Your med spa NEEDS Instagram in its social media arsenal.

Instagram is a gold mine for the younger (prospective) patient demographic. It’s especially relevant for patients between 18-29 years old. According to the Pew Research Center, 73% of users in this age bracket check in with Instagram at least once a day.

With that level of check-in, your med spa can easily stay top of mind with prospective patients!

Instagram can energize your existing base while also bringing in new patients. In addition to traditional posts, reels, IGTV, IG Live, and direct messaging compel many potential patients to investigate your med spa further.

The potential and tools are there, but you need to maximize your Instagram marketing strategy to bring in the most patients.

While your med spa should consider paying to boost your Instagram visibility, there are many things your practice can do (on your own!) to better build and engage with your patient base.

Mercedes Zavala, the founder of Blush Co Aesthetics and a close partner with Med Aesthetics, is our resident expert on optimizing Instagram for medical and aesthetic practices. We will go over her tips for 4 areas that will attract, retain, and convert Instagram patients.

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Your prospective patients generally give you about six seconds on your profile before deciding to leave... or stay and follow your account. So, MAKE YOUR INITIAL IMPRESSIONS COUNT! Focus on what your prospective patients will first see when viewing your account.

But first, you’ll need to set up the right kind of account. We highly recommend setting up a business account, instead of a personal one. A business account expands your search reach, ability to respond, and analytics.

Now that your account is set up, you are ready to fill out the fields of your Instagram profile.
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• Photo
  ‍Begin by choosing a high-quality image to represent your practice. You could choose between the brand logo for your practice or a photo of your provider, doctor, injector, etc. Make sure that whatever picture you select fits squarely within the circle dimensions offered.
• Name Field
  Besides your handle, the name field is the only text that is actually searchable. So make sure your practice’s name is clearly listed in your name field. If a patient doesn’t know your handle but types in your practice’s name (that’s listed in your name field), Instagram will bring up your page.
  
  *Expert Tip: If you also want to generate brand awareness and show up in a BROADER or local search outside those who already know your practice, also include keywords in the name field that prospective patients might be searching for that help you stand out. For example, list your city. If you include Dallas Med Spa in addition to your practice’s name, you will now show up for anyone looking for a local practice in Dallas.
• Additional Information
  Underneath the name field, there’s an additional line where you can include specialties or credentials, etc. These credentials will help you stand out in the industry.  You could include a title like MD, to direct more prospective patients’ searches to your page. (And boost your credibility!).
  
  Patients also need to know where your practice is located and how to connect. Make sure you have your correct address and contact information listed. Your address can be linked to a prospective patient’s mobile navigation, so they can see exactly how far away your practice is from them.
  
  *Expert Tip: If you have multiple locations, you don’t need to create a new account for each. On your main page, make patients aware of each location. Clearly list the locations of each practice. Then in your saved story albums, highlight each practice. You can save location-specific stories, re-post patient posts, and highlight your staff and treatments in each location.
• Contact Options
  There are many different button options for contacting. The button options to call, text, or email your practice for more information will lead to the most bookings.  Facilitate that instant connection!
• Link In Bio
  You are only given one line to include a link that directs your patients to another page. You need to make it count!
  
  Most practices use this field to link to their main website. We suggest you don’t.  While your website is great to explore, many are content to simply browse your site (and never book).
  
  Instead, direct patients to a specialized landing page designed to guide patients to specific calls to action. Your landing page can house multiple links under one landing page link.
  
  What type of links should you include? While you can add your main website as one of the links, the first links should lead to bite-sized pages of content. Here are three links you should consider:
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  1) Promotions or Specials. This link should go to a page listing your promotions. It should also include an email sign-up link for your practice’s newsletter.
  2) Direct Consult/Booking.  If your practice is ok with prospective patients directly booking, this is a great sign-up location. If you would rather talk with patients as they book, you could create a form that collects their contact information, treatment interest, and any relevant skin or body concerns/history. From there, you can follow up via e-mail or phone call.
  3) Reviews. A link to your Yelp, Google Business, or Facebook profile so your prospective Patients can see what real patients are saying about your practice

Everyone benefits from a clean landing page. Your practice gets contact information from prospective patients, and you provide a distraction-free experience for patients that are simply browsing your profile.

*Expert Tip: Campsite.bio is a free tool that allows you to quickly make a landing page for multiple links under one main link.

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Instagram has grown to be much more than a photo-sharing app. Your practice now has a range of content options that can engage with your patients in many ways. The top of the list is video and messaging capabilities.

Your focus should be on creating content with value. Interest in the beauty industry is at an all-time high. With so much interest your goal should be to educate, entertain, and build trust between your practice and your prospective patients.

Cater to this demand with this kind of content: before and afters, video, and user-generated content.

