The Plastic Surgeon Marketing Playbook
JULY 2026
THE PARTS OF A SYSTEM THAT ACTUALLY WORKS
Most practices do not have a marketing problem. They have a system problem.
Ads run without content behind them. Social posts go up without a plan. The website says everything and sells nothing. Each piece works a little, and none of them compound. The fix is not more effort. It is order.
This playbook lays out the parts in the order they should be built, and links to a deeper guide for each one. Start at the top if you are building from scratch, or jump to the part that is missing.
Paid traffic is rented. Content is owned.
Inbound means earning attention before you ask for the consult.
What it looks like:
• Service pages that answer real questions
• Content that ranks and gets shared
• Follow-up that does not depend on ad spend
Inbound means earning attention before you ask for the consult.
What it looks like:
• Service pages that answer real questions
• Content that ranks and gets shared
• Follow-up that does not depend on ad spend
START WITH INBOUND, NOT ADS
BUILD A PROCEDURE LIBRARY
Patients research one procedure at a time.
A library is a set of short videos, one per procedure, answering what people ask before they book. Filmed once, used everywhere.
What belongs in each one:
• What the procedure is, in plain language
• Who it is right for and who it is not
• What recovery actually looks like
Built once, it keeps paying. Built never, every consult starts from zero.
A library is a set of short videos, one per procedure, answering what people ask before they book. Filmed once, used everywhere.
What belongs in each one:
• What the procedure is, in plain language
• Who it is right for and who it is not
• What recovery actually looks like
Built once, it keeps paying. Built never, every consult starts from zero.
RUN SOCIAL LIKE A CHANNEL
Posting is not a strategy. A channel is.
The difference is whether each post has a reason and a next step.
A channel has:
• A format people recognize week to week
• A face patients associate with the practice
• A path from the post to the booking form
Most practice accounts fail on the last one. The content is fine, but nothing tells the viewer where to go next.
What to fix first:
• Put three formats on repeat until they work
• Send traffic to a service page, not the homepage
The difference is whether each post has a reason and a next step.
A channel has:
• A format people recognize week to week
• A face patients associate with the practice
• A path from the post to the booking form
Most practice accounts fail on the last one. The content is fine, but nothing tells the viewer where to go next.
What to fix first:
• Put three formats on repeat until they work
• Send traffic to a service page, not the homepage
KNOW WHAT IT SHOULD COST
Budget confusion kills more good plans than bad creative does.
Spend usually splits three ways: content, media, and the people running both.
Rough shape of a monthly budget:
• Content production, filmed and edited
• Paid media, if you are running ads
• Strategy and management
The number that matters is cost per booked consult, not cost per post.
Spend usually splits three ways: content, media, and the people running both.
Rough shape of a monthly budget:
• Content production, filmed and edited
• Paid media, if you are running ads
• Strategy and management
The number that matters is cost per booked consult, not cost per post.
PICK THE RIGHT KIND OF HELP
There are two kinds of vendors, and they are not interchangeable.
A production company delivers footage. An agency delivers footage plus the calendar, the captions, the posting, and the reporting on what actually worked.
Hire a production company when someone in-house already owns strategy and the posting calendar.
Hire an agency when nobody internally owns the calendar, and you want the content to actually get used instead of sitting in a folder.
The wrong choice is not expensive. It is just quiet.
A production company delivers footage. An agency delivers footage plus the calendar, the captions, the posting, and the reporting on what actually worked.
Hire a production company when someone in-house already owns strategy and the posting calendar.
Hire an agency when nobody internally owns the calendar, and you want the content to actually get used instead of sitting in a folder.
The wrong choice is not expensive. It is just quiet.
KNOW WHAT A RETAINER GIVES
A retainer is the engine that keeps all five parts running every month.
Before you sign one, know what lands in your inbox, who is accountable, and what happens to the library if you stop.
Marketing a practice in Houston? Start with the local guide.
Before you sign one, know what lands in your inbox, who is accountable, and what happens to the library if you stop.
Marketing a practice in Houston? Start with the local guide.
