Marketing for Plastic Surgeons in Australia: More Qualified Patient Enquiries

It is probably not the right fit if you are after high-volume promotional campaigns built on discounts or influencer giveaways. We won’t run those for cosmetic surgery.

• Specialist plastic and reconstructive surgeons in private practice who want more consultation bookings for the procedures they actually want to grow.
• Multi-surgeon practices and day surgery groups that need consistent marketing across several surgeons, procedures and locations.
• Cosmetic clinics with a surgical arm that need surgical and non-surgical marketing kept separate, since each now has its own Medical Board guidelines.
• Surgeons opening or relocating a practice who need to build search visibility in a new city.

A breast augmentation, abdominoplasty or rhinoplasty patient rarely enquires after one search. They research procedures, compare surgeons’ qualifications, read your procedure pages, look you up on Google Maps, check your registration and increasingly ask ChatGPT or Google’s AI Mode who to see in their city.

The regulatory process also lengthens the timeline. Patients need a referral before cosmetic surgery, then pre-operative consultations and a cooling-off period before they can book in. Weeks or months can pass between the first search and the day of surgery.

That has three practical consequences for your marketing:

• Your website does most of the persuading. Testimonials and incentives are off the table, so detailed, accurate procedure pages and clear surgeon credentials carry the weight.
• Measuring form fills is not enough. The number that matters is consultations booked and attended, by procedure, by channel.
• Follow-up matters as much as traffic. An enquiry that waits two days for a reply often books with someone else.

Most agencies market a surgical practice the way they would market a gym or a dental clinic: discount offers, patient testimonials, glossy “after” photos and influencer posts. In Australia, much of that is no longer allowed for cosmetic surgery.

Since 1 July 2023, the Medical Board of Australia has expected all cosmetic surgery advertising, including social media, to comply with its Guidelines for registered medical practitioners who advertise cosmetic surgery. Among other things, the guidelines mean:

• Testimonials are not permitted in any advertising, including statements about a patient’s experience or outcome.
• Before-and-after images must be of actual patients of the advertising doctor, and the “after” image must not be the most prominent.
• Single images that suggest a surgical outcome must not be used.
• Incentives and inducements are out: early-booking discounts, bundled travel or spa packages, multi-procedure deals and gifts for referrals.
• Unpaid or discounted surgery in exchange for promotion is not allowed, and you are responsible for what influencers, staff and agencies post on your behalf.
• Advertising must include registration details, risks, recovery information and relevant warnings, or direct people to where that information is.

Since 20 September 2023, only doctors with specialist registration in surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology or ophthalmology can use it, and that includes “cosmetic surgeon” (Medical Board of Australia). If your practice has non-specialist doctors performing procedures, every page, ad and profile needs to describe them correctly.

Ahpra runs proactive audits of cosmetic surgery advertising, and it cannot pre-approve your ads. That makes the copy, imagery and targeting your agency produces part of your professional risk. We build compliance into the plan from the first brief rather than checking it at the end.