Improving Your Aesthetics Clinic Socials

Social media can be scary, draining and a lot of pressure. We all see other practitioners with incredible social media presence. They are posting regularly, have lots of followers, create engaging content, have incredible before and after photos, and are not afraid to be the public ‘face’ of their brand.

The way practitioners need to show up on socials has changed dramatically in the last few years. Only a few years ago, the best Instagram pages used to consist of an aesthetically pleasing ‘grid’ - where every post had the same colour scheme, repeated in a predictable order (think -one before and after pic, one inspirational or funny quote, then one industry fact). Embarrassingly, my Instagram still looks like that – as I haven’t been active on it since PB (pre-baby)!

Here’s the thing; no one cares that ‘filler loves water!’ Every client has seen this sort of information a million times on multiple different accounts. It doesn’t make your brand stand out and doesn’t set you apart from the injector down the road. Generic information is more accessible than ever – clients can google the same information you can. What clients actually want, and need to see, is your expertise.

The ideal way to do this is to get in front of the camera. This is what all the best social media presences are doing now. Think about who you follow and aspire to be like in this industry  - you know what the look like, sound like, and most importantly, you feel confident in their knowledge. They aren’t just posting factoids of faceless information that they could have copied and pasted from ChatGPT. The words are coming from their own mouths. You can hear how confidently they can explain it. You believe that they understand it themselves and it builds TRUST.

That is what social media is about now – building trust. This industry is far too oversaturated to continue to be a price war. The race to the bottom is over. It’s no longer that advantageous to be the best ‘deal’ in your area to make up for lack of experience. Some practitioners used to get a lot of business by seriously undercutting their competitors, but now it is not uncommon to find 3 or 4 clinics in an area all charging the same rock bottom prices. To be successful they still have to stand out against the multiple other local clinics in the same price bracket. The clinic that 'wins' is the one who clients trust the most. Your social media is your tool to build this trust. Trust starts from clients knowing who you are! Some of you may already be getting in front of the camera and seeing improved results from it. Some of you (like me) may still be struggling to want to do it.

If I assess why it makes me uncomfortable to get in front of the camera on my social media, it probably boils down to being a perfectionist. When I consider being ‘the face’ of my brand, it feels like a mountain of a task. Making just one video post feels like the start of a huge commitment and a lot of pressure. My brain sees one post as the tip of the iceberg – a new responsibility to create thousands, regularly, until I retire! Doing one simple post and leaving it like that feels pointless.  This is true in a way, but we all need to start somewhere. In fact, if I did one post, the next one probably wouldn’t feel so hard. Habits are created from one small step. Even if I just did one post, it’s better than no posts. But my perfectionism doesn’t experience it that way. My brain tells me that I need to have all these content ideas; that they need to mean something and be important. Then it feels too hard and I tell myself that I will start when I have a good idea for content. In reality, I know that the more I got used to making small, unimportant videos or text posts, the more it would likely give me confidence and open up my creativity further down the line. But that leads me into my next barrier – feeling judged and silly. 

Again, my perfectionism makes me feel like creating a ‘pointless’ post would have me judged. If I assess this feeling very honestly, I think that I subconsciously imagine my posts to be aimed at new clients; people I don’t know. That adds a whole load of pressure to the task – to come across as the perfect expert, the finished article, to be exactly who I want to be as ‘end game’ (not to mention to look good - which is hard when I'm not feeling my best in motherhood). I know the truth is that we are all learning, growing and progressing – no matter how long we have been in the industry. I will know more in a year than I ever did today, so that’s not a real reason to put off starting – I would just put it off forever! A less pressure filled way to think of it is to imagine your posts are for your EXISTING clients. People who already know you as you are. It feels safer that way, and allows you to be more confident.

I’ve started thinking about one particular client I have. I don’t know why this client, but she always puts me at ease and just has this friendly aura about her. She’s also really nice on social media and often leaves supportive comments on my stuff. When I think about making a video post, I now think about her watching it. It makes the whole thing feel less daunting if she is my target audience. Maybe that thought process will work for you? Of course, we do want to attract new clients – but maybe we need to let go of the idea that we need to appeal to everyone. If the clients are not like Claire (not her real name) then maybe I don’t want them anyway? So, if you don’t think Claire would judge you for your unimportant, less than perfect video, and she would just be happy to see you get yourself out there and not think 'gosh, she looks rough' – maybe new clients just like her will feel the same.

