Social Media for Clinics

Let people get to know you first

Social media lets prospective patients see your team, your clinic and how you care for people before they ever pick up the phone. It works best when it is helpful, consistent and firmly within advertising and professional rules.

This guide covers how to get there, whether you run an aesthetics, skin, private GP, physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic, hair or eye clinic.

1. Choose the right platforms

You do not need to be everywhere. It is better to do one or two platforms well than five badly.

• Instagram and Facebook: useful for local audiences, team stories, short videos and treatment education.
• Google Business Profile: not a social network in the usual sense, but posts and photos appear where local patients search.
• TikTok or YouTube: worth considering if your team is comfortable on camera and can explain treatments simply.
• LinkedIn: more useful for referrals, recruitment and professional networking than for attracting patients.

Choose based on where your ideal patients spend time and what your team can keep up with.

2. Plan content people actually want

Most people follow a clinic to feel reassured and to learn something, not to see constant offers. Mix your content across these themes:

• Meet the team: introductions, qualifications and why people enjoy working at the clinic.
• Behind the scenes: a tour of the clinic, new equipment, how you keep things clean and calm.
• Patient education: how a treatment or service works, what happens at a first appointment, aftercare tips.
• Frequently asked questions: answer the questions your front desk hears every week, such as price ranges, payment options or how many sessions are usual.
• Nervous patients: explain how you help anxious patients feel comfortable.
• Clinic news: opening hours, new team members, community involvement.

End posts with a simple next step, such as booking a consultation, where it fits naturally.

3. Get consent before using any patient image or story

Healthcare regulators are clear that you must protect patient confidentiality online. Do not publish anything that could identify a patient without their explicit consent. See, for example, the social media guidance from the GMC, NMC and HCPC.

• Use a written consent form that explains exactly where the image or story will appear.
• Store consent records and respect any request to remove content.
• Remember that faces, tattoos, voices, jewellery or backgrounds can make someone identifiable.
• Never discuss a patient’s care in comments or messages on a public platform.

4. Stay within advertising rules and your regulator’s rules

Social media posts that promote your clinic count as advertising. You must follow the CAP Code, enforced by the ASA, and the rules of your own professional or regulatory body. Many clinics will also be registered with a system regulator such as the CQC, HIS, HIW or RQIA.

• Prescription-only medicines: if you offer them, do not promote prescription-only medicines, such as anti-wrinkle injections, to the public, including indirect references or hashtags. You can promote a consultation instead. See the CAP guidance on advertising prescription-only injectables and the MHRA Blue Guide.
• Before and after images: only use genuine, unaltered images with consent, and do not use them to exaggerate typical results. Read the ASA guidance on marketing cosmetic interventions.
• Testimonials and reviews: only share genuine testimonials with the patient’s permission, and never edit them to change their meaning. See the ASA advice on testimonials.
• Health claims need evidence: only say a treatment can help a condition if you hold evidence to back that up. The ASA has published guidance for some professions, such as chiropractic.
• No promised results: avoid words like “painless” or “perfect”, or anything that promises an outcome. Suitability and outcomes depend on a clinical assessment.
• Titles and qualifications: describe the team accurately, including their professional registration, and do not imply specialist status or a qualification someone does not hold.
• Under-18s: do not target cosmetic treatment content at under-18s.

5. Be consistent, not constant

• Agree a realistic posting rhythm, such as two or three posts a week, and stick to it.
• Plan a month of content in one sitting, then schedule it.
• Batch photos and short videos on a quiet afternoon.
• Give one person responsibility for checking every post against your consent and advertising rules before it goes live.
• Reply to comments and messages promptly and politely, moving anything clinical or personal to a private channel.

6. Measure what matters

Likes are pleasant, but bookings pay the bills. Each month, look at:

• Enquiries and messages that came from social media.
• Clicks to your website or booking page.
• Consultations booked where the patient mentions social media.
• Which topics and formats lead to the most enquiries.

Do more of what brings enquiries, and drop what does not.

Your action checklist

Use this list to set up your social media properly, then check it again every month.

• One or two platforms chosen on purpose.
• A monthly content plan mixing team, education, FAQs and clinic news.
• Written consent on file for every patient image or story.
• Your own regulator’s advertising and social media guidance read by everyone who posts.
• Every post checked against the CAP Code before publishing.
• No prescription-only medicines named, implied or hashtagged.
• Genuine, unaltered before and after images only, with consent.
• No promised results, unsupported health claims or misleading titles.
• No cosmetic content targeted at under-18s.
• A named person checking posts and moving clinical questions to private channels.
• Monthly review of enquiries and bookings from social media.