• Before and Afters:
  People want to see what they can expect from your treatments. Showcase the transformation of your current patients with high-quality photography. Along with the visual proof, give detailed information on what products were used, results, recovery time, and specifics behind your injectors and doctors (treatment specialties, etc.). All these details can be major factors in prospective patients' decisions to book with your practice.
• Video: 
  Patients want to see what the treatment process itself is like. You can set up a nice camera, or even just your phone, to capture the treatment experience--starting with set-up and ending with the post-treatment experience. Generally, keep your videos short and engaging. Catch prospective patients’ attention with easily digestible snippets of content. Videos have significantly more engagement than photos- more likes, comments, and shares. So keep your cameras rolling!
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  Besides treatment snippets, you can also utilize your stories to show your best content, do live feeds to directly interact with patients, or even use Insta TV to give a more detailed view (15 minutes plus a 15-second preview) into your practice.
• User-Generated Content:
  More than ever peer endorsements are increasingly impacting booking decisions. Happy patients are your best ambassadors. If a patient tags your practice in a personal post about how happy they are about their treatment or results- thank them and SHARE their content with your audience!
  
  User-generated content is any content (text, images, video, reviews) created by patients and NOT by your practice. Consider creating an album highlight reel that saves all forms of your patient’s testimonials. First, share their posts in your stories, and then add them to the testimonial highlight. This practice serves two purposes: 1) a testimonial base for your potential patients to view and 2) a way to reward and recognize those patients that are posting content about your practice.
  

Now that you know what kind of content to post, you might have the question: How often should our practice post? We suggest posting no less than 3 times a week.

It’s important to remain consistent with your social media presence. Your posts need to coordinate under your unique med spa brand.  Patients need to know what to expect from you, and a constant presence creates that understanding. With your Instagram posting, focus on frequency and consistency!

*Expert Tip: We are often asked how many and what types of hashtags to include with a post. Insta allows for up to thirty hashtags. We suggest using at least eleven each time. Include at least five branded hashtags (practice name, specialized treatments, etc). Also, use hashtags that tie into your location. For example, if you were based in Los Angeles:  #downwntownlalife or “#momsofla. Always focus on your target demographic.

Instagram DMs (direct messages) can feel overwhelming. They can feel endless. It can seem like the wild wild West with questions all over the place about treatments, costs, hours, fat treatment comparisons, etc… There’s a reason why the vast majority of messages to businesses/practices never get answered!

However, don’t miss out on this invaluable way to connect! Your (prospective) patients will feel valued if their questions are responded to, and will ultimately be more inclined to book with your practice.

So how can you stay on top of your direct messages? Use Instagram’s direct messaging tools to make responding more manageable!

For example, rely on the saved reply feature (provided only within a business profile). Saved replies are responses you can set up in advance for FAQs (frequently asked questions) via DMs.

You can set up automatic responses by first finding the “saved reply” feature in the business settings. Next, set up a brief shortcut and the response you want to have sent out with that shortcut. When you type in the shortcut in the reply box, a blue icon will appear that when clicked, will auto-fill your saved reply.

For example, maybe you are constantly being asked about the cost of a specific filler, but you would prefer to have that conversation on the phone and not over direct message… You have the power to guide the conversation!  Your saved reply could be “Hi there! Our pricing for filler varies by desired treatments & filler type, starting at $600 for one syringe. I’d love to get you on the schedule for a consult to determine which treatment is right for you!” You could consistently access this reply by typing in the shortcut “fillercost” when this question pops up in your DMs.

Responding to all your direct messages is possible! Use time-saving tools and be consistent with your replies to all your patients.

You’re rolling out content and responding to direct messages, but how can you know what's working?

Check out the analytics dashboard on your Instagram account! Follower growth, audience engagement, brand reach, and brand mentions are the four most relevant metrics for your med spa.

Ask yourselves the following questions as you look at each metric: 

• Follower Growth
  
  Are you gaining new followers? What content is generating these new followers? Is there any content you shared that led to a drop in followers? (off-brand content, or content that doesn't resonate with your audience)
  
  Assess what is bringing in new patients and what is not. Make the changes needed to create more generative content!
• ‍Audience Engagement
  
  Is your audience engaging with your content? (comments, share, likes).
  
  Duplicate the posts that are getting the most engagement. Use what works!
• Brand Reach
  
  Are you reaching new accounts each month?
  
  Increase your reach by posting content frequently and consistently, showing up in stories, and creating shareable content for your patients.
• Brand Mentions
  
  Are patients tagging your practice in their photos? Mentioning you in their stories?
  
  Again, strive to create shareable content! Consider offering incentives for your patients to share their experiences with their following (giveaways, discounts, etc).

Analyze your data with the intent of improving your Instagram marketing strategy. As you better understand prospective patients' behavior, you can hone in on those most likely to become your patients.
    

The potential for new patients is limitless on Instagram.  But you must be strategic to give those little squares the most impact!

You can maximize your Instagram marketing through user-friendly profiles, effective content, speedy direct messaging, and ongoing assessment. Be active. Engage often. And have fun! It shows in your content.

Remember, social media is all about connecting and engaging with your following. As you genuinely and consistently interact, you can bring in new patients, enjoy more return appointments, and watch your med spa’s revenue rise.