In a typical month, 110,000 Google searches are made for the phrase [plastic surgery]. This doesn’t include searches for specific plastic surgery procedures and the unlimited potential of tapping into organic traffic from broader beauty-related searches.

Website keywords like [rhinoplasty] are too competitive for most plastic surgery clinics to rank highly in search. But, by combining keywords with a specific geographical location — i.e. [rhinoplasty beverly hills] — keywords  can become opportunities for cost-effective patient acquisition. Having a dedicated page for each service you offer is a great way to increase organic traffic.

Bringing prospective patients  to your website is just the beginning. To increase the chance they’ll take the next step, make sure your website is:

• Beautiful and reflective of your patients’ lifestyle aspirations.
• Mobile-responsive. About 60 percent of searches now come from mobile devices. Visitors who become frustrated by a mobile experience tend to go to competitors.
• Full of great photography. Pictures of your plastic surgeons and staff are crucial to establish trust. Before-and-after photos showing patients results help your website visitors  see results from procedures they’re considering.
• Built for performance, Website images need to be sized appropriately to ensure they load quickly, so visitors get the best experience.

More on plastic surgery websites:

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When choosing a plastic surgeon, one of the best sources of reassurance for prospective patients is the  experience of other patients via online reviews. Research shows people look to patient reviews when evaluating doctors like plastic surgeons. In fact, 70 percent of people consider a positive online reputation to be “very important” or “extremely important”.

Patient reviews have an impact on your website rank in organic search. Besides averaging as high as possible ( no lower than four-out-of-five stars), valuable reviews are:

• Recent
• Authentic
• Detailed

That means your practice should not:

• Run a short-term feedback-request campaign and then forget about it.
• Hide, remove, or react in a knee-jerk manner to negative reviews.
• Pursue review quantity over review quality.

Plastic surgery clinics should acquire ongoing feedback from patients. The most successful plastic surgery clinics collect feedback via automated patient satisfaction surveys.

More on patient reviews:

How patient reviews influence your practice's search engine ranking

The top online sources for patient reviews

The dos and don'ts of patient reviews for healthcare practices

Paid search ads are a type of advertising that involves paying Google or other search engines a fixed rate each time your ad link is clicked. The key to getting value out of your investment is to make every click count, by putting thought into:

• Your ad copy. Your ad must  attract viable patients, not irrelevant clicks.
• The best keywords. Bid on keywords that balance cost with potential.
• A compelling landing page. Your landing page must have great content that leads your prospect to take further action.

More on cosmetic surgery advertising:

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Opt for a strong presence on the social networks where your patients are most active. For some practices, that means focusing on platforms like Instagram. Any  visual sites like Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok also have a role to play.

Build a widespread social media presence and engage with people on each network. Stories are now a key feature on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, and offer a unique way to share patient testimonials or explain specific treatments and procedures. Posting frequently, ideally with the help of an editorial calendar, will go a long way to keeping you top-of-mind for prospective patients.

More on social media marketing:

5 doctors killing it on social media

Instagram marketing tips for healthcare providers

Best practices for using Stories for healthcare social media

For first-time plastic surgery patients, choosing a doctor can be a life-changing moment. You can help them feel more comfortable selecting your practice by incorporating video into your plastic surgery marketing.

Some video marketing best practices include:

• Ensure audio is an enhancement. (not a necessity for viewers to see it). Your video needs to grab the attention of casual social media scrollers.
• Be succinct. Each video should have a clear, simple message.
• Optimize for mobile. Host video content on a responsive platform like YouTube or Vimeo, and don’t use small text.
• Lead to the next step. For each video, include a call-to-action that prompts people to take the  next step.
• Use optimal video lengths. Research from Hubspot suggests the ideal video length is 30 seconds for Instagram, 45 seconds for Twitter, one minute for Facebook, and two minutes for YouTube.

In the modern marketing world, digital is king. But businesses that rely on making their patients feel comfortable cannot afford to forget about their brand offline. Plastic surgery clinics are the quintessential example here.

Your in-office experience must meet and reinforce the expectations established online and help prospective patients feel welcome.

Magazines in the beauty niche are a good choice for highly targeted cosmetic surgery advertising. Radio — and its younger digital cousin, podcasting — are superb ways to add to your visual campaigns. Direct mail can also give your practice more visibility and add to your overall brand experience.

These methods are not as readily measurable as online marketing, but they  offer an opportunity to reach prospective patients through other channels, and complement your online marketing.