Successfully Onboarding a New Treatment

With so many new aesthetic products being launched every year, it’s not easy to know what to invest your money in! Getting the balance between new and innovative treatments, and offering something that lots of patients will be keen to try, can be tricky.

Here we share our quick guide to choosing and onboarding a new procedure…

Clinical research

First, it’s essential to review the clinical data on any new product or device you’re considering. How much research has been conducted? What parameters were used? How many and what type of patients were included, and do they match your demographic? And, crucially, what were the results? Be cautious of bias and don’t be afraid to ask suppliers questions if some data isn’t clear.

Market research

So, the treatment has great data, but is it going to be relevant to your patients? Take surveys from your current database to garner their interest, find out if another clinic in your area is already offering this service and how well it’s done, and consider whether it can be used on all ethnicities and skin types. Sometimes it may not be right for your current patients, but have a think about how it could bring in a new demographic.

Promotional activities

Capture interest by teasing your ‘innovative new treatment’ in your marketing activities – utilise your blog, social media, newsletter and any paid promotions you do. Once you’ve got it in clinic, take pictures with you and/or your staff showing it off – introduce what it is and how it’s going to help patients. Try offering a couple of free treatments to family and friends – film these and ask them to provide a review that you can share online. Hopefully by now, you’ve garnered some interest. If appropriate, offer a discount on courses of treatments booked. Finally, always ask for testimonials to spread the positive message!

Stay current and don’t stop sharing

Your launch has gone well and patients are booking this new treatment? Great! But that doesn’t mean your marketing should stop. Keep up-to-date with any new research into your product or device, and share this with your audience in layman’s terms. Are you treating different indications with this treatment? Tell people about this!

Encourage your patients to produce content for you – if they love it, welcome them to film and share their experience online. They don’t have to be an influencer with thousands of followers – people trust people they know, and even if your patient has only got a small group of Facebook friends, their likely to be of similar demographic, which is perfect for you!