Has your medical or aesthetic practice embraced Instagram? Whether you have been on the bandwagon for years now or are just getting started we have some tips that’ll help with your visibility, engagement, and interaction on the popular social network.
Some practices may be moving to Instagram because of the recent Facebook algorithm changes that are severely limiting Fan pages’ reach on patient’s news feeds. This shouldn’t be news to anyone since this organic “reach” on Facebook has been limited for years! I posted about way back in 2014 in this article.
Instagram, while owned by Facebook, operates uniquely. Unlike Facebook, where only about 1% (or less) of your Followers will see your posts in their news feeds, we can expect a slightly higher percentage of visibility on Instagram…for now. Just make sure that your posts are engaging and follow Instagram’s guidelines.
Here are 8 tips to help you improve your Instagram presence in 2018:
- Encourage Patients to Follow You: Obvious step 1 to gaining traction. You need to alert patients about your Instagram page in your office, on your website, in emails, and on other digital channels. Next, give them an incentive to follow you.
- Post Videos of Your Practice Performing Non-Surgical Procedures (with patient consent): Instagram is a visual social network, so focus on contributing videos that showcase patients at ease during the procedure. These will appeal to your Followers by giving them a behind-the-scenes sneak peek while putting to rest any concerns with pain or discomfort.
- Post Before & After Photos (with patient consent): Not quite as powerful, or as interesting, as videos, before & afters still help to showcase your expertise.
- Highlight Celebrities Who’ve Had Procedures Your Perform: Most women (and many men) have celebrities that appeal to them, and often times, they follow these celebrities on social media. If influential celebrities are getting Hydrafacials, or Botox, or laser hair removal treatments then the procedure becomes more appealing to others.
- Showcase Photos of Your Staff: Arguably the most impactful post is one that includes your staff, hosting an event, at a company dinner, or just enjoying themselves at the office. Part of the reason why patients come to you is your smiling, friendly staff, so make sure they get some face time.
- Work in Funny Posts: These posts might generate as much engagement than photos of your staff. Just keep it “PC.”
- Engage With Followers Who Are Engaging With You: Scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours! It’s a simple mantra. If someone comments on your post, write back, even if it’s a simple “thank you.”
You can take it a step further and comment on posts from others on different Pages. Look for Pages that you think would have a similar target market to your practice and engage with their Followers. - Use Hash Tags (Correctly): You need to be hashtagging, but there needs to be a strategy behind it. We recommend you always skip a line after your caption before adding hashtags. Some people put a slew of them right in the caption, other people add all their hashtags in a separate comment, but it’s cleaner for the user when they’re separated out. Also, limit your hashtags to 3-5 at most. If you have more than 5, add the rest in the comments; it will still get eyes on your post, but not annoy people currently following the account.
If you’re really looking to take your Instagram presence to the next level consider running ads. We’ll touch on some ideas for Instagram ads in a future article, but for now, focus on these best practices.
Would you like to learn more about how you can grow your aesthetic practice with digital marketing and social media? Did you know we wrote the book on that?! If you have a specific question or would like to learn more about our services you can reach TRBO at 877-673-7096 x2 or leave us a note here.
