Plastic surgery practices get pitched constantly. Marketing agencies, SEO freelancers, review software, financing companies, video producers. The surgeon rarely reads any of it, and the practice manager deletes most of it on sight. Getting through means understanding how these practices make money and what they worry about.
How a plastic surgery practice runs
Most cosmetic work is elective and paid out of pocket. That changes everything compared with insurance-driven medicine. The practice has to persuade a patient to spend a large sum on something they don't strictly need, so marketing is a core function, not an afterthought.
A few traits shape how they buy:
- High value per patient. One booked procedure can be worth a lot, so a practice will pay for anything that reliably brings consultations.
- The consultation is the bottleneck. Leads become consultations, consultations become surgeries. Practices care about both conversion steps, and they often know their numbers.
- Long decision cycles for patients. People research for weeks or months, look at before-and-after galleries, read reviews and compare surgeons.
- Mixed revenue. Many practices also run a med spa side with injectables, lasers and skin treatments. That side is lower ticket, higher frequency and often marketed differently.
- Reputation is fragile. One bad review about results or bedside manner can hurt for years.
What they actually buy
Pitch the problem they already feel, not a generic service list. Things plastic surgery practices commonly pay outside help for:
- Before-and-after galleries and procedure pages that are well organised, fast and searchable by procedure.
- Local SEO for procedure plus city searches like "breast augmentation [city]".
- Consultation follow-up. Many leads book a consult and then go quiet. Email and SMS nurture for undecided patients is an easy sell if you can show a gap.
- Review generation and response, handled carefully given patient privacy.
- Social content and short video, especially for the med spa side. Our guide on getting clients for a social media agency covers how to package this.
- Paid ads with compliant creative, since ad platforms restrict some before-and-after imagery.
- Photography and video of the facility and the surgeon. Freelancers in photography can sell directly here.
Avoid promising patient numbers. Talk about specific fixes you spotted.
Who decides
The surgeon owns the practice in most independent clinics, but rarely handles vendors day to day. The real gatekeeper is usually the practice manager or office manager, sometimes a marketing coordinator in larger groups. In multi-surgeon groups or practices owned by a larger organisation, decisions may sit with a marketing director elsewhere.
A practical approach: email the practice manager or general inbox with something concrete, and mention the surgeon by name so it reads as researched. Surgeons sign off on brand-sensitive things such as their photos, their website voice and anything showing patient results.
Timing
There are patterns worth planning around, as rules of thumb rather than hard data:
- Late autumn into winter is a popular surgery season in many markets because patients recover during holidays and wear more clothing. Practices think about marketing for it in late summer and early autumn.
- Early in the year, practices plan budgets and pick up New Year resolution interest.
- Spring brings body procedure interest ahead of summer, so the planning window is winter.
Pitch a campaign a few months before the season it targets, not during it, when staff are busy with surgeries.
Finding them on Google Maps
Google Maps lists most independent practices with website and phone. Search terms that work:
- plastic surgeon
- cosmetic surgeon
- plastic surgery clinic
- facial plastic surgeon
- breast augmentation
- rhinoplasty surgeon
- tummy tuck
- med spa (for the practices with an aesthetic side)
In GetClient you can run several of these keywords across several cities at once, and each lead comes back with business name, category, website, phone, any public emails and, where available, the owner's name with a confidence score. Run email verification before sending, since clinic websites often list old addresses. Then segment the list by procedure focus or surgical vs med spa so your email matches what they sell.
What makes a good prospect
Spend five minutes on each site before adding it to a campaign. Strong signals:
- An independent practice with one to a few surgeons, not a hospital department.
- A website that is clearly dated, slow on mobile or has a thin gallery.
- Good reviews but few of them, or unanswered negative ones.
- No visible consultation booking or a contact form only.
- An active med spa side with weak social presence.
- A newer surgeon who recently opened their own practice.
Skip practices with large in-house marketing teams unless you offer something narrow they clearly lack.
A sample cold email
Keep it short, specific and free of patient-results promises.
Subject: consultation follow-up at {{params.name}}
Hi {{params.firstname}},
I was looking at {{params.website}} and noticed the procedure pages send people to a general contact form, with no follow-up path for patients who aren't ready to book.
I help {{params.category}} practices in {{params.city}} set up short email sequences for undecided consultation leads, written to match the surgeon's voice and kept privacy-safe.
Would it help if I sent two example emails for your most-requested procedure? No call needed.
[Your name]
If you don't have a first name, write a neutral greeting rather than leaving a blank tag. Avoid the cold email mistakes that kill replies, such as opening with your agency's history.
A sensible follow-up
Two or three follow-ups over two to three weeks is a reasonable rule of thumb.
- Day 3, if not opened: resend with a new subject line, like "quick idea for {{params.name}}".
- Day 7, if opened: send the two sample emails you offered, so they see value without replying.
- Day 14: a short close-out. Ask whether someone else handles marketing.
GetClient's flow builder can branch on If Opened or If NOT Opened, and replies land in one inbox. Every email should carry an unsubscribe link and honest sender details; check the outreach compliance checklist and the rules in your country. Credits and plans are on the pricing page, and new accounts start with 100 free credits.