Q&A: Expert offers tips on how to grow your brand, practice with social media

Key takeaways:

• Healio spoke with Karan Lal, DO, MS, FAAD about why physicians should engage in social media.
• He shared tips on how to professionally navigate it, monetize your presence and protect yourself from liability.

Healio spoke with an expert about the importance of social media, why physicians should utilize it and the do’s and don’ts behind this growing form of communication.

When thinking about the type of content posted on social media, some of the first things that come to mind may be funny cat videos or DIYs. However, recent surveys have shown that social media is being used for much more than entertainment.

According to a 2024 survey by market.us, over 80% of internet users aged 18 to 49 years have reported seeking health information on social media platforms. Health care content on both Instagram and Facebook has rapidly increased, with health care-related posts receiving 4.5 billion likes per month on Instagram and 16 billion views per month on Facebook.

In 2019, the American Medical Association encouraged physicians to embrace this surging presence of social media for a multitude of reasons, including building a personal brand, educating patients and attracting new clientele.

Karan Lal

Healio sat down with Karan Lal, DO, MS, FAAD, a double-board certified pediatric and cosmetic dermatologist based in Scottsdale, Arizona, with over 19,000 followers across social accounts, about how dermatologists can engage with social media and build a professional presence.

Healio: Is it important for physicians to be on social media?

Lal: Social media is a necessary evil. Not only is it one of the most beneficial ways to advertise your practice, advocate your specialty and attract patients, but it is also the best way to combat misinformation.

The main reason why I have been telling dermatology professionals specifically to go on social media is because our battle is against the influencers that are giving skincare advice with no medical knowledge. In fact, my journey with social media really started as a way to help encourage people as well as prevent, demystify and debunk a lot of things that are out there.

There is so much conflicting information among influencers that people are getting confused. But since dermatologists are all pretty much saying the same thing, we have the power to influence patients in a positive way with the right information on social media, which I think is a beautiful way, as physicians, to collaborate.

Healio: Other than educating patients, what are some other reasons for physicians to be active on social media?

Lal: While a lot of physicians got on social media to really combat that misinformation, some of them ended up being very successful as brands started partnering with them, making social media a lucrative avenue, including for dermatologists.

But even if that is not something you are interested in doing, you have to be able to have a social media presence to show patients that you are relatable. You want to show the procedures that you are doing, the medical conditions that you treat and if you are in the business of conducting clinical trials. These are the types of things that are going to attract people.

Healio: Which social platforms and what type of posts should physicians utilize?

Lal: Instagram and TikTok are the most used, but I think Instagram is probably the best because you can really link it to a lot of different things. It is also the easiest to use.

TikTok is much harder and more controversial with the whole potential ban, so I would say avoid TikTok for now and stick to one platform, which is what I do.

When it comes to posting pictures vs. videos, I prefer videos, also known as reels, because I think they are fun. With a reel you can add music, do a voice over, add captions and more. Reels are just great and they are more engaging.

But that doesn’t mean posts are bad. Some of my posts have 500 comments because it was a post with a before and after picture or it was a post of an article I was cited in. So, it is important to mix up the type of content you post.

You also want to make sure that you are engaging with your viewers and replying to comments. Collaborate with other providers and physicians. If you share their work, they will share your work as well. That is how you build a following.

And most importantly, you need to be yourself. People who come to your office will be able to tell if you are being authentic or not. When you are on social media, you cannot be portraying a Jekyll and Hyde.

For example, if you are super quiet and nerdy, then that is who you are and that is who you need to portray on social media because you want to set that visit up for success. You do not want to disappoint a patient that was expecting you to be this magnanimous, bubbly person like they saw on social media, but then you walk in and that is not who you are. Be who you are. You have to be authentic to yourself.

Healio: What information should physicians include in their social media profile?

Lal: Firstly, make sure you give yourself credit in your bio about who you are! State that you are someone who has specialty training such as a board-certified dermatologist or a Mohs surgeon or a cosmetic dermatologist. It is important that you highlight your expertise on your profile because that is how you will attract the right patients.

Another thing you want to do is highlight diversity. Show that you treat all types of patients by posting pictures of patients with different ethnicities and different religions, especially if you specialize in treating people with skin of color.

Healio: Would you recommend physicians, particularly dermatologists, look into making their social media presence financially lucrative? If so, what are some tips you have?

Lal: It really depends on how comfortable someone is with doing that. I know people that have made careers doing just that, so if it is something that you are interested in and you want to do it, then do it.

