Digital Marketing for Cosmetic & Plastic Surgeons and Medical Spas DIGITAL MARKETING FOR COSMETIC & PLASTIC SURGEONS AND MEDICAL SPAS DELIGHT INBOUND

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1 DIGITAL MARKETING FOR COSMETIC & PLASTIC SURGEONS AND MEDICAL SPAS DELIGHT INBOUND 1

2 BIGSHOT ' s ALL-INCLUSIVE MARKET ING SOLUTION...can provide you with the right content, expert design work, and marketing automation, all focused on generating a return on your investment. WEBSITE DESIGN Optimize your website to convert qualified web traffic to leads SEARCH OPTIMIZATION Effectively utilize keywords to improve your rank in search engines 2 BLOGGING Generate blog content written for the consumer with strategic placement of keywords and calls to action Inform and nurture your existing database, while growing your contacts and segmenting lists based on predetermined factors LEAD MANAGEMENT Track, nurture, and convert leads into customers SOCIAL MEDIA Increase social engagement and brand awareness through popular social media platforms

3 DIGITAL MARKETING, WITHOUT QUESTION, HAS TO BE PART OF YOUR MARKETING PLAN IN TODAY S WORLD. A poll by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) revealed that in 2012, 57% of prospective patients got their information about plastic surgery online. When putting a marketing plan in place for your medical spa or plastic surgery practice, it s important to make accessible, relevant content part of your strategy. Not having up-to-date and valuable content can cause someone to overlook your practice or choose a competitor to perform their cosmetic procedure. An effective content marketing strategy helps draw in new patients, educate existing ones, and turn patients into advocates for your practice giving you an opportunity to build relationships with all web and social media visitors. THE MEDICAL 3

4 INDUSTRY AND INBOUND MARKETING Implementing a sound social media game plan, having clear direction for your blog that doesn t oversell your practice, and using visual content like infographics and slideshares are all tactics needed to put a strong digital marketing plan in place. This approach to marketing your practice, also known as inbound marketing, can significantly lower your cost per lead versus a traditional advertising campaign or approach. Marketers use digital strategy and content generation as part of a complete marketing program that truly generates ROI. Eighty-six percent of B2C marketers use some kind of content marketing as part of their strategy. However, the medical industry tends to be behind in the adoption of inbound and content marketing. It s not surprising that the medical industry is behind, as it is a heavily regulated industry that tends to take longer to embrace change. However, it s important that health care marketers don t continue to miss opportunities that digital media and inbound marketing can bring to their practices. 4

5 MAKING THE SHIFT TO INBOUND MARKETING In the aesthetic, cosmetic, and plastic surgery industry, it s even more critical that marketers embrace the shift to digital marketing, as elective procedures allow patients more time to do their research online, for both potential procedures and doctors. This means that most patients are making a decision, or at the very least narrowing down their search, before they ever speak with anyone in your practice. Optimizing your website, generating new and relevant blog content, and utilizing social media are great techniques for sharing content and bringing new potential patients to your site. Much like your approach to traditional marketing and advertising, the best way to see success with a digital marketing campaign is to put a well thoughtout plan in place including strategy, integration, and execution. For instance, starting a blog without any clear goals or plans as to what that content should look like may not be as effective as you would like, and could take away valuable time from somewhere else in the business. Let s walk through what planning and implementing an effective inbound marketing plan may look like for your practice. 5

6 TARGETING YOUR MARKETING MESSAGE Before you start talking to potential patients, you have to drill down to understand who they are and what motivates them to make decisions about plastic or cosmetic surgery. General information about the medical aesthetics market offers a strong starting point: in 2012 AAFPRS reports, women accounted for 80% of all surgical and non-surgical procedures. Two-thirds of these patients were mothers, most of them in their 40s and 50s. 80% However, we don t want to leave out the growing market in the under-25 demographic. As you start to identify these target markets, or buyer personas, it s important to understand that you may have to talk to each of them differently. Different services may impact your messaging, and your geographic location may dictate your design elements. The more specific you can be about your potential patient, the more effective your digital marketing plan can be. 6

