Plastic surgeons enjoy a mix of fame and infamy in popular media. On the one hand, their services are seen as a status symbol because cosmetic procedures are expensive. On the other, people seek these same services for different and often personal reasons.
Regardless of the reasons, patients are always searching for the right doctor. Whether they find you through Google or on YouTube, content marketing is advantageous for your medical practice.
This guide gives you three ways to get the job done.
There is a lot to discuss, so get ready to take notes!
3 Ways to Do Quality Content Marketing for Plastic Surgeons
Content marketing works by providing people with the information they want or need concerning your services. It means that your content must have a specific intent or purpose behind it.
In other words, there is little point in writing about innovations in medicine because it does not address patient concerns directly. For example, a better angle would be how these innovations improve surgical success and recovery.
Below are three examples of how to do content marketing for plastic surgeons right.
1. Define Your Target Market
You must know your target market to make content that answers their questions. Moreover, plastic surgeons offer different services that people may or may not know about, which adds another layer of confusion. Market research helps you understand your patients better.
If your services and core audience lean more toward cosmetic surgery, it would be hard to do content marketing through blogs on reconstructive surgery. It also works in reverse. Patients looking to correct congenital disabilities are most likely uninterested in content about botox.
Simply put, creating quality content for your target market depends on the following:
- How much do you know about your target market’s wants and needs?
- How well do you understand what quality content means to them?
Here are methods you can use to define your target market:
- Identify your niche: This refers to the services you offer as a plastic surgeon. The types of surgery you perform can tell you a lot about your ideal patients.
- Do market research: Solidify your target market by learning about them. Create personas and conducts surveys to find out what they need from a plastic surgeon.
- Know your competitors: Look at who you consider competition in your field. What do they do? Whom do they serve? Analyze their success and see how you can apply it.
Once you know who you make content for, it becomes a matter of building in the direction that helps them most. It also helps your plastic surgery marketing strategy to know where and how your patients find what they need (more on this below).
2. Make Educational Content
Patients are usually unaware of medical topics, including plastic surgery. That makes education a strong contender for healthcare content marketing strategies.
Here are five types of content that you can leverage to improve patient knowledge:
- Blogs are a staple form of content you can produce and upload at a steady pace. They can also cover a wide variety of topics. A good application for plastic surgeons is writing about different procedures and detailing their use and risks for patients to know.
- Infographics are important in healthcare content marketing. It is showing rather than telling your patients about what you do. For example, if you offer botox, a poster showing and explaining what to expect is valuable because it promotes patient knowledge.
- Before-and-after photos and text descriptions are a great way to show your accomplishments and advertise your skills. It also gives patients a preview of what they can expect from you and help them decide whether or not to have an appointment.
- Videos are another way to present your expertise in a practical way. Use these to involve patients in consulting with a plastic surgeon. You can also make videos that educate your audience on important topics, such as when surgery is necessary.
- Animations are yet another way to help people understand surgery. Although it is more costly than a live video with real people, it makes up for it with flexibility. For example, use it to show how reconstructive surgery works and how it helps patients.
Besides providing value and information, educational content is crucial to SEO which is critical to content marketing success.
Here is a summary of how and why educational content boosts your marketing strategy:
- According to Digital Authority Partners, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (E-A-T) helps you build credibility, which is vital to good content marketing.
- Content that can harm people, also known as your money or your life (YMYL), is evaluated differently by search engines.
- Equipping patients with crucial knowledge adds value to their experience (UX). Search engines prefer content that makes or keeps their users happy.
In addition to the above, you must be aware of safeguarding sensitive healthcare information. Educate yourself on HIPAA guidelines and make sure to follow them as closely as you can.
3. Interact with Your Patients
Comments and patient reviews are essential to growing any business. They allow new patients to review your work before making a significant decision. At the same time, current patients can voice their concerns or satisfaction with your practice.
While optimizing your website for content and comments improves content marketing tactics, it is not the only thing you should do. There is a more proactive way to promote interaction.
For example:
- Use emails to remind them of appointments or important events like seminars.
- Sign up for social media as another way to communicate with your patients.
- You can install a chatbot that visitors can use to find information on your website.
Regardless of how you do it, maintaining an open line of communication is part of a good UX and an indicator of good service. Together, this ensures that patients are interested in your content and services.
Summing Up
Plastic surgery goes beyond vanity. Reconstructive procedures are life-changing for people who receive them, whether they correct a defect affecting their quality of life or self-esteem. Good service and education are talking points that can inspire a quality content marketing strategy.
Finding the right angle or approach may be challenging, but do not let that discourage you. Once you get used to it, it can help you capture your target market.
Author Bio
Pranjal Bora works as Head of Product Development at Digital Authority Partners.