Making Social Media Work

Social media is one of the main avenues for catching a potential patient’s attention. Many are not only realizing the importance of having a social media presence in 2020, but also the need for authentic, educational, and entertaining content from the original skincare influencers, aesthetic physicians.

In a presentation at the recent virtual meeting of the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery (ASDS), Anna D. Guanche, MD, Elizabeth Bahar Houshmand, MD, Shereene Z. Idriss, MD, and Doris Day, MD, discussed how they have personally made social media work for their practices.

And success on the platforms can look different for everyone.

Instagram is the standout winner for the aesthetic specialty, according to the panelists, due to its highly visual nature and ability to reach audiences in multiple ways.

With posts, reels, stories, and highlights, Instagram lets you upload content in ways that are most relevant to viewers and then enables cross-promotion through other sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and newcomer, TikTok.

But just having the page itself is not enough. Effective accounts have a solid brand identity and mission.

Posting high-quality content and images and personalizing accounts to give followers a look into life outside of the practice can also prove effective.

However, finding success online takes many different forms.

For Dr. Guanche, success is multi-platform and focused on millennials and Gen Z. With her use of TikTok, she has connected to her audience through her personality, trends, challenges, and engagement. She then disseminates that content to her other social media accounts.

Compare that with Dr. Idriss who focuses on Instagram and the educational benefits of answering followers’ questions and explaining industry jargon.

While these approaches are different, both have seen massive success because they have stayed true to their brand identities and mission.

Social media is a process, and as the panelists explain, can be draining when maintaining it isn’t enjoyable.

By making the accounts a reflection of your personality and brand, posting multiple times a day becomes less of a task and instead something to look forward to.