Study provides guidelines for oculoplastic surgeons on social media

Variations in content, location, subject, media type, and tags were found to statistically significantly impact public engagement on the social media posts of oculoplastic surgeons, according to a study that touts the importance of social media as a marketing tool in a field like oculoplastics.

Researchers analyzed the most and least ‘liked’ posts from the Instagram accounts of American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic Reconstruction Surgery (ASOPRS) members who had >500 followers.

Of the 37 Instagram accounts included, the majority were men (67.6%) in private practice (70.3%).

Of the 4812 posts analyzed, post characteristics, such as content and media type, impacted success in a statistically significant way. If the posting doctor was featured wearing a white coat and smiling, public engagement increased, whereas posts that featured an office procedure had less public engagement.

Other characteristics of successful posts included images, which were preferred over videos; images present sequentially in swipe-through series as opposed to a collage; and use of tags/hashtags.

Reference
Park SSE, Akella SS, Moon JY, et al. Building your brand: Analysis of successful oculoplastic surgeons on social media. Ophthalmic Plast Reconstr Surg. 2020 Nov/Dec;36(6):582-589. DOI: 10.1097/IOP.0000000000001654. PMID: 33156596.