Using Instagram For Aesthetics Marketing

Medical aesthetics and social media are now intrinsically linked, especially Instagram. But should injectors be using Instagram for aesthetics marketing?

Love it or loathe it, Instagram has become a mainstay of the UK aesthetics industry. As an image-sharing app, it feeds into the creative side of injectables, allowing us to showcase results and techniques, beautifully.

It’s often used by injectors as a shopfront to highlight services to potential patients. It’s also a useful digital CV to show employers when job hunting – or to be headhunted from.

So do you need an Instagram account as an injector? We recommend you do have one, but you need to be able to run it well. Let’s explore what that means with an overview of the basics of using Instagram for aesthetics marketing, whether to attract patients or recruiters…

Benefits of using Instagram to promote yourself or your aesthetics business

• Allows you to present yourself as you wish to be perceived.
• Lets you reach a wider, targeted audience.
• Cost effective marketing solution for small businesses and solo practitioners.
• Acts as a “shop window” for your skills.
• Showcases your personality and knowledge.
• Lets you make a personal connection with your audience.
• Provides a convenient platform for customer queries, bookings and feedback.

Downsides of having an Instagram account as an injector

• Requires regular daily attention.
• Means people can contact you 24/7 and can take over your life if you aren’t regimented about how you use it.
• Leaves you open to criticism; you will need to learn to deal with public, negative feedback.
• A solid social media presence and engaged following takes longer than you’d think to build up – patience and persistence is needed!
• Your account must be kept suitably professional, especially if you’re looking for a job in aesthetics.
• Your images may be stolen and used on unscrupulous websites or other people’s social media accounts, where the images may be passed off as their own work.

How do you run an Instagram account for your aesthetics brand?

– Start with getting your Instagram handle – the name of your account – right. Make it easy for people to find you! Ideally this should match your business name and your website domain if you have one. For example:

Clinic name: Archway Aesthetics.

Website: archway-aesthetics.com.

– Your Instagram handle should be @archway-aesthetics. If that isn’t available, try the nearest possible variations eg @archwayaesthetics or @archway_aesthetics. Ideally web and social media channel name availability should be completed before you settle on the name of your business to ensure you have a fully aligned, harmonious brand identity.

– Choose whether you want to have a Business or Personal account. Both are free. The main difference is that you get certain additional benefits such as data insights from a Business account, though you can’t use background music by known recording artists – this is only available to Personal accounts.

– Learn how to use the different post options to best interact with your potential and existing patients. This includes grid posts – those that appear in people’s feeds – your Stories, Lives, Reels and video posts.

– Hashtags will attract a larger audience – learn how to determine the best ones to use for your business, how many to use and which ones not to use.

– Ensure you understand the rules and legalities associated with publishing anything to social media as a UK injector and someone who works with patients. This includes how to obtain written image sharing consent from patients and knowing the terms that are banned from being used on social media by patient-facing aesthetics practitioners in the UK, including the word Botox.

– Determine your brand identity so that people know when they’re looking at one of your posts without seeing your name. 

– If you choose to have a Business account (which is recommended), learn which metrics are good, which are bad and which don’t matter. For example, did you know a post with lots of Likes may drive significantly less traffic to your website or booking service – if any – than a post with far fewer…?

– Do some work on setting out who your current and ideal patients are. You can then tailor your social media content to these people.

– Ensure you reply to any comments or messages in a timely manner. Social media does breed a culture of immediacy and, although this is not always possible, do try to reply as promptly as you can, the same working day you receive the query.

– Schedule time in your diary every day so that social media is the top and tail of your day. Any additional time you can devote to it in between can be a huge bonus when you’re learning or just starting your business. It’s a free advertising tool ripe for bringing in patients if it’s used in the right way, so try to make the most of it!

What if I don’t want to use Instagram for my business?

If you don’t want to have an Instagram account, that’s entirely your prerogative. However, it’s a canny business move to at least register an account under your business’ name. Even if you simply fill out your contact information so people can find you, then never use it!

If you have an account under your company name it means no one else can register that name. It also means you have reserved it should you change your mind in the future.

Furthermore, by completing your account information and making your profile public (the default setting), it allows people who do look you up on Instagram to contact you via your preferred method – phone, email or website. You can add a post to your profile to explain the best ways to contact you, directing people to click on the appropriate links.

This approach essentially uses Instagram as a directory listing, allowing people to contact you without you needing to do anything – and it’s free of charge!

Just make sure you set all your options correctly so that people cannot send you direct messages or leave comments on any posts. Unanswered questions or queries that receive a slow response do not make for happy patients!

We hope you find these pointers helpful and thought provoking!

Would you like more advice on using Instagram for aesthetics marketing – or other social networks? Perhaps you have some specific questions you’d like answered? Head over to the Harley Academy Instagram account and leave us your feedback.