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      Facebook Platform as the Social Business and Marketing Model for Cosmetic Surgery: An Online Study

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          Abstract

          Dear Editor Facebook (TM) with 1.11 billion active monthly users worldwide has successfully proved its worth as a business platform for game developers. 1 , 2 In United Kingdom alone, around 34 million hours are spent on Facebook each day. 3 With the wide global use of Facebook (TM), it offers an innovative and invaluable platform for marketing small and large businesses. The use of social media in plastic surgery practice is not new and in one recent study, 52.1% plastic surgeons believed it to be an effective marketing tool and 33.8 % reported a positive impact of social media on their practice. 4 - 6 In this online study, we evaluated the existing extent of cosmetic surgery marketing on Facebook (TM) and the ease of setting up a business page for social marketing. An online search was carried out on Facebook(TM) search tab using search terms ‘Cosmetic Surgery’, ‘Plastic Surgery’ and ‘Botox’. Only pages intended for Facebook (TM) business were included in the study. Secondly, an experimental page was created using the Facebook’s (TM) ‘Create a page’ option. Online search revealed a total of 1059 business pages. 48.2% (n=511) pages advertised plastic surgery. 18.31% (n=194) were dedicated to Botox and 33.4% (n=354) to cosmetic surgery. The Facebook (TM) interfaced for developing business pages. We created a mock cosmetic surgery page for advertising. The whole process took less then 5 minutes to setup a basic and acceptable page. The interface which can be customised according to developers need for marketing further offers advertiser and customer or fan interactions by discussion threads, comments, running contests, creating articles, press releases, and links for advertiser’s own web site content. The facility to create such pages is free of charge through the self service interface however social business plan for plastic surgeons can also benefit from the use of Facebook’s (TM) commercial advertising. The use of social media in plastic surgery practice is likely to grow and Facebook (TM) can potentially provide a very cheap and interactive consumer based cosmetic surgery marketing platform; however, concerns regarding appropriate and ethical cosmetic surgery advertising need to be addressed. CONFLICT OF INTEREST The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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          Social media use and impact on plastic surgery practice.

          Dwight D Im, Nicholas Kusnezov, Jean C. Lee … (2013)
          Social media platforms have revolutionized the way human beings communicate, yet there is little evidence describing how the plastic surgery community has adopted social media. In this article, the authors evaluate current trends in social media use by practicing plastic surgeons. An anonymous survey on the use of social media was distributed to members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Prevalent patterns of social media implementation were elucidated. One-half of respondents were regular social media users. Reasons for using social media included the beliefs that incorporation of social media into medical practice is inevitable (56.7 percent), that they are an effective marketing tool (52.1 percent), and that they provide a forum for patient education (49 percent). Surgeons with a primarily aesthetic surgery practice were more likely to use social media. Most respondents (64.6 percent) stated that social media had no effect on their practice, whereas 33.8 percent reported a positive impact and 1.5 percent reported a negative impact. This study depicts current patterns of social media use by plastic surgeons, including motivations driving its implementation and impressions on its impact. Many feel that social media are an effective marketing tool that generates increased exposure and referrals. A small number of surgeons have experienced negative repercussions from social media involvement. Our study reveals the presence of a void. There is a definite interest among those surveyed in developing best practice standards and oversight to ensure ethical use of social media platforms throughout the plastic surgery community. Continuing discussion regarding these matters should be ongoing as our experience with social media in plastic surgery evolves.
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            Social media in plastic surgery practices: emerging trends in North America.

