How to Run Facebook & Instagram Ads For Your Medical Cosmetic Clinic
Social media advertising on Facebook and Instagram is a cost-effective way for medical cosmetic clinics to build brand awareness and promote treatments. However, Meta's advertising policies can be challenging to navigate.
This article provides the benefits and expert tips on running social media advertising while being HIPAA compliant, as well as a list of "don'ts" to avoid, such as forgetting your goals, using before and after images, using too much text and ignoring organic content.
Should You Even Consider Promoting Your Cosmetic Clinic On Facebook & Instagram?
For starters, social media advertising on Facebook and Instagram is one of the best ways to generate leads for medical cosmetics clinics. but it can be very tricky to navigate due to Meta's advertising policies, as well as HIPAA compliance for cosmetic clinic digital marketing. ​ However with some valuable expert tips here on running Facebook and Instagram ads for your cosmetic clinic, you can experience the tremendous offers of:​
A low minimum daily spend due to lower competition on the platform.
Specific targeting options so that you can pinpoint your target demographic not only by gender and age, but also by interests and various demographic attributes.
A wonderful choice of advertising options to fit your goals, like using images to promote offers or videos to educate and engage your audience.
Detailed insights so you can see what is and isn't working with regards to your creative and targeting parameters at a glance.
In our experience, social media advertising for medical cosmetic clinics is a very cost effective strategy for building brand awareness and generating leads for certain treatments, and works hand-in-hand with running Google Ads for cosmetic clinics. The extensive options and insights also enable you to learn a great deal about your audience and boost your conversion rates. ​ However, it does take some time to get to grips with which options are best for your business and your advertising goals. Meta is notoriously strict about which ads they approve, and they regularly tweak their guidelines so that whether or not you're new to social media advertising, you'll still need to constantly fine tune your process.
So before we get into the nitty gritty tips to running successful social media ads for your cosmetic clinic, let's first elaborate on the benefits.
The 6 Massively Important Benefits of Running Social Media Advertising For Your Cosmetic Clinic
Targeted Advertising
One of the key benefits of social media advertising for medical clinics is the ability to target specific audiences with their ads.
Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer a wealth of data about their users, including their demographics, interests, and behaviors. This data can be used to create ads that are shown to people who are most likely to be interested in the clinic's services. By using targeted advertising, medical clinics can ensure that their ads are seen by the right people at the right time.
Engagement & Interaction
Another benefit of social media advertising for medical clinics is the ability to engage with and interact with potential patients. This can help medical clinics build trust and credibility with their audience and provide valuable information about their services.
By engaging with their audience on social media, medical clinics can establish themselves as experts in their field and improve their online reputation.
Cost-Effectiveness
In addition to targeted advertising and engagement, social media advertising is also cost-effective compared to other forms of advertising. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer a range of advertising options, with different pricing models and budgets to their your needs. This allows clinics to choose the right advertising options for their goals and budget, and to adjust their campaigns as needed.
By using social media advertising, medical cosmetic clinics can reach a large audience without breaking the bank.
Analytics & Tracking
Another advantage of social media advertising for medical clinics is the availability of analytics and tracking tools that provide a wealth of data about the performance of ads, including how many people have seen the ad, how many people have clicked on the ad, and how many people have taken action after seeing the ad. This data can be used to measure the effectiveness of the clinic's advertising campaigns and to make adjustments based on the data.
By using analytics and tracking tools, medical clinics can improve the performance of their ads and maximize the return on their advertising investment.
Branding & Awareness
In addition to targeted advertising, engagement, and cost-effectiveness, social media advertising can also help medical clinics improve their branding and awareness. By creating ads that are consistent with the clinic's brand, and by using the clinic's logo and branding elements in the ads, medical cosmetic clinics can improve their brand recognition and increase awareness of their services.
Using social media advertising to build a stronger brand enables clinics to differentiate themselves from their competitors and establish themselves as a trusted and respected provider of medical services.
Social Proof
Finally, social media advertising can help medical clinics provide social proof for their services.
Social proof is the idea that people are more likely to trust and believe information that comes from other people. By using social media advertising, medical clinics can showcase the positive feedback and reviews that they have received from their patients. This can help potential patients see that other people have had positive experiences with the clinic, and can encourage them to consider the clinic for their own medical needs.
With that being said, let's dive into the 12 tips for running profitable Facebook & Instagram ads for your medical cosmetic clinic this year.
Our 12 Expert Tips For Running Profitable Facebook & Instagram Ads For Your Medical Cosmetic Clinic ​ 1. Don't Forget Your Goals ​ Before you do any kind of advertising online, it is most vital to understand your goals and why you want to carry out a particular activity. The same is true of social media advertising. There are many different ad formats for attracting page likes, boosting engagement, driving traffic to your website, increasing newsletter sign ups, generating leads and so much more.
By identifying your goals, you'll find it easier to choose the most appropriate advertising option, after which you can figure out your creative and targeting parameters. ​ 2. Don't Use Before & After Images ​ Meta has a strict policy against the use of before and after images to promote personal health products or services such as facial aesthetics or dental treatments. The reason for this is because they consider before and after photos to potentially pose false promises about the results a treatment can achieve.
Many practitioners already edit or apply filters onto the "after" image to further exaggerate the final results, and the truth is that everyone is different and treatments may not all be equally effective for everyone. This may drastically effect someone's self-esteem, which is already a big talking point amongst these platforms. 3. Don't Use Too Much Text ​ Meta used to reject any ad that featured more than 20% text on the image itself. They have since relaxed this rule in 2021 but you should still think carefully before using a lot of text as it can significantly reduce the reach of your ad given that people don't oftentimes enjoy looking at an image or video for the purpose of reading text alone.
