Top Performing Social Media Channels for Body Aesthetic Brands in Q2 2023

Key Takeaways

‍

Brand Metrics

‍

Platform Recommendations

• Instagram is the leading platform in terms of followers, views and engagements. All competitors are active here and share an average of 14 posts per month. Focus your strategy here and prioritize Instagram Reels. 
• YouTube generates significant views and average engagement numbers. Competitors here focus heavily on promotional content. Videos 1-5 minutes perform best. However, with the rise of YouTube Shorts, it’s worth experimenting and cross-posting short-form content here. 
• Follower growth on Facebook is likely being driven by paid posts and promotional content. Across all brands, Facebook content is mostly cross-posted from other platforms. However, content targeting practitioners is more visible here, including industry events, training, news, and educational content. Given the large audience, it’s worth maintaining activity on Facebook.
• There are white space opportunities on TikTok in the aesthetic treatment space. TikTok users are aging up and competitors like Cynosure and BTL are seeing rapid audience growth. Find a face of the company to experiment with brand voice and lean into content trends here. Ideal video duration is 60-90 seconds or under 30 seconds. Recent competitor follower growth aligns with an increase in post cadence (~7 per month).
• Depriotize or ignore Twitter. Competitors on the platform are decreasing in audience size and have been inactive for more than 12 months.

‍

Content Opportunities

• Encourage clients and practitioners to share their experience with the treatment using branded hashtags and tagging official accounts. Repost and engage with user-generated content, especially on Instagram and TikTok. BTL posts a weekly Sculptor Spotlight to highlight practitioners.
• Double down on promotions and giveaways. Giveaway campaigns using paid and organic content are generating the highest level of engagement and follower growth for competitors. Increase campaign visibility by leveraging brand partnerships and using a cross-platform promotion strategy like BOTOX.
• Build social proof with authentic, high-quality before and after visuals and client testimonials. Look to Ultherapy’s “Results“ story highlights on Instagram for examples. 
• ‍Educational Content has solid performance across platforms, especially on TikTok. Use in-treatment videos and infographics to explain the process and how it works, as seen in truSculpt’s top Instagram posts. Consider treatment prep and aftercare video too. This type of content can position the brand as an authority in the industry and influence the decision-making process for future clients exploring their options.
• ‍Partner with creators whose audiences vary in their demographic attributes and interests to reach different target personas. Cynosure’s strategy includes a wide range of creators, from celebrity clients to mid-tier industry experts and micro-influencers.
• Pay attention to TikTok trends and participate in those that align with your brand values. Use this platform to find levity in your brand voice and connect with your audience through content that is more in-the-moment and less over-produced. Keep an eye on Cynosure’s organic content as they continue to grow on the platform.

‍

The Purpose of This Research:

• ‍Determine which competitors are winning and losing in terms of social media performance.  ‍
• ‍See which social media channels are driving the best results for competitors.‍
• ‍Understand seasonal, YoY, and tactical trends in competitors’ social media activity.

‍

Competitors Analyzed

‍

‍

Total Audience Size Per Brand

As of March 2023

‍

As of March 2023, BOTOX has the largest audience at 751K followers, more than 3x the followers of Ultherapy.

‍

BOTOX has the most YouTube subscribers at 26K which is 3.7x more than BTL. 

‍

BOTOX has the highest audience growth on YouTube.

The brand gained +22K subscribers in December 2022 during their holiday sweepstakes.

‍

Holiday Sweepstakes

“12 Days of BOTOX” Holiday Sweepstakes

BOTOX partnered with rewards program, Allē for their “12 Days of BOTOX” sweepstakes campaign, which drove follower growth and engagement on the brand’s YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook channels. 

Campaign Tactics

• ‍Landing Page: All instructions and updates were shared on a landing page that was updated daily.
• ‍Daily Cadence: Daily posts drove recurring traffic to the landing page, which funneled viewers to one of BOTOX’s social accounts.
• ‍CTAs: Participants were required to follow or subscribe, comment, tag and reshare posts on the platform specified each day to enter.
• ‍Hashtag: #12daysofBOTOXCosmetic was used by all participants and providers promoting the campaign for the duration of the sweepstakes. 
• ‍Provider Participation: Providers promoted the campaign as well as their own holiday deals using the same hashtag and creatives.

29K Views

‍

2.6K Views

‍

195K Views

‍

BOTOX (568K) has the most followers on Instagram followed by Cynosure at 72K (95% of the brand’s total audience). 

‍

BOTOX saw the most fluctuation in Instagram followers, losing 12K followers from May to November 2022. 

‍

BOTOX gained 28K followers in December 2022 during the brand’s holiday sweepstakes campaign 

‍

truSculpt saw the largest growth on Instagram with a +91% increase in followers, from 11K to 21K.

‍

Instagram Growth

truSculpt saw three noticeable spikes in follower growth that aligned with the following brand awareness activities.

‍

Follower Growth

Top Performing Posts on Instagram

truSculpt’s posts with the most engagement during the analysis period included reposts from treatment providers, announcements for new treatment providers and footage documenting the treatment. The brand also regularly shared workouts, recipes and health and wellness tips.

