Building a trusted, engaging and visible brand is a vital strategy to underpin and drive success
When it comes to your business, reputation is everything—and effective brand reputation management should be a key consideration for every aesthetic business. If you are building a clinic or aesthetic brand and wondering how to get things off the ground or how to maintain that high-profile momentum, this article will explain the fundamentals of building a strong brand reputation—both traditionally and online—and how to keep that progress going to create long-lasting business success.
Brand reputation management
Brand reputation management is primarily where public relations (PR) and marketing communications are used to shape, manage and maintain the external public perception of a brand or business, and to align or shift this to match the desired, internal positioning.
The benefits of building a good brand reputation
A strong, consistent brand reputation is the cornerstone of every successful business—it tells the public who you are, why you are different from other medical aesthetic practitioners and what they can expect from your goods or services. Building and maintaining a brand reputation is critical for creating ongoing consumer awareness, trust and demand for your services, which helps to differentiate you from competitors and tip consumers from consideration into working with you. This is the underpinning mechanism for commercial success.
By constantly nurturing your brand reputation, repeat business can be generated and brand-building opportunities and partnerships can be attracted, which will ultimately take your business to the next level. One of the most powerful ‘convincers’ in the consideration and purchasing process is an unbiased third-party recommendation. Think about the last time that you asked a friend for their opinion on something to purchase or where to go for something. No matter how much research you did, that friend's recommendation was likely a deciding factor in cementing your choice. Brand reputation is always working in the background, not just through your own channels and what you say about yourself (on platforms such as websites, social media and clinic marketing, etc), but, critically, it is shown through what others say about you. This includes what they have heard or seen about you in their own circles of experience, social media, media titles and brand interactions. The ultimate aim of your PR and marketing efforts should be to build a strong brand reputation that works positively for your business, whether you are a part of the conversation or not.
Helping brand reputation
First and foremost, everyone who works in or around a business is essentially a brand advocate or representative, and they must be equipped with the brand messages and values so that they can confidently promote and position the business at any opportunity. This includes receptionists, sales teams and practitioners, as well as any suppliers, such as telephone support, PR, marketing or social agencies. Before reaching this point in brand reputation management, strong brand messages must be created to clarify what makes you different and define why patients should choose you.
Patients are another vital source of reputation-building power. They are your most influential advocates, so every touchpoint with them is an opportunity for you to spread your messages and reputation among their friends and family, leading to more patient prospects or sales potential. There is the old adage that one person will relay a positive brand experience to just one or two others but will relay a negative experience to an average of 10 people, so make sure you maximise the odds in your favour.
Building brand reputation
» Regular low-level activity, such as newsletters and regular social media posting, is better than a 3-month PR campaign push, followed by silence. The key to success is scheduling in your marketing planning time, so you can keep ahead of the game «
If you have never taken a strategic look at your brand reputation, now is the time. Here are my top three expert tips for getting started:
- Create strong brand unique selling points (USPs): list 3–5 key points of quality and differentiation that truly set you apart and seed these consistently across all marketing channels: your website, social media, customer marketing, shop or clinic materials. Once you have them, share them with your team and in every piece of content that is created for your brand
- Listen to patients: incorporate customer reviews and feedback as part of your ongoing processes. Share positive reviews on social media to demonstrate genuine experiences and generate trust from prospective patients. Do not ignore negative feedback or criticisms, respond warmly and, if relevant, find a way to improve
- Build your tribe: everything about your business, from the look and feel to the products and services, should be tailored to attracting your ideal patient. Ensure that your brand is visible in those places that target patients are spending their time—both online and offline—and connect in a consistent manner. Once you have a tribe of loyal customers, expect it to multiply.
The power of imagery
A picture tells a thousand words, and we know that, particularly on social media, high-quality imagery and videos are the most compelling types of content that encourage high engagement and sharing, which, again, amounts to reputation building. Consider investing in a business photoshoot for your brand, showcasing your space, team and products to create strong on-brand imagery for your social channels and website. This will support your PR efforts, as journalists like to use high-quality imagery and, if you can provide this, your chances of being featured will increase. If you cannot afford your own shoot, create a bank of imagery from good stock image websites, such as BigStock or ShutterStock.
