By Maureen Francisco Once upon a time, aesthetic professionals who worked on celebrities could enjoy seeing their handiwork in the public eye while remaining comfortably out of the spotlight. Not anymore. Between social media and reality TV, what was once a highly private matter is now increasingly high-profile and considered ready for primetime. This presents [...]
7 Reasons Why RealSelf is One of the Fastest Growing US Companies (Inc 500)
Inc. magazine has announced its annual list of America’s fastest growing companies, and RealSelf made it ...
Infographic Friday: Don’t Get Canned for Sending Email Spam
How many emails do you get a day? 50? 100? Whatever the actual number, chances are you get so many that you make the decision whether to read them or delete them in a fraction of a second. The problem is that our daily email overload sometimes means that legitimate messages — newsletters you’ve subscribed [...]
The 5Cs of Social Healthcare: Keep the Commitment to Stay Top of Mind (Part V in a series)
Content, conversations, channels and code of conduct. As noted in previous posts, these four concepts form the pillars of successful social media marketing. Yet in and of themselves they won’t help you grow your practice without the fifth C of social healthcare: Commitment. Unlike buying an ad or mailing out brochures, social media is not [...]
The 5 Cs of Social Healthcare: Create a Code of Conduct for Online Interactions (Part IV in a series)
No doubt, you’ve heard the horror stories: In Missouri, an OB-GYN is reprimanded for posting inappropriate comments about a patient on Facebook. In Rhode Island, a doctor is fired and fined after revealing identifiable patient information on the site. And in St. Louis, a cosmetic surgeon is sued for negligence after the digital information in [...]
Infographic Friday: Savvy Doctors Use Video to Engage, Inform and Educate
Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you no doubt know that Google is the world’s largest search engine. But do you know which one is No. 2? (Hint: It’s not Bing, Yahoo! or Ask.com.) It’s YouTube, which among other things, is proof positive that consumers are increasingly turning to video to learn more about [...]
The 5 Cs of Social Healthcare: Choose your Channels to Connect with Top Prospects (Part III in a series)
When it comes to social media, all platforms are not created equal. And when it comes to marketing cosmetic surgery and other aesthetic procedures via social media, choosing the wrong one can result in a lot of wasted time, misspent marketing dollars and minimal return on your investment. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest — they all boast [...]
Infographic Friday: To Market Your Practice, Go Where the Patients Are
According to legend, the late bank robber Willie Sutton once answered a reporter’s question of “Why do you rob banks?” with the now-famous rejoinder “Because that’s where the money is.” In a way, it’s the same with social media marketing (although obviously without the criminal element): Why should you be marketing your practice on social [...]
The 5 Cs of Social Healthcare: Enhance Your Authenticity by Encouraging Conversations (Part II of a series)
At RealSelf, we often hear from doctors who say they have a hard time convincing patients to post reviews after their procedures. Frankly, we’re not surprised; after all, having completed their aesthetic journey, what incentive is there for a patient to take the time to write a post-procedure report? Compare that to the non-stop stream [...]
Grow Your Practice with RealSelf’s 5 Cs of Social Healthcare (Part I of a series)
As the owner of a small business, you’ve probably heard of the 4 Ps of marketing: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. It’s a time-honored concept that works well when you’re selling widgets or washing machines but it falls short when your “product” entails a medical service, an emotional decision and the growing influence of social [...]
Infographic Friday: To Market Your Practice, Think Beyond Facebook
So many social networks, so little return for your efforts. If you ever needed proof that marketing your practice via the major social networks isn’t worth the time you spend (or the agency fees you pay), this infographic from JumpThru puts the issue in sharp focus. The fact is that even though women dominate Facebook, [...]
Is Answering Questions Online Bad for Your (Business) Health?
With hundreds of thousands of doctor answers, RealSelf has a fair sense of how doctors view participating in online Q&A with patients. Most plastic surgeons, dermatologists, cosmetic dentists and related specialties see it as a legitimate extension of their online marketing efforts, or simply, a way to help consumers make better informed decisions about cosmetic [...]
Do Plastic Surgeons and Core Doctors Deliver Higher on Patient Satisfaction?
ASAPS just released stats for 2012 and our team at RealSelf was excited to see the inclusion of the RealSelf Worth It Ratings, which speak broadly to patient satisfaction with cosmetic procedures, products and treatments. Based on our observations and community feedback we’ve found 3 interesting patterns: Overall, aesthetic consumers are more satisfied than not [...]
Worth It Ratings Add Fresh Insights to ASAPS Cosmetic Surgery Statistics
More than 10 million procedures, consumer expenditures approaching $11 billion and a whole lot of satisfied patients. Those are among the key findings to be found in a just-released report from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS). In fact, according to the organization’s analysis of multi-specialty statistics for 2012, the 10.1 million procedures [...]
Infographic Friday: It’s the Economy, Doctor!
Perhaps you heard the little news item earlier this week that the Dow topped the high it set in 2007 when it closed at 14,253 on Tuesday. Needless to say, the new record was welcome news from Wall Street to Main Street. Whether you’re invested in the market or not, it should be considered good [...]
Making Time for Social Media Saves Time for More Important Things
After a full day of consults, surgeries and staff meetings, you could be forgiven for thinking that adding more to your workload by maintaining a presence in social media is a time suck you just can’t afford. Truth is, though, that approach has it exactly backwards because social media can actually save you time in [...]
Facebook Faux Pas: It’s not about Acquiring New Patients
As the world’s largest social network, Facebook is all about connecting people with one another. Unfortunately, for small businesses, including cosmetic surgery practices, it’s often the setting for a major disconnect, as well. All too often, business owners view the site as a way to generate new business rather than as a means to build [...]
Infographic Friday: To Net More Patients, It Pays to Nurture Internet Leads
The Web is a wonderful thing. It puts a wealth of information at consumers’ fingertips, introduces you to potential patients from around the world and can prompt them to contact your practice via phone or e-mail. But there’s one thing the Web can’t do and that’s convert those people — “leads” in marketing parlance — [...]
Cosmetic Surgery: the Cure for Unflattering Profile Photos?
Remember the old saying, a picture is worth a thousand words? These days, a good photo may be worth a lot more than that, especially when it’s posted as part of an online profile on a social media site. From making new friends to landing new jobs, people are discovering that how they look online [...]
Infographic Friday: Achieve Great Internet Results with SEO, PPC and Social
To the uninitiated, the intricacies of Internet marketing can be a confusing alphabet soup of unfamiliar acronyms. SEO? PPC? Chances are you already know that they stand for search engine optimization and pay per click, respectively, but digging deeper into their meaning can leave you feeling overwhelmed and ready to give up. That’s why we [...]
Buzz Index: BBL Sisterhood Is Serious about Butt Lifts
Say what you will about social media but one fact is inescapable: When it comes to cosmetic surgery, what were once considered “whisper conversations” are being talked about like never before. And while the online dialogue is ongoing on dozens, if not hundreds, of subjects, you’d be hard-pressed to find a subject that inspires more [...]
