and people who themselves make a living from selling social media services, has created the perception that if an aesthetics clinic doesn’t embrace social media, they will fail. This isn’t true. There will be plenty of aesthetics clinics operating with complete success that don’t have a social media presence. For whatever reason; their location, their typical customer base, their capacity, their goals and objectives, it just isn’t a channel that they need. If you’re someone who is perfectly happy with the equilibrium, achieving what you need and want to yet you’re also someone who keeps feeling ‘you should’ try and make an effort, just don’t! Don’t succumb to the pressure that it’s an essential part of your marketing strategy, that you’re failing yourself and your industry and your patients if you don’t embrace Instagram. This is just utter nonsense. If the whole idea of it fills you with dread and trepidation and you’re trotting along as well as you want to be, then simply ignore it! Carry on as you are.
If however you’re not achieving your business goals, you’re not attracting new patients or not making the industry connections you would like to, it's a fairly effective and easy way to start making some progress.
Patients Do Turn To Social Media
What is indisputable is that the majority of patients will use social media to inform their decision. If it doesn’t start on social media by seeing a piece of content from you, it is almost certain it will end on social media. However a patient discovers you, whether it’s a personal recommendation, a Google search or finding you on Glowday, the majority will seek more information and the first place they will head to is social media.
What Do They Want?
It depends where they are on their journey but fundamentally they want confidence and reassurance you’re the right practitioner for them. They know that your social media presence is going to give them more intel. It’s like stalking a date who you really like, you want to find out more about them, see if you can get a peek into their life and get some clues to check what you hope to be true, is. We talk in depth here about how people aren’t really buying Botox or filler, they’re buying you.
Here are five top tips to boost your success in turning that new follower into a patient.
Use your name and your profession in your bio, state explicitly that you’re an aesthetics clinic offering cosmetic treatments, so they know they’re in the right place and know you’re a human
Be consistent posting. When someone starts to follow you, the social media robots will prioritise your content on their feeds. You want to be there as often as possible, to keep reminding them you’re there.
Show your face. If you’re comfortable (and REALLY try to be!) create some stories introducing yourself and your clinic. Talk about who you are, what you like and what matters to you. Save it in your highlights. Patients will instantly get a feel if you’re their kinda person and it creates an instant connection. If a new patient turns up for their consultation feeling as if they already know you, you’re halfway there!
Have lots of before and after photos. This is really all that patients want to see, we can’t overstate their importance! Show off your work, show off what you’re selling and where possible use testimonials from the patient in the caption and explain what you did and how you did it.
When someone new follows you, it’s a lead. They’ve followed you for a reason! Don’t be afraid to message them. Thank them for following you and ask them if you can help them with anything specific or tell them they can read all your reviews on GlowdayPRO and see your prices. Top Tip: on Instagram you are able to prevent anyone under the age of 18 following you. Go to settings/business/minimum age (you can set it to 21 if you prefer)
Brucie Bonus
ADD YOUR BOOKING LINK. With GlowdayPRO you are provided with a unique link (it’s in your dashboard) that you can add to your bio and to any stories. Use it! No commission is charged for patients who use this to book with you (you found them, we didn’t). If you want to make the link look more ‘pretty’ create a free account with Bitly which shortens links for you. If you’re not a GlowdayPRO user (come on, join up here!) then still add your booking link. 70% of consumers prefer to use online booking. They don’t want to message/chat/phone!
It Could Be A Game Changer
Social media is not for everyone and without doubt, to work, it does require effort, consistency and commitment. Rarely, though, do practitioners who do devote the resource and energy to social media report that it’s been a waste of time.
Most practitioners will agree it’s helped to grow their business, brand and reputation. It can be difficult to quantify and some people will find it easier than others. Some practitioners will thoroughly enjoy it and actively want to spend time building their business on social media (they might even enjoy it more than doing actual treatments!). Others will resent the responsibility and find it a chore (side note: running a business is a chore!) and at some point they will have to ask themselves if the juice is worth the squeeze. It isn’t always, particularly if you’re already well established.
But consider this. If people don’t know about your business, they can’t become your patients. Like it or not, social media does boost your visibility among potential customers, And it’s free to create, so you have nothing to lose.