7 WHAT IS A BUYER PERSONA? As you put your content marketing plan into place, you need to think about the buyer persona you ve identified, as well as what makes sense for your practice. Ask yourself: What procedures do you enjoy performing the most? Are some procedures more profitable than others? Do you want to make financing available? Which patients are likely to refer others to your practice? Is there a seasonality to your business? How much room do you have to grow your practice and your schedule? These questions are just the beginning of putting a marketing strategy in place, but will help you decide which particular buyer persona you want to target first. Perhaps it s starting with the 45-year-old woman trying Botox for the first time, or the 29-year-old woman who is considering breast augmentation but isn t sure she can afford to pay cash. These two women will need to be communicated with in very different ways. From here, you can start to build out your plan for each persona. 7

8 NEXT STEPS Once you understand the different people in your buyer persona/target markets, you want to be sure that each marketing message you distribute is speaking to one or more of them. In some instances, it will be appropriate to create different content for each person. When you sit down to start building out your content, you need to identify which persona you re targeting. Make sure you re specific. Targeting women under 30 considering breast augmentation is more tailored than women interested in breast augmentation. It seems simple, but the messaging should be different for those two segments. The persona you re speaking to will dictate how you should speak to her. Perhaps an infographic is more appropriate than an ebook. Does this buyer persona read blogs more than she responds to marketing s? This will help you create the right content and use the best tactic to reach your target. Make sure you re creating for that persona, not your entire market or the general population with an interest in plastic surgery. To help get in the right frame of mind, imagine how you would speak to that person if she were sitting in your office. 8

9 SHARING YOUR CONTENT Once you ve created specifically targeted content, you ve only just started putting your digital marketing strategy into play. You then have to decide the best way to reach your buyer persona. Connecting to the desired persona involves tailoring your landing page content, visual design, calls to action, and social media channels that will engage that specific person. INBOUND MARKETING PROMOTIONAL TOOLS Blogging Each method of reaching your potential patients serves a different purpose. Blogging is geared more towards SEO (search engine optimization) versus selling your product or service. SEO draws users to your website. Blogging is an opportunity to create relevant content using strategic keywords (which the search engines like), but it also helps educate your target market. Blogging can also help establish credibility, engage visitors, and give you an opportunity to drive users to particular landing pages. A recent study by HubSpot of more than 7,000 companies revealed that companies that blog more than 15 times per month get five times as much traffic as those who don t. Yes, that s a daunting number, but even increasing from 2-3 posts a month to 6-8 posts per month can increase traffic. Well thought-out blog posts offer information to potential patients, encourage them to return to your site, and invite other users to link to your content via social media, which also aids in SEO. 9

10 Last but not least, your blog gives you a chance to link to other great site content, bringing users further into your site and encouraging them to engage with your practice. Blogging is definitely a marketing powerhouse, as it supports all of your content efforts, allows you to share videos, promote great offers, and helps draw traffic to your website. Landing Page Content + Design Landing pages are tools that inbound marketing uses to collect valuable information from potential patients. This is where visitors enter their name and (and other information as they continue to interact with you), which you can use to keep in touch and build a relationship. Landing pages can be tricky, as it s more than just what you say, but also how it looks and how it s laid out. Choosing the right font, colors, and CTA button can all impact conversions. You ll want to keep your landing pages simple. When visitors are on the landing page, they should be able to quickly identify the offer and what they need to do to receive it. There shouldn t be any choices or confusion for the visitor. You definitely want your offer and call to action stand out. 10 Utilize white space by strategically placing content and design elements to make your call to action visible. Your call to action button should be a contrasting color so the visitors know exactly what action they should take. Finally, users should be able to tell what they re getting. Make sure your language is consistent and clear so visitors have confidence in giving you their contact information in exchange for what you re offering.

