How to Build Profits Using Social Media and SEO

Updated November 7, 2014

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Your aesthetic practice may be experiencing what many others are going through right now: no matter what you seem to do, your efforts are yielding hardly any patients or referrals.

There are several ways to counteract the fact that lots of patients have less cash to spend right now on elective medical procedures.

You must make a shift in both your thinking and in your online  marketing methods in order to overcome this.

Here’s everything you need to know about the connection between social media and SEO for your practice.

The Definition of Social Media

First, let’s take a look at the definition of social media.  It is the gathering online of people who have a desire to connect with each other in a common place.

It can be through a personal or business profile on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Pinterest...but it can also encompass sharing like-minded ideas, interests, or advice.

The sharing part is where your practice’s presence on social media will be most beneficial.

Connect With People

Connecting on social media is much more than selling procedures, products, or asserting your expertise to potential patients; it’s a place for them to connect with you in a more casual way.

Most times, an office visit is rushed and some patients feel that they didn’t get a chance to ask some important questions regarding the procedure they are considering.  This is where you can take your social media presence and use it as a way to address the most commonly asked questions right in your posts.

You can even do this through the clever use of re-posting individual FAQ’s right from your web site's FAQ page.  Put them up into a picture/visual content format and see your sharing go way up! Pictures get the MOST engagement of any other type of post.

And don't forget to also post some testimonial statements from patients with a short "thank you" comment from your practice.

Provide Valuable Information

This is, after all, the "Information Age".  The very best thing you can do is provide valuable and useful information to connect with patients in a deeper way.  This might be as simple as a discussion started with a question or perhaps a poll to get people talking.

Try linking articles and blog posts from your web site and tweeting them out to your followers.  You can also include links to other articles or news stories that you feel your patients would benefit from.

The point here is that once you show them that your purpose is to provide them with excellent information rather than SELL them something, they will see you as:

• Expert
• Trustworthy
• Caring
• Worth referring friends and family to

Participation Helps to Make a True Connection

Making a meaningful connection with your potential (and existing) patients in social media circles takes active participation, with much of your efforts aimed at simply communicating with them.

This can be an overwhelming task at first glance, but it really only takes about 20-30 minutes per day to post a few tidbits to your accounts as well as respond to comments and questions.

It’s important to note that you can save even more time by opening a free account with a social media content posting site like HootSuite.  Sites like these allow you to pre-schedule posts, links, and pictures to all of your social media accounts in one fell swoop.  Here's a little-known secret...the best time to get your posts seen is between 2:00 and 4:00  in the afternoon (week days).

With just a little effort on your part, you can have a solid base of potential patients taking part in your social media discussions.  By answering questions, participating in the conversations, and providing useful information, you’ll be their aesthetic provider of choice when they’re ready to have a procedure done!

Need Help with Medical Social Media?

If you’d like to outsource your medical social media and practice marketing to someone else and just focus on running your practice, contact EggStream Marketing today so we can help you start building profits through social media.