Some tips I have include reading the fine print of your contracts with brands and having your contracts evaluated by a lawyer just like any other employment contract. This is because there are certain things you must be cautious of in making sure you do not violate any of those rules and regulations in that contract.

This next piece of advice depends on the person, but I personally am very selective with which brands I work with and here is why. I do not want people to think that I am a man of none, and my opinion can be bought. I cannot say nice things about every single product because then it will look like I may not have standards.

So, I am very selective and I do not work with all brands, but I do work with brands that consistently want to work with me, that I like, that I consistently use and that I would actually recommend. I will never work with a brand whose product I don’t believe in because then you are projecting something that is not true.

You also want to make sure that if you’re doing any advertisements that you follow the appropriate social media platform’s rules for advertising. For example, if your post is a paid partnership, make sure you are upfront about it. A lot of brands require you to do that within the first 5 seconds of a video and to make sure it is tagged as paid content and paid advertising, because that’s a conflict of interest

You also want to make sure that you don’t get in trouble with these brands when taking on more brand deals. For example, if Brand X tells you to talk about a cream, you cannot talk about another cream from Brand Y for a set amount of time that is listed in the contract. So, you have to read all those contracts very carefully because you could get in trouble.

Healio: Speaking of risks, what are some “don’ts” that physicians should be aware of when engaging with social media?

Lal: Firstly, it is important to maintain professionalism, so you’ll want to avoid politics and religion. The same thing that you would do at a Thanksgiving party is what I tell people. If it is something that you do not want to talk about at Thanksgiving, you should not be talking about it on social media because you will isolate people and they can make complaints to the medical board or even sue you. That does not mean it is a legitimate claim on their part, but people can do whatever they want so you have to be careful.

You also want to make sure your page has a professional appearance. When you are posting pictures at events and conferences, avoid pictures with alcohol in them or anything that could be deemed unprofessional. Don’t choose reels, sounds or trends that use profanity, racist remarks, women-hating behavior or anything that could be questionable. You want to be viewed as generally acceptable to everybody, whether they are 14 or 80 years old.

There was one dermatologist who made a video of herself dancing while doing surgery, which may seem innocent to us, but it was not. So, while we may assume something is OK to post, we must assume that it is not viewed as OK by the public. It is very easy to offend someone, so you have to be very cautious and think a hundred times before you post something.

Make sure that the content you are posting shows you doing everything by the book. For example, if you make a video of yourself performing a surgery, but you are not wearing gloves, you could get into big trouble with the medical board.

Make sure you get written consent from patients to post images or videos of them on your social media. Additionally, put your name or logo on every photo you post so that no one can reuse your pictures and claim it as their own work.

Lastly, do not mention patients’ names or any identifiable characteristics about them in a video. While it’s OK to generally talk about a patient’s medical situation, do not begin listing specifics things about that patient, such as their age or a tattoo they have, that could make them identifiable.

Healio: In a time where people feel comfortable writing anything online, how should physicians handle bad reviews or hateful comments on their profiles?

Lal: If you have social media, you will have haters. I have them. Everyone has them. And the truth is that if you are someone that is easily triggered, you should not be on social media, because that is going to happen. So, the best thing to do when you receive hateful comments is to block! Delete the comments and block the user so they cannot come back. If you run into an additional problem with that user, simply report them to the platform.

Some platforms, such as TikTok, have a feature where you can filter out comments that have content you do not want on your page such as hate speech or profanity. So, I take advantage of that.

And, as a last resort, you can always turn off the comment function so that no one can comment!

Now, when it comes to getting a negative review, the first thing you need to be doing is picking up the phone and calling that patient. If you can identify that patient, solve the problem. All your patients want is to be heard and they want a solution. So, if you have unintentionally done something — and it happens to all of us, believe me — you can call the patient right away, rectify the situation and then ask the patient if they would be willing to remove the comment.

If the situation is something you cannot rectify, simply reply thoughtfully. Also, make sure you get extra eyes on that comment, including a lawyer’s, before you post it. You want to make sure that you sound apologetic but are not assuming responsibility for something that you did not do wrong.

Lastly, try to bury that bad comment with good comments. Leave a QR code in your waiting room so that patients who want to add good comments can. Everyone is going to have bad comments sometimes, it is just about how you handle them.

Healio: Any final pieces of advice to physicians considering social media?

Lal: Don’t get tripped up in the numbers or try to compete with other people! If you only get a thousand views on Instagram, that is still a thousand people that viewed your video. Ultimately, the whole point of being on social media is not the metrics, it’s about enjoying the experience.

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