The New Era of Marketing in Plastic Surgery: A Systematic Review and Algorithm of Social Media and Digital Marketing

Abstract

Social media has been demonstrated to serve as a critical tool for plastic surgeons, facilitating patient engagement, peer-to-peer education and learning, and outreach to the broader public community. This study aims to perform a meta-analysis of data to determine the most valuable and useful social media platforms for practicing plastic surgeons developing their practice by assessing the perceived value to the practice and quantifying return on investment. A systematic review was performed using PubMed (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD). The initial search yielded 3592 articles. Sixteen articles met inclusion and exclusion criteria. It was found that patients are more likely to engage with aesthetic content rather than scientific content. Younger generations are more likely to utilize Instagram (Meta, Menlo Park, CA), Snapchat (Santa Monica, CA), and TikTok (Culver City, CA), while older generations may be more likely to utilize Facebook (Meta, Menlo Park, CA) and YouTube (San Bruno, CA). Age specific recommendations include utilizing Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok with emphasis on breast augmentation for patients aged 17 and 35 given this is the most common procedure performed for this age group. Patients between the ages of 36 and 70 are most likely to be engaged on Facebook, Instagram, and Facebook with liposuction being the most common procedure in this age group. For ages 70+, patients are most likely to utilize Facebook with the most common procedure performed as blepharoplasty. Effective social media marketing for the plastic surgeon considers delivering the right content and choosing the right platform. The right content and platform are critically dependent on the specific age of the audience.

Racial Diversity of Patient Population Represented on United States Plastic Surgeons' Webpages

“…68 Younger generations coming into purchasing power (ages 17-35 years) have been shown to be more likely to engage with plastic surgery content on Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. 11 As patients increasingly rely on such means to choose providers, understanding the media landscape and communicating values of diversity will become all the more paramount to the provision of patient-centered care. When choosing digital media for their Webpages, medical providers should consider guidelines provided by sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Chemical Society, [69][70][71][72] which suggest being intentional to ensure representation of diversity, considering the intended audience, and seeking guidance and feedback from others about the diversity of their Webpage content.…”

“…Many surgeons have been quick to embrace Instagram specifically as a tool for patient education and business development, given its predominantly visual content, and have successfully amassed large followings 68 . Younger generations coming into purchasing power (ages 17–35 years) have been shown to be more likely to engage with plastic surgery content on Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok 11 …”

“…Through images, surgeons communicate aesthetic goals, as well as provide a source of education for patients 9,10 . Understandably, as the popularity of photo- and video-based digital media platforms has increased, 11 so has plastic surgeon participation 12 . Racial diversity in visual media improves self-esteem, self-worth, and mental health, and increases feelings of empowerment 13,14 .…”

The Fragility of Landmark Randomized Controlled Trials in the Plastic Surgery Literature

“… 56 The results of our study were similarly low with a median score of 0 (0–3). One plausible explanation for these low scores is that while plastic surgeons maintain an active online presence, this often manifests as marketing efforts, 57 and social media discussions of the literature may be more limited. Additionally, many of the included RCTs were published during the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, which came before the widespread use of several of the platforms that Altmetric tracks, such as Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and YouTube.…”

Compliance with web content accessibility guidelines in ophthalmology social media posts

“…Researchers performed a web-based analysis using Instagram because it is a more visual platform than other social media sites and has the highest user base among social media platform when excluding those with strictly video-based content 10 , 11 . A 2023 systematic review evaluating the use of social media in plastic surgery found that Instagram was the platform with the highest engagement in the majority of studies and that Instagram could be an ideal social media marketing platform for patients 17–70 years of age 12 .…”