Existing patients are your best bet for growth
Aesthetic businesses face two major challenges when trying to build a strong brand reputation: first is the fierce competition in the beauty and medical aesthetics space, so brands must work extra hard to remain visible and relevant to their target audiences. Second, consumers have short attention spans, so, if something is not seen regularly, it is quickly forgotten or replaced by a more proactive and engaging competitor. This means that brands and businesses must communicate in a timely, engaging, consistent and refreshing manner with their existing and target clientele.
Many clinics mistakenly direct their PR and marketing efforts at attracting new patients, while neglecting those who have already engaged with the business. Getting someone through the door is the biggest challenge, so begin by directing your efforts towards existing patients, first and foremost. Much of this can be achieved with a strong clinic marketing plan and, if possible, outsourcing some PR support to a specialist consultant or agency to keep the brand visible among the press and influencers. For example, a clinic marketing plan should include at least:
- One patient newsletter per month: keep it brief and engaging and be sure to include links to the clinic website. MailChimp has easy-to-use templates that can be sent to your clinic database
- Two or three social media posts per week: scheduling software, such as HootSuite or Schedugram, can be used to plan posts in advance and schedule them to publish at your chosen date/time. Further social media advice can be found in Box 1
- One database email campaign or social media advertising campaign per month. What do you want to promote and drive action for? Perhaps for lapsed patients to come in for a free skin consultation or a special post-pandemic offer?
Box 1.Social media advice for clinic marketing plans
- Keep your feed looking clean, polished and uncluttered, and use your own images if possible
- Remember: the more shareable your content is, the more likely that word of mouth will spread from existing followers to new contacts and patients
- Remember to use a split of 75% educational/informative posts and 25% promotional—nobody will engage with a whole feed of special offers or price promotions.
Keeping things going
Your brand is like a beautiful garden: you need to tend, nourish and work on it consistently to get the best outcomes. All too often, business owners can get swept up in the multitude of other demands on their time and only focus on brand development, PR and marketing in short bursts. Long gaps of inactivity will reduce your brand visibility, engagement and revenue opportunities, and your patients will likely move on to your competitors. Regular low-level activity, such as newsletters and regular social media posting, is better than a 3-month PR campaign push, followed by silence. The key to success is scheduling in your marketing planning time, so you can keep ahead of the game and make your brand growth a business priority.
» Patients expect a level of genuine engagement and interaction with your brand, from likes and comments on social media to thanks, follow-ups and ongoing interaction offline, post-purchase and so on «
Online brand reputation
In the world of instant access and social media dominance, brands are even more connected to their customers. Prompt responses are an essential part of business engagement, to build your tribe and garner that trust and positive experience with your business. Patients expect a level of genuine engagement and interaction with your brand, from likes and comments on social media to thanks, follow-ups and ongoing interaction offline, post-purchase and so on.
Many of these are positive aspects of social media, but, of course, there can also be negativity online, including promptly and effectively dealing with issues and managing expectations so that any difficulties are nipped in the bud. It is vital to ensure that you have time and resources dedicated to managing your online brand reputation. Otherwise, this task can be entrusted to a dedicated supplier. Never ignore a problem, it won't go away, and others are watching to see how you handle the issue. Here are some effective tips to help manage any negative online comments:
- Always take the high road: no matter the injustice or the inaccuracies, do not get drawn into a public spat, especially on social media where it is there for all to see. Acknowledge the comment or issue and offer to get in touch directly to discuss and resolve the matter
- Do not fight fire with fire: leave the response video rants to celebrities, and do not respond in kind, no matter how tempting it may be. Give yourself time to calm down before issuing any kind of response
- Acknowledge and take action: the quickest way to diffuse a situation is to acknowledge it and push it straight to a resolution opportunity. You are not agreeing with what was said, you are merely acknowledging the dissatisfaction and publicly stating your desire to find a resolution.
If the third step fails, issue a statement on your channels and website to state the facts of the situation, what you have done to try to resolve it and that you remain open to a professional resolution. Protecting your brand reputation from this kind of damage is vital.
Conclusion
Building a trusted, engaging and visible brand is a vital strategy to underpin and drive commercial success. In the hypercompetitive world of medical aesthetics, reputation and profile are key drivers of both new and repeat business, and by investing in a consistent PR and marketing strategy, you can give yourself the best chance of survival and success. The tools and techniques in this article give a clear outline for getting started with brand building, but, if further guidance is needed, a specialist communications agency can provide much-needed strategic support.