9 TOP SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS

Phorest digital content strategist Avril Kealy shares her top tips to create informative, entertaining and engaging social media content

Despite most of us scrolling on social media every day, harnessing its power for your business can be a daunting challenge. Did you know that a massive 93% of small business owners report that they struggle with social media marketing?1 As a clinic owner, embracing the power of social media can help you attract new patients, connect with your audience, grow your brand, and fill empty spaces in your appointment book. Who doesn’t want that for their business?

Below are a few practical tips on social media marketing ideas to help your business stand out from the crowd, as well as how you can use your clinic software, like Phorest, to help with several of them.

1. HIGH-QUALITY VISUALS FORM THE BASIS OF GREAT SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

When creating social media content, remember that your posts will live on feeds that are simultaneously filled with high-budget, high-quality content from other companies. Don’t fall behind just because you’re not focusing on your visuals! While you don’t need a camera crew and professional studio to make your social posts look great, you should adhere to certain quality guidelines.

Pay attention to the lighting, backgrounds, and positioning you use; whether posting photos or videos. Similarly, try to emanate the vibe of your business through your visual content, i.e. using relaxing music in the background of videos if you want to communicate your space as a sanctuary of serenity, or more upbeat and vibrant music if your clinic fits that vibe, or place products in front of lush foliage and greenery if you want to show that your business is a place where nature meets self-care.

2. LIFT THE CURTAIN: GO BEHIND THE SCENES AND SHOW YOUR BRAND’S PERSONALITY

With many businesses attempting to curate the perfect, polished image of themselves on social media, many consumers feel their social media feeds are full of dull, homogenous content. Because of this, audiences are increasingly more interested in seeing the unique, authentic personalities of the brands they love.2

What makes your brand unique? Is it your people? The services you provide? The outstanding experience that patients have once they enter your doors? Post content that shows this. Allow your audience to “meet the team” through funny videos, capture clips showing the “behind the scenes” of running a successful clinic or bring people through your daily routine in photo or video logs.

Creating personable content like this helps humanise your brand, making patients feel more comfortable, especially when they can see the personalities and expertise of the individuals providing the services. This creates a stronger connection between you and your audience, boosting patient loyalty and increasing positive reviews.

3. SHARE BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES FOR VISUAL PROOF

Many clinics still don’t understand the power of before and after photos and are often underutilising this tool. Even if you’re providing facials or body treatments, where the before and after images may not be as obvious as they would be in other verticals of the aesthetics and wellness industry, they can still be effective. Scatter these throughout your social media feeds to give visual proof of the great work you do.

Think, for example, about sharing two images of a patient’s face: before vs after a deeply relaxing facial. In the first image, the patient could look stressed and/or tired, while in the second, they’re smiling, relaxed, and happy with a glass of prosecco in their hand. Planning before and after images like this can be a quirky and funny way of showing just how good you are at your job, advertising to patients; “you, too, could feel this good after our treatments!” and showing the fun of your brands’ personality.

For hair and nail treatments it’s all about the finished look first. Don’t be tempted to add the ‘before’ to your carousel first. You want it to be aspirational, so focus on the end result by putting the ‘after’ first.

4. BOOST ENGAGEMENT WITH EDUCATIONAL CONTENT AND AT-HOME TIPS

Add value to your social media profiles and engage more patients by sharing educational content and at-home treatment tips. This extends your service beyond the confines of the clinic and creates a more engaged audience who feel they’re getting more value from their services.

Educational content and at-home tips can be shared through videos, images, or stories/highlights on your feed, and could include you and your team sharing wellness tips, self-care routines, product recommendations, or relaxation advice. As well as showcasing your brand personality and introducing your audience to the real people behind your work, providing educational content like this can help position your business as an authority in your field.

With an integrated online store, you can even link any products you’re recommending on social media for an immediate interaction and potential sale.

5. ADVERTISE LAST-MINUTE AVAILABILITY ON YOUR STORIES WITH A BOOKING LINK

By announcing last-minute openings on social media, you can quickly fill empty slots in your schedule and maximise your daily bookings and revenue. While this is great for your business, it’s also great for your guests! Some patients prefer spontaneous decisions. They might see that you have a last-minute cancellation for a massage or hair treatment and decide to treat themselves, later associating your business as one that helped them de-stress and engage in self-care, even at short notice.

Broadcasting last-minute availability and making it easy to book with a link straight to your online booking system, ensures your appointment book stays full all day.

6. COLLABORATING WITH LOCAL INFLUENCERS CAN HELP BUILD YOUR BRAND

Partnering with local wellness influencers or bloggers can help you increase your following, build aloyal audience, and increase bookings. With 67% of people turning to influencers before making apurchase, leveraging influencers’ audiences to expand your business’ online reach and brand credibility can be successful and lucrative for your business.3 This could include gifting or paying an influencer to visit your clinic to document the experience, or gifting or paying them to review aparticular treatment/product/service you provide. How you engage in this type of marketing will vary depending on your unique business goals.

When it comes to influencer marketing, remember the importance of choosing someone relatively local. This means the majority of their followers are in your clinic’s catchment area and can easily travel to you for appointments.

7. SHARE PATIENT TESTIMONIALS AND SUCCESS STORIES

Did you know that 42% of people search on social media when looking for a new clinic to visit? Not publishing testimonials and reviews could mean that you’re missing out on a huge cohort of these potential new patients! Gathering glowing testimonials is easy with Phorest when you use the online reputation manager tool that allows you to request, reply to, and publish reviews, all from one place in your clinic software system. Make review management a habit and watch your online reputation and revenue grow.

It’s important to always ask permission before using patient photos or videos on social media. To avoid any unnecessary back and forth, why not add this as a question or tick box on your pretreatment consultation form?

8. RUN SOCIAL MEDIA PROMOTIONS TO TURN FOLLOWERS INTO PATIENTS

One of the major struggles many businesses face with social media is that it can be difficult to convert followers into patients. While this is not always the goal in social media marketing, running social-specific promotions can be a great way to get those followers in your door and trying treatments in real life. Run social media competitions offering discounts, package deals, or early access to new treatments as prizes to social media followers who like, share, and follow your posts.

Or, to boost product sales on your online store, why not set up a discount code and share it online across your socials, allowing your followers to get more “bang for their buck” on professional products? By blending online and in-clinic promotions, you can start seeing your booking numbers increase alongside your online following.

9. SOCIAL MEDIA ADS CAN HELP SUPERCHARGE YOUR MARKETING EFFORTS

If you’re ready to go the extra mile to make your social media marketing efforts really stand out and get the love they deserve, why not invest in social media ads? Social media ads are paid ads that can be used to target existing or potential patients according to their gender, location, interests, and other demographics. While organic posts are free and will be seen by a certain number of people, paid ads can be targeted to a larger audience, allowing you to significantly increase your reach and build hype around your brand.

Social media ads can be created and run in the back end of Meta, or in an integrated tool, such as Phorest’s ads manager.

Ready to become a social marketing pro?

Whether you’re ready to up your photography game, knuckle down and focus on gathering reviews, or start partnering with influencers, I hope you’ve found these tips on how to market your business on social media helpful!

For more information, visit phorest.com