Content Tactics

• ‍Up-close footage: Showcase the details with zoomed in footage of the truSculpt treatment, including preparation.
• ‍Tagging: Account and location tags for any clinics and practitioners mentioned.
• ‍Audio: Videos typically excluded original audio and replace it with up-tempo music.
• ‍Detailed Captions: Explain key value propositions like speed, expected results, advanced technology and aesthetic benefits. 
• ‍On-Screen Text: Use bright, bold font on video thumbnails to grab attention and increase click rates.  
• ‍Frequently Used Hashtags: #trusculptflex, #linkinbio, #cutera, #trubody, #bbl

125K Views

‍

6.6K Views

‍

2.7K Views

‍

BOTOX (151K) and Ultherapy (123K) are the only brands in the competitive set with over 100K followers on Facebook. 

‍

With the exception of truSculpt, the competitive set’s Facebook followers increased by an average of +14%. 

*Facebook audience growth data for Ultherapy is not available.

‍

TikTok accounts for less than 3% of each brand’s total audience.  

‍

Cynosure and BTL both gained over +50% of their TikTok followers in the past 12 months.

TikTok audience growth data for BOTOX is unavailable.

‍

Follower Growth

Cynosure’s TikTok Strategy 

Cynosure’s TikTok account has a small but steadily increasing following. During the analysis period, the posts with the highest combined views and engagement included giveaways, videos following TikTok trends and educational content.

Content Tactics

• ‍TikTok Trends: Use trending sounds, filters, and formats to connect with viewers and increase the likelihood of appearing on the For You Page.
• ‍Playful Tone: A playful tone in their content has created a brand voice that is fun and appeals to the young adult audience on the platform.
• ‍User-Generated Content: The brand encourages viewers to tag Cynosure to be featured and shares user generated content.
• ‍Influencer Partnerships: Follow me footage from influencers documenting their treatment is a top performing content theme. 
• ‍Hosted Content: During the second half of the analysis period Cynosure’s community manager makes consistent appearances in their posts.
• ‍Frequently Used Hashtags: #skintok, #skincare, #lasertreatment, #aesthetics

21.8K Views

‍

10.5K Views

‍

9.5K Views

‍

Ultherapy leads the competitive set in Twitter followers at 5K.

‍

Twitter audiences remained relatively stable over the past 12 months. 

*truSculpt is not currently active on Twitter

‍

BTL’s audience grew by +3% while other brands saw an average decrease in followers of -3%. 

‍

‍

Total Posts Per Brand

As of March 2023

‍

Cynosure shared the most posts at 480. On average the brand publishes 29 posts per month.

‍

BTL and BOTOX were the only brands active on YouTube.

‍

The brands posted an average of 4 videos per month during the analysis period with post cadence spiking in September 2022 . 

‍

In September 2022, BTL shared 26 videos and BOTOX shared 7.

The top-performing videos featured patient testimonials and practitioner reviews. Both brands rely heavily on paid content

‍

Instagram had the highest post cadence across platforms for all competitors with 14 posts per month on average. 

‍

Cynosure shared the most content on Instagram for the competitive set at 274 posts. 

‍

On Instagram, post cadence was highest from November to December 2022, aligning with the holiday season. 

‍

June and July 2022 had the lowest monthly post cadence across the competitive set.

‍

On average, brands in the competitive set shared 11 posts per month.

‍

BOTOX (153) and Cynosure (146) shared the most content on Facebook. 

‍

Monthly average posts decreased from 14 to 9 during the analysis period. January had the lowest monthly average at 7 posts.

‍

Cynosure has the highest post cadence at 15 posts per month, however, this number has been trending down since August 2022. 

‍

On average, brands in the competitive set shared 4 videos per month on TikTok.

‍

BTL (59) and Cynosure (62) shared the most content on TikTok.

‍

The average monthly post cadence on TikTok increased from 2 to 7 during the second half of the analysis period. 

‍

December 2022 and January 2023 had the highest number of posts.

‍

Only 1 post was shared on Twitter during the analysis period across all competitors. There were no posts shared the previous year.

‍

‍

On Instagram, competitors generated the highest average engagements from videos, which make up 63% of all posts. 

Instagram posts from March 2022 to February 2023.

‍

Facebook posts were split evenly between images and videos. On average, videos generate +54% more engagement than images.    

Facebook posts from March 2022 to February 2023.

‍

Videos 1 to 5 minutes long generated the most views and engagements on average (315K), making up 60% of all content. 

YouTube posts from March 2022 to February 2023.

‍

On TikTok, the top performing videos were 60-90 seconds long (51% of posts) and generated an average of 5K views and engagements. 

TikTok posts from March 2022 to February 2023.

‍

‍

BOTOX was the clear leader in terms of total video views, generating 8.5M views as of March 2023.

‍

However, BTL had the highest video views relative to audience size at 54 views per follower.

‍

During the analysis period, Instagram and YouTube generated the highest number of views across platforms.

Video Views from TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube between Mar. 22’ and Feb. 23’.

‍

Instagram accounted for the largest share of views for all brands except BOTOX. 

‍

BOTOX was the only brand with YouTube generating a majority of views at 66%.

‍

BTL’s video views are the most well-rounded, seeing 5% or higher from all platforms except Twitter. 

‍

BOTOX leads the pack in total engagements at 134K but a lower engagement rate than most competitors. 

*Combined total engagements  from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube as of March 2023.

‍

BTL and Ultherapy have the highest engagement rates at 14%.

*Combined total engagements  from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube as of March 2023.

‍

During the analysis period Instagram generated significantly more engagements than other platforms.

Engagements from TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube between Mar. 22’’ and Feb. 23’. 

‍

*Combined total audience from YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Twitter as of March 2023. 

*Combined total of posts from TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube in the past 12 months as of March 2023.

*Combined total engagements from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube as of March 2023.

Share of total views from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube as of March 2023.