Plastic surgeon marketing sits in the most heavily policed corner of local advertising. The queries are expensive because a single consultation can be worth thousands, and the assets that sell best (before-and-after galleries, patient stories, outcome claims) are the exact assets the Federal Trade Commission scrutinises hardest. A generalist agency that has never read the FTC's health advertising guidance will happily build you a page that converts and quietly creates liability. This page sets out what the work actually involves, which published rules govern it, and what to verify on an agency's own pages before you retain one.
What the engagement actually covers
A practice marketing retainer usually bundles four separate jobs. Search visibility covers the procedure pages a prospective patient searches for by name, plus the technical and content work that makes them rank. Paid media buys the top of the same results, and in healthcare it runs inside a narrower policy envelope than most verticals. Conversion work covers the consultation request path: forms, call tracking, intake response times. Reputation work covers reviews and patient stories. These are four different skills, and a proposal that prices them as one undifferentiated retainer is hiding which of the four it is actually good at. Ask for the split, in hours or in budget, before you compare quotes.
The claim rules that shape every page
The FTC requires that advertising be truthful and not misleading, and that marketers hold adequate substantiation for objective claims before the advertising runs. For health claims, the standard is competent and reliable scientific evidence, which the FTC describes as research conducted and evaluated objectively by experts and generally accepted to yield accurate and reliable results. That standard reaches images as well as words: before-and-after photographs can imply a specific outcome, and the FTC's guidance is that a marketer must substantiate whatever transformation the images suggest, whether or not an explicit claim sits next to them. Where results shown are dramatic, the guidance calls for clear and conspicuous disclosure of the results a typical consumer can actually expect, and it is explicit that a bare 'results not typical' disclaimer does not cure a deceptive testimonial. If an agency proposes a gallery-led site, ask in writing who is responsible for substantiating what the gallery implies.
Patient testimonials, reviews and HIPAA
Two separate rule sets bite here. The FTC's Endorsement Guides require disclosure of a material connection whenever there is a relationship between an endorser and the marketer that a significant minority of consumers would not expect and that would affect how they weigh the endorsement. Free or discounted treatment in exchange for a testimonial is exactly that kind of connection, and staff who post reviews are expected to disclose that they work there. The FTC also states plainly that a company is ultimately responsible for what others do on its behalf, so delegating review generation to an agency does not move the exposure. Separately, the HIPAA Privacy Rule defines marketing as a communication that encourages the recipient to purchase or use a product or service, and generally requires written patient authorisation before protected health information is used for it. Treatment communications and face-to-face communications sit outside that definition. In practice this means a patient's photograph, story or identity does not go into a campaign on an agency's say-so; it goes in on a signed authorisation your practice controls.
How to vet the agency before you sign
Google publishes hiring guidance for search marketing and it transfers cleanly to this purchase. Ask for examples of previous work and success stories. Ask what results they expect and in what timeframe. Ask about their experience in your specialty and geography, and ask whether they will share every change they make to your site. Treat the warning signs as disqualifying: Google states that no one can guarantee a #1 ranking, and it advises caution with firms that are secretive about their methods or that claim a special relationship with Google. Add two healthcare-specific tests. Ask which FTC guidance they work to on results claims and before-and-after imagery, and ask how patient authorisations are captured and stored. An agency that cannot answer either question is proposing to build your riskiest assets without having read the rules that govern them.
Questions people ask about plastic surgeon marketing
Can an agency guarantee a plastic surgery practice more consultations?
No responsible one will. Google's own hiring guidance says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking, and lead volume depends on demand, pricing and intake response as much as on marketing. Ask for a forecast with stated assumptions and a reporting cadence instead of a promise.
Are before-and-after photos allowed in plastic surgery advertising?
They are widely used, but the FTC's health advertising guidance treats them as claims: you must be able to substantiate the outcome the images imply, and where the results shown are unusually good, disclose what a typical patient can expect. A 'results not typical' line on its own does not fix a misleading impression.
Can we offer patients a discount for leaving a review?
Incentivised reviews require disclosure of the incentive under the FTC's Endorsement Guides, and conditioning any incentive on a particular sentiment is prohibited outright. Staff reviews must disclose the employment relationship. Your practice remains responsible for what an agency does on its behalf.
Does HIPAA stop us using patient stories in marketing?
It does not stop it, but the HIPAA Privacy Rule generally requires written patient authorisation before protected health information is used for marketing. Treatment communications and face-to-face communications fall outside the marketing definition. Keep authorisation control inside the practice, not with the agency.