Social media lets you engage with more people, with more authenticity and greater immediacy than any other channel. The latest statistics reveal those small businesses who embrace social media can expect greater rises in revenue than those who don’t. Yet thanks to the ever-evolving nature of social media, and the very real threat of  medical advertising legislation, as many as 50% of plastic and cosmetic surgeons shy away from integrating social networking into their marketing strategy.

Today, founder and managing director of Bella Media, Michelle Kearney, will address an audience of practice managers at the 36th ASAPS Annual Conference, bringing them up to date on the latest in social media and how it can be used to enhance business practices.

‘In my experience, many practice managers know they should be embracing social media, but aren’t sure how, or why,’ says Ms Kearney, whose presentation Social Media and Marketing your Business forms part of the event’s Practice Managers’ Program. ‘Often, they will spend time updating a Facebook page or Twitter feed without any real direction, or without thinking about what social media can achieve for the clinic. This can often cause more damage than not having a social media presence at all.’

As well as touching on the importance of developing a detailed social media strategy, Ms Kearney will provide delegates with information on how to generate compelling, engaging content for their blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, which will ultimately inspire shares. The end result? More exposure for your practice.

To coincide with the presentation, Bella Media has published a number of fact sheets, designed to help cosmetic clinics embrace social media and enhance their social networking experience. As well as covering content curation and some of the most common concerns faced by those in charge of a business’ social media strategy, the fact sheets also summarise the medical advertising legislation applicable to social media.

‘Social media is considered a form of marketing by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, and therefore everything that’s posted to a clinic’s Facebook page, for example, needs to comply with the legislation,’ says Ms Kearney. ‘At Bella Media we work closely with the TGA to ensure we stay abreast of changes in legislation and to ensure we can advise our clients on the best practice when it comes to generating content on their social media sites that is not only compelling, but that is in line with legislation.’

To download the fact sheets, click here.