HASHTAGS MATTER

In a new study published in the December issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery® from study author Olivier Alexandre Branford, MA, MBBS, PhD, MRCS, FRCS, a plastic surgeon at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London, only about five percent of tweets included the #PlasticSurgery hashtag. And nearly half of tweets tagged #Plastic Surgery were posted by plastic surgeons.

Choose the hashtags that have the most users via simple searches on social media sites. Hashtags that become very popular are often found on your Twitter homepage and listed as trending topics. Add several hashtags to each Tweet in ascending order of popularity.

Interestingly, in a series of Twitter surveys, Dr. Branford also found that the public wanted plastic surgeons to post about education, patient safety, and new research—not celebrities and self-promotion. Of posts by board-certified plastic surgeons using the hashtag #PlasticSurgery, 37.0 percent were self-promotional.

It is very important to create branded hashtags that are uniquely yours – such as #askdrsmith, #houstoncosmeticclinic – but even more vital to incorporate hashtags that are commonly used so your content can be found. Use brand names of products and treatments offered in your practice, especially those that have a robust social media presence including #ultherapy, #botoxcosmetic, #thermage, #sculpsure, #coolsculpting, #restylane, etc.

Also consider variations on specific phrases and themes, such as:

#cosmeticsurgery
#cosmeticsurgeon
#bestplasticsurgeon
#newyorkplasticsurgeon
#facialplasticsurgeon
#betterbody
#skintips
#skinlaser
#beautyadvice
#bodytreatment
#bodysculpting
#faceliftsurgery
#medicalspa
#medispa
#rhinoplasty
#topdoctor

Need help with your practice marketing? Have a question we can answer? Reach out Anne@wendylewisco.com