So… once and for all… does size really matter? 

👀 

Short answer (and I think you have heard this one before): “No honey, it’s how you use it.”

And that is the real answer. BUT, and this is a big BUT, many of you just don’t know how!  

"I feel like I’m shouting into a void," said Tom, a client of mine, during one of our first sessions. 

"I’ve got thousands of followers on my Insta, yet every time I post, I only get a few likes and maybe a single comment from my 5th grade homeroom teacher who comments on every post of mine. On top of that, I have holes in my schedule this week!! What’s the point?"

I sat back in my chair, took a sip of coffee, and smiled. This was a familiar story. I hear it time and time again from practices across the world: big numbers, small returns. The obsession with follower count has become the new tape measure, hasn't it? We've all been there, watching those numbers tick up, waiting for engagement and then consults to magically follow.

But they usually don't. 

Even though it may seem logical that a bigger audience should equal a bigger customer base, if you have been in this place before, you know it’s a beautiful illusion. 

“Ok, Tom, thousands of people follow you on social media, but how many of them will ever turn into a patient? How many of them are even real, and not bots? Honestly, how many of them actually give a shit about you or your practice in any way? My guy, I know you have heard this before… but bigger isn’t always better.”

Two seconds of dead silence, then neither of us can contain our laughter. We continue jabbing back and forth, going completely off the political correctness rails before we are crying from the laughter. Eventually, we are able to rein it back in and continue the conversation… 

“Tom, the answer is simple: targeting a smaller, more specific audience yields better results. Social media marketing success is not about reaching everyone—it's about reaching the right ones.” 

“Ok, Sam, but how the hell am I supposed to do that?

The answer is simple. The process, however, is anything but.  

Know Who You Are NOT Targeting

Usually, when I ask clients who their target group is, I get the dreaded answer: "Everyone from 18 to 118, with disposable income, who is ready to buy now. Oh, and also not insane would be nice."

Thanks everyone. Super helpful.  

I can see them shift uncomfortably in their seats as they say it, sensing deep down that this answer isn't right. They're absolutely correct—targeting "everybody" really means targeting nobody.

How can you create content that resonates with a 20-year-old college student, a 45-year-old executive, and a 65-year-old retiree at the same time? How can you speak to both budget-conscious consumers and luxury seekers? To both men and women? To both urban professionals and suburban parents? You simply can't, at least not effectively.

Because of that, you need to know who you are NOT targeting. The best way to do that is by using patient personas (if you don’t know, start with our Patient Personas Guide and the Patient Personas series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4).

Think about your "perfect patient". Consider their age, location, lifestyle, values, and specific needs. What are their pain points? What makes them hesitate before booking a consultation? What kind of content do they consume? Are they scrolling through social media during their lunch break or late at night after putting kids to bed? 

Once you have answers to all these questions, ask yourself: "How do I approach them with my content?"

Then, instead of shouting into the void, you'll be having a conversation with someone you know well. Someone who resonates with your brand and messaging.

Why Do We Win? Why Do We Fail?

Every social media success story and every failure comes down to a few fundamental patterns. By identifying them, we can learn what to embrace and what to avoid. So, why do we fail? And why do we win?

We fail when we let others dictate our path, constantly reacting to competitors, comparing ourselves to other practices, and trying to catch up with every trend. We stumble when we cast the net too wide, attempting to appeal to everyone while connecting deeply with no one. We fall short when we abandon our strategy. 

But the path to winning? It starts with self-awareness—knowing exactly who you are as a practice and what you stand for. It's about having a clear, focused strategy and the courage to stick to it, even when immediate results aren't visible. Winners understand that it's not only about how many people you reach. They're not afraid to cast a smaller net, because they know that genuine connections with the right audience are worth more than superficial engagement with the masses. Above all, they stay true to their course, confident in their unique value rather than chasing someone else's success story.

Key Elements of Building a Social Media Brand

You've figured out who your ideal patient is. You know that casting a smaller net is more beneficial. Great! 

But here's the thing about finding the right audience—it's only valuable if you have something solid to show them when they arrive. 

That’s where the three key elements to building a social media brand come in handy. They're what separate practices that exist on social media from those that actually thrive there. 

Want to be one of the winners? There are a few crucial things to keep in mind:

1. Defend Your Standards

Your standards define everything. They impact the patients you attract, the relationships you build, and the success you achieve as a result. They're one of the first things patients notice about you, a message that speaks volumes about your practice long before any treatment begins.

Know Who You Are

Your brand speaks before you do. You must know what you stand for as a practice and make sure every touchpoint communicates it loud and clear.