            Daniel Wheeler, Anan Said, Rod J Rodrich … (2011)
            Social media is a common term for web-based applications that offer a way to disseminate information to a targeted audience in real time. In the current market, many businesses are utilizing it to communicate with clients. Although the field of plastic surgery is constantly changing in response to innovative technologies introduced into the specialty, the utilization of social media in plastic surgery practices is currently unclear. The authors evaluate the current attitudes and practices of aesthetic surgeons to emerging social media technology and compare these to attitudes about more traditional modes of communication. A 19-question web-based survey was disseminated by e-mail to all board-certified or board-eligible American plastic surgeons (n = 4817). Respondents were asked to answer questions on three topics: (1) their use of social media in their personal and professional lives, (2) their various forms of practice marketing, and (3) their demographic information. There were 1000 responses (20.8%). Results showed that 28.2% of respondents used social media in their practice, while 46.7% used it in their personal life. Most plastic surgeons managed their social media themselves or through a staff member. The majority of respondents who used social media in their practice claimed that their efforts were directed toward patient referrals. The typical plastic surgery practice that used social media was a solo practice in a large city with a focus on cosmetic surgery. Local competition of plastic surgeons did not correlate with social media use. Most plastic surgeons (88%) advertised, but the form of marketing varied. The most common forms included websites, print, and search engine optimization, but other modalities, such as television, radio, and billboards, were still utilized. Social media represents a new avenue that many plastic surgeons are utilizing, although with trepidation. As social media becomes commonplace in society, its role in plastic surgery practice development and communication will become more prominent and defined.
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              Plastic surgery marketing in a generation of "tweeting".

              S. Gupta, Elissa Wong (2011)
              "Social media" describes interactive communication through Web-based technologies. It has become an everyday part of modern life, yet there is a lack of research regarding its impact on plastic surgery practice. The authors evaluate and compare the prevalence of classic marketing methods and social media in plastic surgery. The Web sites of aesthetic surgeons from seven US cities were compared and evaluated for the existence of Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace links and promotions. To find the sites, the authors conducted a Google search for the phrase "plastic surgery" with the name of each city to be studied: Beverly Hills, California; Dallas, Texas; Houston, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada; Miami, Florida; New York City, New York; and San Francisco, California. The trends of social networking memberships were also studied in each of these cities. In comparison to aesthetic surgeons practicing in other cities, those in Miami, Florida, favored social media the most, with 50% promoting a Facebook page and 46% promoting Twitter. Fifty-six percent of New York City aesthetic surgeons promoted their featured articles in magazines and newspapers, whereas 54% of Beverly Hills aesthetic surgeons promoted their television appearances. An increase in the number of new Facebook memberships among cosmetic providers in the seven cities began in October 2008 and reached a peak in October, November, and December 2009, with subsequent stabilization. The increase in the number of new Twitter memberships began in July 2008 and remained at a steady rate of approximately 15 new memberships every three months. Social media may seem like a new and unique communication tool, but it is important to preserve professionalism and apply traditional Web site-building ethics and principles to these sites. We can expect continued growth in plastic surgeons' utilization of these networks to enhance their practices and possibly to launch direct marketing campaigns.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Journal ID (nlm-ta): World J Plast Surg
                Journal ID (iso-abbrev): World J Plast Surg
                Journal ID (publisher-id): WJPS
                Title: World Journal of Plastic Surgery
                Publisher: Iranian Society for Plastic Surgeons (Tehran, Iran )
                ISSN (Print): 2228-7914
                ISSN (Electronic): 2252-0724
                Publication date (Print): January 2014
                Volume: 3
                Issue: 1
                Pages: 68-69
                Affiliations
                [1]The Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery, Morriston Hospital, Swansea, United Kingdom
                Author notes
                [* ]Correspondence Author: Muhammad Javed, Speciality Registrar, The Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery, Morriston Hospital, Swansea, SA6 6NL, United Kingdom ,E-mail: umair.dr@ 123456gmail.com
                Article
                Publisher ID: wjps-3-068
                PMC ID: 4236986
                PubMed ID: 25489527
                SO-VID: 232ff04e-aa2d-4421-b30c-bace5ccda775
                License:

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                Date received : 1 August 2013
                Date accepted : 2 November 2013
                Categories
                Subject: Letter to Editor

                Data availability:

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