11 Calls to Action When deciding on a call to action, you have to understand what you re asking the potential patient to do. The overarching goal is to attract new patients to your practice. Each offer may have a different goal. Your messaging will be different depending upon where the potential patient is in the buying cycle. Be brief and to the point, and leave no room for confusion or distraction to create an effective call to action. Before you can really write an effective call to action, you must first decide where the user is in the decision-making process and what you want her to do. Early in your relationship with a new prospect, you may just want to collect name and in exchange for an ebook. As you move on, perhaps you ll want users to watch a video on your site or schedule an appointment. The next step should always be very clear to the visitor. The easier you make it, the more likely they are to continue to engage. 11

12 Social Media Digital Marketing for Cosmetic & Plastic Surgeons and Medical Spas Social media is a powerful, free tool that allows you to continue to talk to your potential patients. However, it can be the most challenging avenue in terms of specifically targeting your buyer persona. Each social media platform may reach a different audience; understanding this and your buyer persona is critical to success. Learning the ins and outs and etiquette of each platform will go a long way toward taking advantage of each social media outlet available. LinkedIn tends to lean toward a more professional crowd and is often business related. Pinterest focuses on photos and visuals to engage users. Twitter has a high turnover, and frequent tweeting tends to be accepted more than excessive Facebook posting. Facebook allows you to build relationships with your followers. The important thing to remember when putting together your social media strategy and messaging is to get users to share your content. Each time you post to social media, it s important to ask yourself if what you re posting is something someone would feel comfortable sharing. 12

13 Being active and present on social media, responding to posts and questions, and sharing valuable content will help you see success in your efforts. Lead Generation Simply put, generating leads is about getting contact information from your site visitors in the hopes of converting them into patients. As it relates to inbound, the best way to do this is to offer relevant content in exchange for contact information. Tools such as ebooks and infographics are perfect for this. Making it easy for users to contact you via your website and requiring an address is also a great leadgeneration technique. Ask visitors to sign up for your e-newsletter or fill out a form for more information. Video tools like webinars or tours of your office are also great ideas to entice visitors to share their contact information. Nurture your leads It s important to remember your overarching goal in collecting contact information from web visitors. It s not to build a great database it s to attract new patients. You must move potential patients through the funnel, by continuing to deliver content that is relevant for where they are in the decisionmaking process. 13

14 In the cosmetic and plastic surgery industry, potential patients tend to do a lot of research and take their time making a well-educated decision. Continuing to talk to these people as they move through their research makes you relevant, helps you become a trusted resource, and invites action from the potential patient each time you reach out to them. Take advantage of different ways to share information. Some visitors will respond to visuals and video, while others like blogs and ebooks as a way to gather more information. It s important to vary your approach. Track and Measure Perhaps one of the most attractive things about inbound marketing is the opportunity to analyze and measure your efforts. As strategic as you are about your content generation, you may find that some pieces generate more buzz than others. You may find that one particular ebook isn t really bringing you the right patient. Analyzing landing page views, downloads, open rates, and conversion rates will help you determine what s working and what s not. From there, you can continue to tweak your approach, measure, and readjust again where needed. 14

15 Conclusion Digital and inbound marketing is more than just generating great content. It involves strategy, research, and time. Your goal is to reach a super-specific buyer persona, reach more of them, improve your conversion rates, and bring in new patients all while getting ROI on your marketing efforts. When inbound marketing is executed properly, you can bring in more new patients at a much lower cost per lead than others forms of advertising and measure your investment along the way. 15

16 For more information on how inbound marketing can help your organization lower its marketing costs and achieve its goals, contact BIGSHOT Inbound. Founded in 1997, BIGSHOT is a Gold Level Certified HubSpot partner specializing in inbound marketing, lead generation, social media, search engine marketing, and web development. As one of fewer than 75 Gold Level HubSpot partners, BIGSHOT has demonstrated exemplary performance in delivering the highest quality inbound marketing services to our clients. Contact us today for a free marketing assessment. INBOUND BIGSHOTinbound.com