If you really don’t feel up to getting your face out there on video just yet, you can still build trust by ditching the overly professional, corporate tone and becoming more human. Much like how I have written this post. Don’t be afraid to show your personality and vulnerability. One of the things I KNOW we will look back on in a few years and cringe at is the overuse of AI text. I promise you, it’s the next ‘filler loves water!’. You can tell Chat GPT tone a mile off, and it sounds so insincere and lacking in effort. It’s extremely off-putting (yes, I know I use the em dashes (-) but I promise that’s just my millennial punctuation, and I refuse to stop punctuating appropriately because a robot has hijacked it. My criticism of it is much more about the formulaic phrasing that makes everything you say sound like ‘Let me be clear - This is not just food; This is M&S food’).

I’m not saying don’t use AI. Ai is a wonderful tool that can help you no end in your business. If you aren’t using it in some way, you are probably making more work for yourself. But please, take time to ensure YOUR personality comes across in some posts. It will make so much difference to how you come across to your audience. Most of the biggest brands out there don’t obviously use AI text. Look up any major brand you can think of on socials. Their marketing teams are generally staying away from ChatGPT texts and instead opting for human style, relatable, personality filled content. Then take notice of some of the smaller brands and companies who are having to pay for ads to land in your news feeds – you will see a tidal wave of AI. Everyone sounds the same.

Lastly, an important thing to note is not to let a lack of ‘likes’ effect you. In this industry, a lot of clients don’t want anyone to know that they are having work done – so they may not publicly like or engage with your content. This doesn’t mean it isn’t landing with people. Keep going and don’t be disheartened or embarrassed by lack of engagement.  It is also a really good reason not to make every post you do about business. Posts about you; what you are up to, things you like, funny stories, embarrassing moments, what motivates you etc etc, are all great ideas to get people to engage comfortably. Forget engagement groups, they are out. Having a load of other practitioners write emoji comments that bare no relevance to what you are posting about does nothing for your credibility, nor does it increase your visibility to the audience you actually want to attract (clients).

I’m not a social media guru. These are just my observations and ideas. You may disagree and that’s ok. But hopefully just reading this has made you think and has sparked some realisations for you. If so, you now have a few options:

Expert level - Bite the bullet and commit to make an ‘on camera’ video post where you show your face AND talk! Start off just posting to stories. It can feel like less pressure to be perfect because it’s just a temporary video. If you are self-conscious about your appearance, use a SOFT filter (just a light beautifying one, nothing that obviously changes your appearance. “Bali” or “minimal” filter on Facebook are nice ones that just gives you a bit of colour without loads of fake makeup).Using a soft filter can help you feel confident to post whenever the mood takes you, rather than feeling like you have to have make-up on or be having a good hair day. If you feel motivated from doing the first video, try to commit to doing at least 1 per week. It will be a huge change to your business!

Hard level – Make a video post where you are EITHER showing your face or talking. Whichever one you feel most comfortable with. Examples might be – doing a viral TikTok trend where you mime to audio or do actions to music, or filming something else (such as a treatment, your clinic, or your morning routine) and providing the voice over. Gain your confidence by doing this weekly and build up to expert level.

Advancing level – create a written post where you are human, approachable, honest and vulnerable. Let your audience learn something about you. Accompany your post with a relevant photo of yourself where your face can be clearly seen (no strong filters!!!!!). Commit to doing this on a schedule that won't overwhelm you - even if it's just once a month. Get used to being more open and watch your confidence grow.

Beginner level – Same info as advancing level, but instead of adding a photo of yourself, add a personal photo relevant to what you are talking about in your post (such as a photo of your clinic, your view, your favourite skincare etc.).

Side quest: Remember that successful branding these days is now all about building trust and a human face (or at least personality). If, like me, your business page profile pictures and banners are all logos or client ‘after’ photos – it’s time to get your face on there! Let your potential customers see who you are! (And yes, this means you have to look like you and not the AI or heavily filtered version of yourself)

Oh, and one more thing! Please, please, please, make your location obvious on your socials. The internet is a big place, and so many business pages I look at don’t have a single hint about where they are based!

LOVE EMMA

XXX