Utilizing Influencer Marketing For Dermatologists

Posted: June 7, 2019 - By Kalena McElroy

Influencers are personalities on social media that have a large following and promote products or services through their own channels.

In fact, 89% of companies report that influencer marketing is equal to or outperforms other top marketing channels. It’s also estimated that 17% of companies spend more than half their marketing budget on influencers to promote their brands. 

Needless to say, your dermatology practice has a lot to gain by utilizing influencer marketing to help scale revenue. Whether it’s Allison Kelley doing an Instagram takeover for FACILE, a micro-influencer giving the play-by-play at Skin Five, or actress Candace Cameron-Bure as brand ambassador for Lancer Skincare, dermatology practice’s are already working with influencers to attract new audiences and promote their products.

To give you an idea of where to find the best brand advocates and how to collaborate with them, here are a few things to consider:

Instagram is the #1 Influencer Marketing Channel

Instagram now has over 1 billion users and the visual platform is growing every day. Of course, Youtube and Facebook are important platforms to access, but Instagram allows for a variety of niche profiles, leading to built-in audiences according to one’s following. 

For instance, 78% of marketers consider the Instagram post to be the best way to increase engagement and drive conversions. Think about it—your only job is to choose an influencer that molds with your brand, give the green light on content to post, and then watch the appointment requests and product sales accumulate.

You instantly supplement your content strategy and leverage your marketing budget. Plus, most influencers have very loyal followers that you can take advantage of to enhance your image and increase awareness. 

Blogging Makes a Huge Impact

Not only are influencers expert social media specialists, but many of them are skilled bloggers, too.

According to research by SEO Tribunal, over 95% of bloggers use social media platforms to scale their blog posts. This means that influencers are creating “spin content” to promote the same body of work in different formats. For instance, they write a blog post about the best skincare regimens, design an infographic that shows each item, and then post it on their Instagram account. One piece of content is repurposed for different platforms and multiple conversions come flooding in. 

57% of marketers claim that they gain a considerable amount of new customers primarily through blogging. By 2020, it’s estimated that bloggers in the U.S. will have a collective readership of over 31 million people, so finding an influencer that has several working parts in place gives you a major leg up in the field. 

With that in mind, your only mission now is to find an influencer you like and develop a plan to get them on board!

Creating an Influencer Game Plan

It’s crucial to find influencers who are already having dermatology procedures done or are connected to the skincare and beauty industry so you reach your target demographic.  Before contacting an influencer with a request, first create a game plan to shows your genuine interest in their brand, while developing a foundation of trust.

Spend some time engaging with their profile, leaving comments and liking posts. As time goes by, you can strengthen the bond by reaching out with exclusive discounts on services or personally sending them free samples to try out. Follow this approach with a few influencers you like with varying degrees of followers. Soon enough, you’ll have a solid group of invested ambassadors that are more likely to get involved with a campaign that helps grow your practice. 

Develop Campaigns and Be Upfront

With the right team in place, it’s time to develop your influencer campaign. Now, there are several ways to execute this, but the most effective strategies, especially for Instagram, are compelling photos and videos with strong captions.

Pay to Post 

Many times these collaborations are a significant part of an influencer’s income and takes quite a bit of time, so never expect for an influencer to do anything for free.

First establish an agreement with the influencer of your choice with clear guidelines of what is expected. Maybe you want them to do a live video of their procedure, or post a before and after photo. Be sure that they tag your practice and include an engaging caption that is similar to the content they typically post. In exchange, offer payment and/or a free service or product.

Some influencers that have a lot of followers will charge very high fees to feature your practice, whereas micro-influencers, with less of a following may be more willing to promote your brand for a more affordable price or free service. Find someone who is a local to your city so they will target your audience more effectively. 

The In-Person Visit

One of the most compelling features on social media is live video. Users can instantly stream an experience to their followers and connect with thousands (or millions) of people while promoting a brand. 

If you come across an influencer who’s local to your place of business, invite them to have a free treatment or procedure done and ask them to live stream the entire visit. The beauty industry is booming with cosmetics and skincare related videos performing at an incredible pace. Influencers with a steady following may have something to gain from developing a relationship with your dermatology practice and in return, they can help you acquire new patients through their popularity.

Giving free products or services are small sacrifices in exchange for a captivating moment with a large audience of people who are sharing the experience. With a solid call-to-action laid out by your influencer afterward, it’s sure to generate some conversions and get your practice on the radar. 

Blog Posts

Finally, another method of engagement that influencers offer are blog posts to help build backlinks to your website. Studies show that businesses who run a consistent blog get 97% more links to their website than those who don’t. Right away, this creates a huge opportunity for you and an influencer since many of them are looking for outlets that add to their legitimacy. 

You probably don’t have a dedicated person churning out blog posts for your practice. Influencers can take on that role by writing weekly or monthly content that points to your website. When creating your agreement, see if they’re interested in additional discounts, free products, treatments, or compensation for blogging regularly.

Develop some titles or outlines for them to follow and establish a brand voice that they can implement to attract the right audience. With this relatively low-cost and low-maintenance strategy, you can enhance your dermatology practice’s visibility online.

Use Marketing Tools to Your Advantage

If your goal is to provide a memorable experience to your patients—influencers can help! Additionally, there are several post-campaign steps that will leverage your influencer content to get the most appointments and sales. For example, reposting their content on your social media accounts and sharing that content again through an email campaign. Demandforce has a targeted email marketing tool that is ideal for creating beautiful, customized emails.

Influencer marketing is an exciting way to generate interest in your dermatology practice, and by combining it with Demandforce, you have a complete marketing and communication program at your disposal. Whether it’s attracting new clients or retaining current ones, our cloud-based software gives you in-depth metrics that show what areas are thriving and what could use improvements.