Create an identity that supports your standards and appeals to the interests and desires of your target audiences. Take a high-end practice like Park Cities Cosmetic Surgery, for example:

‍

Their social media presence focuses on sophisticated, curated content highlighting transformative results and exclusive treatments. Their aesthetic is sleek and polished, with a monochromatic theme. Patients immediately get a sneak peek of the VIP experience that awaits them in the practice. 

That concept is cohesive throughout every single one of their posts. Just take a look at a recent one:

An elegant before and after, with a minimalistic caption. No over-the-top logo flashing or discount codes—just a calm, confident presence. That restraint is a hallmark of luxury branding. All these elements work together to position them as the ultimate high-end destination for cosmetic procedures, perfect for wealthy patients who value exclusivity.

On the other hand, a practice like Nurose Aesthetics, which focuses on natural results and patient comfort, takes a different approach:

Their content showcases subtle enhancements and maintains an approachable tone. The imagery favors natural lighting and warm, inviting tones. Their feed has a down-to-earth feel, perfect for patients seeking natural results in a comfortable, welcoming space.

Reassuring and relatable, their content makes viewers feel safe, seen, and understood. It builds strong emotional trust but also gently guides viewers toward the next step.

Despite their clear differences, both of these practices succeed because they know exactly who they are, and they’re not watering themselves down to appeal to everyone. They stay grounded in their values and communicate them with clarity and consistency. That level of self-awareness doesn’t just build trust—it acts as a filter. It makes it instantly clear to anyone scrolling by whether they’ve found their place, their people, and their provider.

Stand By Your Treatment Philosophy

In an industry overflowing with trends and quick fixes, one of the most powerful things you can do as a practitioner is draw a line. A firm, grounded, unapologetic line. Not around what you will do, but what you refuse to do:

Refusing to overpromise, to chase clout, or to compromise your philosophy isn’t stubbornness. It’s confidence. It’s a reflection of the deep belief you have in your work.

You refuse to treat someone based on what’s popular on Instagram.
You refuse to rush through consultations just to stay on schedule.
You refuse to do what everyone else is doing when it doesn’t meet your standards because you’re not here to follow. You’re here to lead.

And that’s exactly what attracts the right patients. 

Protect Your Culture

Protecting your practice's culture is about deliberately fostering an environment that reflects your core values and vision. 

This means creating a workspace where staff feel valued and empowered:

Patient interactions are consistently compassionate and thorough:

And your approach to innovation and ethics is unwavering:

A strong practice culture is both a compass and a filter, guiding daily decisions while protecting against influences that don't align with your principles. When culture is intentionally cultivated rather than left to chance, it becomes your practice's true competitive advantage and your most powerful tool for staff retention, patient loyalty, and long-term satisfaction in your work.

Believe in Your Prices

Competing on price is nothing but a race to the bottom. 

You don’t need a crystal ball to see this future: you'll keep lowering your prices to match competitors, they'll lower theirs in response. Then, if their prices are lower than yours, you'll have to lower them again. Before you know it, you're all struggling to maintain quality while barely covering costs.

It also influences the kind of audience you’re attracting. You know the type: the deal hunters, the "but I saw it cheaper on Groupon" crowd. Bargain-chasers will always jump from practice to practice with no regard for quality or consistency. They’ll never become your stable source of income, especially when this standard of care is satisfactory for them, if it only means paying a lower price:

You must believe in the value of your services, and your social media presence should reflect that. Skip the endless promotions and discounts:

The words “Luxury” and “JUST $100” are basically oxymorons. Not to mention that the only people who won’t be suspicious about an 80% discount are the ones who value nothing but low prices:

Do you think this will attract who you really want?  

Instead, showcase your expertise, highlight those amazing patient results, and demonstrate exactly why your services are worth every penny. The moment you start discounting your worth is the moment others will, too. 

Never Be Afraid to Turn Away Patients

Truth bomb: not everyone is your patient, and that's okay.

Sure, I understand you might get stressed when patients voice their concerns:

Maybe about the budget: "It's too expensive!" 

Or about the treatment plan: "But I need it all done before my friend’s wedding!"

But here's the shift in perspective that changes everything: these were never your patients to begin with. You need to learn how to tell them "no":

"It's too expensive!" — "No, it's just out of your budget." 

"But I need it all done before my friend’s wedding!" — "No, quality treatment requires time."

When you say no to misaligned patients, you’re saying yes to your standards and your practice’s vision and values. The right audience will appreciate this, and they're the ones who will become your loyal advocates, refer others like them, and help build the practice you've always envisioned.

