Using before and after pictures are a very powerful marketing technique to show potential customers the effects of having a treatment at your aesthetics clinic. Choosing images that clearly show a significant difference in appearance for treatments such as dermal fillers and anti-ageing injections, can help customers to decide they want to go ahead with a treatment.
However, as well as choosing the best types of photos, you must also ensure that you have appropriately obtained consent to use the images. If you do not obtain consent the correct way, you leave yourself open to legal action, if the patient is unhappy that you used their images.
Obtaining image consent
The first step is to discuss whether the patient would be happy for you to use photos of them for your marketing purposes, explaining where you would be displaying them. For example, if you will publish them on your business website, or post them on social media.
Keep in mind you don’t always have to portrait them fully. You could just use sections of their face in before and afters (i.e. lips) and keep them unidentifiable. This is often the preferred way for clients to give the clinic image consent.
If they are happy for their photos to be used in the way that you explain to them, you will also need to ask them to sign a consent form and explain what they are providing consent to do with their images.
The consent form can be an online or paper version and it should include details of how you intend to use the photos. For example, “We would like to use your before and after photos on our social media accounts.” At SkinViva, these are included in our Starter Kit. Ideally, you should list the different social media channels that you intend to use the photos on and website address.
The form should also include a statement that confirms that the patient provides their consent, i.e. “I confirm that I am happy for my photos to be used in the ways described above”.
The form does not have to include any more information than that, but it must have a signature and date. Once the patient has signed and dated the form, you have the legal rights to use the photos taken of the patient. It is also a good idea to include the signature of the clinician, with a statement confirming that they have explained the intended image usage to the patient.
Tips for taking photos
Once you have set up your consent form, you can focus on getting the best quality before and after photos. Some tips:
- Take the photo in a place where there is good lighting on the face and the treated area is clearly visible.
- Make sure the before and after photos are taken from exactly the same distance and angle.
- Choose somewhere with a clear, plain background to avoid distraction from the face.
- The patient’s hair should be kept away from their face, using a headband if necessary and their expression should be neutral, so as not to smile or display any other type of facial expression.
Now you can start using before and after photos to generate more clients for your aesthetics clinic.
For more tips and information on having your own aesthetics clinic, visit our blog!