Get into your audience's head for a moment - what relevant and creative content can you show them that will actually capture their attention and entice them? ​ 4. Don't Set It & Forget It ​ Meta provides analytics data to show you how your ads are performing. We check these insights regularly as it will illuminate what your target demographic in your region likes and dislikes.
Keeping an eye on your insights means you can respond quickly if Meta suddenly stops running an ad for some reason, and be able to pivot and/or adjust accordingly so that your ad account is in good standing and your ads are delivering as effectively as possible. ​ 5. Don't Ignore Your Organic Content ​ You've worked incredibly hard on perfecting your ad graphics and videos, and you've got people interested. Great. But don't forget that your audience is going to browse through your social media pages to ensure that you are a trusted business and look for results!
By using social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, medical cosmetic clinics can promote their services, engage with potential patients, and provide valuable information about health and wellness.
So don't let that hard work go to waste by having an empty or outdated social media page behind your ads. Make sure that your organic social media presence showcases every reason you have to be proud of your business, and your audience will be more likely to engage with you. ​ Now that we know what we should avoid doing when running social media ads for cosmetic clinics, let's look at a list of what we should do! ​ 6. Read Meta's Guidelines About Personal Health Advertising ​ Reading Meta's Personal Health Advertising policies will help you to understand what sort of images are likely to work with your ad.
Simply put, Meta likes images that align with positivity and don't overpromise; it will reject images that play on people's insecurities about their appearance. ​ 7. Explore The Audience Targeting Options ​ Research your target audience, even if at a basic level! Facebook and Instagram enable you to target those who see your ads based on demographics such as age, location, gender and interests. However, there are also more sophisticated targeting options to consider as well, like targeting users based on their mobile OS or if and when they're connected to WiFi.
You can also create "Lookalike" audiences of people who have similar data points and attributes as your existing clients. Alternatively, you can advertise to people who are already on your mailing list and segment your existing database based on their stage in your marketing journey - there are many options to cater your communications with the objective of maximizing impact, so explore those options! ​ 8. Have a Dedicated Landing Page ​ If you create a Facebook or Instagram ad designed to get people to click through to your website and learn more about a specific offer or treatment, you should ensure that you have a dedicated landing page for your campaign. Facebook will check before approving your ad that it links to a page that reflects what the ad is about. ​ 9. Mind Your Language ​ In addition to checking what images you use, Meta will check the wording of your ads - and even your landing page - to ensure that you're not creating unrealistic expectations or targeting people's insecurities. In addition, there are banned terms that you can't use in your copy as they go against Meta's Guidelines (ie. you can't use the word "Botox").
Now, although that may worry you initially, we spoke to someone who communicated with CAP (the Committee of Advertising Practices) for clarification on this, and they do in fact accept that there is leeway if ads mention the treatment as "a potential outcome of a consultation". ​
For instance, you may be able to use a headline such as, "Get Your Wrinkle Treatment Consultation" to promote Botox. ​
There are also certain terms that CAP has identifies as being problematic - such as "anti-wrinkle injections" and "Botox" itself - which seems to suggest that others may be more acceptable. In short, as experts in digital marketing, we can help you with this so feel free to book an appointment with us if you're having any trouble with figuring it out.
​ 10. Use Good Quality Graphics & Videos ​ In our experience, when it comes to creating effective Facebook and Instagram ads, you could go 1 of 2 ways. The first way is to go the creative route with sophisticated pattern interrupts that catch someone's attention and gets them to stop scrolling for long enough to allow you to persuade them. The 2nd way is to go simple with a clear message and call to action for your audience to take if the message speaks to them.
Regardless of what you do, you'll still only have a few seconds to capture someone's attention, so you may want to think if an eye-catching element to your ad even if you go the simple route. It may also help to follow Facebook's ad guide for formats here. ​ 11. Think About Your Call To Action (CTA) ​ What is it that you want people to do when they see your ad? And just as equally important, what will people most naturally want to do if you deliver the most appropriate information and offer to them, in consideration of the action that you want them to take?
You always want to have a call to action in your ad, so make sure your ad is of high quality, fulfills user intent and focuses also on the benefits of clicking through to whatever is on the other side. ​ 12. Refresh & Rotate Your Campaigns ​ A/B testing (also known as split testing) is key. You may want to consider running a series of ads that feature different creative, messages, headlines, calls to action etc. so that you can identify which ones are performing best on your target demographic.
The truth is, different methods work differently in different locations and on different demographics, so there's no "most effective solution" even if we're talking about a niche industry here. In the same breath, running different ads allows your audience to see something new from you consistently, and allows you to capture their attention more easily as they don't grow bored and immune to your marketing efforts. ​
Conclusion
In conclusion, social media advertising is an important part of the digital marketing strategy for medical cosmetic clinics. By using targeted advertising, engaging with potential patients, and utilizing analytics and tracking tools, medical cosmetic clinics can improve the performance of their ads and reach more potential clients.
In addition, social media advertising can help medical cosmetic clinics improve their branding and awareness, and provide social proof for their services. It is a valuable and cost-effective way for medical clinics to promote their services and treatments, and to grow their cosmetic clinic business.
If there is something in this article that still has you wondering how you can successfully generate more traffic for your medical cosmetics clinic, please feel free to email us here.