2. Have a Strategy… for a Strategy

To create a successful social media brand, you have to start with strategy.

Without it, you’re wandering without a destination in mind. You might post great content, you might even get decent engagement, but where is it all leading? Having a solid strategy means knowing exactly where you want to go and how to get there. So, what is your actual goal?

"I’m not sure, Sam. I guess I want more patients."

"Well, that’s a good start, Tom. But do you know what that means?"

"...more followers?"

"Come on, we’ve been over this already. We need to cast a SMALLER net. We don’t need a huge audience from all around the world. We need local followers. The ones who will be loyal to your practice. The ones who will spread the word about it. The ones who will actually convert into patients. That should be your goal."

"But Sam, how do I achieve that?"

"Let’s get to work."

Use Precision Targeting

Your strategy should aim for quality, not quantity. Having 10,000 random followers might look impressive, but if they're not turning into patients, they're just a vanity metric. When was the last time your follower count paid your bills?

This is where that patient persona you created earlier comes in handy. Think about what kind of ads and content your ideal patient will find interesting. Adjust ad targeting to match your ideal patient's age, gender, and interest. Target those who follow complementary healthcare providers. 

When creating content, use condition-specific hashtags that potential patients actually search for. Nobody types #bestinjectorever into the search bar, but they absolutely search for #jawlinecontouring, #undereyefiller, or #necklift when they have specific concerns. They're telling you exactly what they want, so you need to be there with the solution when they go looking.

Stay Local

Here's a common mistake: practices get excited about having followers from around the globe, treating it as a sign of success.

But unless you're planning to expand internationally, those followers from other countries will never become your patients. Your content might be going viral in Europe, but your practice is in Houston, so how does that help your bottom line? Those likes aren't translating into appointments.

Focus your energy where there’s real value: building a strong presence in your local community. Use location-specific hashtags, engage with local businesses, and create content that speaks directly to your market. After all, these are the people who can actually walk through your door and pay for a procedure.

Choose Primary Channels

You don't need to be everywhere. You need to be where your patients are. 

Rather than spreading yourself thin trying to maintain a presence on every platform, figure out your audience’s natural digital habitat and meet them where they already are. If your ideal patients are spending time on Facebook, be on Facebook. If they’re hanging out on Instagram, be on Instagram. If they're active on TikTok, that's where you have to make an impact. 

Focus your energy on the two to three places that matter most. It's better to excel on two platforms than be mediocre on five. 

Build an Organic Audience

A loyal patient base starts with an organic audience. The followers who engage with your content because they see real value in it are far more valuable than those who were “pushed” to do so through ads or promotions.

Resonance > reach.

And how can you achieve that? By connecting with your patients.

Despite gender.

Despite age.

Despite background. 

Use before and after case studies, or any other kind of content that will captivate your target audience. It may mean thinking deeper about their real needs and desires (which you did while creating your patient personas, right?).

Is it about feeling confident? 

Being understood by their provider? 

Achieving certain aesthetic goals?

Take these insights and weave them into your content strategy.

Forging those genuine connections ensures you're building a community of engaged patients (not just followers) who see you as someone who truly gets them. That’s the provider they’ll choose.

Stick to Your Strategy

You might think you've got it all figured out with a perfect strategy in place. But there’s a catch: even the best strategy in the world won't work if you don't stick to it. 

Revolutionary, I know.

And while it may seem like common sense, many practices forget that social media success doesn't happen overnight. You have to commit to your strategy. If you're not seeing immediate results, resist the urge to completely change course. Instead, make small adjustments based on what's working and what isn't. Reassess. Repeat as necessary.

Perhaps most critically, set reasonable goals from the start. While you should aim high, chasing unrealistic numbers will only set you up for disappointment. You'll be following a strategy that seems like it's failing, when really, it was built on impossible expectations to begin with. 

Building a strong, social media brand is a marathon, not a sprint. Break your goals into achievable quarterly milestones that you can track and measure, and give your strategy time to work.

3. Bring Value and Authenticity 

To create valuable and authentic content, start with your "why?" More specifically, why do you do this everyday?

Maybe you're in the business of transformation, bringing happiness through restored confidence. Maybe you’re an artist at heart, driven by the craftsmanship and creativity of aesthetic medicine. Whatever drives you to do this work every day, that's your foundation. When you're clear about your "why", everything else flows naturally.

Now that you understand the importance of knowing your purpose, let's talk about ways to turn it into content that your audience actually cares about:

Don’t Be Pushy

It’s okay to promote your services, but don’t be too aggressive. How do you strike that balance?

While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, the 80/20 rule is a great fit for most practices. Aim for 80% (or more) of your content to be educational or entertaining, and only 20% (or less) promotional. 

Ditch the immediate “book my service” pitch. Focus on providing value first. Whether it’s sharing tips or educating your audience, you must build trust and interest before asking for anything in return. Pushy marketing repels potential patients, while value-driven content pulls them in—after all, nobody likes ads.

Once you've shown your audience that you genuinely care about helping them, not just making a sale, everything changes. Your promotional messages don’t feel promotional at all; they feel like providing natural solutions to your patients’ needs.

Create Unique Content

If you know anything about me, you know I always emphasize the need to be unique. Ask yourself: in a sea of aesthetic medicine accounts, what makes yours different? 

Maybe it's your approach to patient education:

Maybe it’s your personality that you’re not afraid to show to your audience:

Or maybe it’s the way you’re able to make your patients laugh:

Whatever your “X factor” is, find it and turn it into content that your followers can't find anywhere else.

Answer Questions and Solve Problems

Social media isn't just for sharing aesthetic pictures (or ugly ones). It's where your potential patients go to learn about the treatments they're considering.

That's your cue to be the expert who shows up with real answers. Share your knowledge, break down those scary-sounding medical terms into normal-people-speak, and address those questions patients are too shy to ask in person. 

While you’ll be showing your existing audience that you really know your stuff, you'll also be pulling in new followers who are actively looking for answers—followers who can later become your actual patients.

Use Testimonials (in countries where you can) 

Testimonials are one of the most powerful tools in your social media arsenal.

They allow your happiest patients to do the talking for you, showing potential ones exactly why they should trust you. Nothing is as authentic and convincing as seeing a real person just like them achieve the aesthetic change they've been dreaming about. 

Don’t hesitate to add a personal touch to it. A casual conversation with a happy patient or a candid moment captured in your clinic only adds warmth and relatability to your brand:

Remember that people connect with stories and emotions, not procedures. The procedure is just a means to an end. 

Encourage User-Generated Content

User-generated content is authentic and unpredictable. It shows the real journey, the genuine results, and the true happiness that comes with achieving aesthetic goals. 

A selfie of a happy patient snapped in their car right after their treatment or a quick boomerang in your waiting room—these raw moments build trust, and trust sells your services better than any polished campaign ever could:

Of course, professional before and afters are essential for showcasing your technical expertise, but it’s often the candid, relatable posts that spark the deepest connection. Because when people see someone just like them reaching their goals through you? That’s when possibility becomes reality and a follower becomes your patient.

Perhaps most importantly, your UGC strategy is a gateway to new social circles. Anne, your happy patient, doesn’t just post for herself—she posts to her network. Teachers know teachers, moms know moms, brides know other brides. Those people have their own social groups. When they see her glowing after that laser treatment or sculpted post-filler selfie, they don’t need a sales pitch. They just ask, “Where did you go to get this done?” Suddenly, you’re not just on Anne’s feed—you’re in her friend group’s group chats.

Every patient is a micro-influencer in their own world. Actively encourage them to share their experiences, tag you in their stories, use your branded hashtags. Make it fun and easy for them to talk about you, and they will. This is what social media was built for—conversation, connection, and community. 

Be You

Your credentials matter, but so does being human. Patients want to see more than your white coat—they want to see you.

Social media is the perfect place to embrace that, even if it just means showing glimpses of your daily life:

Or the values you stand for:

Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through. To have opinions. To believe in something. 

At the end of the day, you need to remember: patients are not just choosing a provider. They're choosing a human being to take care of them.

Think Small, Win Big

In the end, it is true—what you do with it really is more important than size.

(bhahhahahahahaha - I could do this all day)

While everyone else is trying desperately to be everything to everyone, you now understand something they don't: it’s okay not to appeal to the masses.

We could’ve used this lesson earlier in life—like in high school, when the goal was to be liked by everyone, to blend in, to not be the “weird one” in any room. Back then, popularity felt like safety. 

As we get older and wiser, we realize life isn’t about being liked by everyone—it’s about being liked by the right ones. It’s about finding the people you genuinely connect with and building a smaller circle that’s real, loyal, and unbreakable.

Let your competitors continue chasing vanity metrics with their tape measures in hand. You can focus on creating something that actually brings in revenue. By the time they figure it out, you’ll be miles ahead—nurturing real relationships, serving aligned patients, and building a business that actually lasts. That’s how you win.