A dermatology practice should post short, plain-spoken videos that teach one skin question at a time, show how the practice works, and introduce the people behind it. Skip anything that promises a result, shames how a patient looks, or shows a patient without written permission. That's the whole strategy, and it's harder to follow than it sounds.

Dermatology is an easy specialty to explain on camera and a hard one to advertise. Patients come with real questions about skin checks, acne, rashes and procedures, so content ideas are never the problem. The rules are. Here's how we'd handle both.

What should a dermatology practice post on Instagram?

Post what a new patient wants to know before they book. In practice that means five kinds of videos:

  • One question, one answer. "Do I really need sunscreen indoors?" or "What's the difference between a retinoid and a retinol?" Thirty seconds, on camera, in your own words.
  • Walk-through of a visit. What a full skin check looks like, from the front desk to the exam room. Nobody is on the table; you're describing the steps.
  • Myths you hear every week. Pick one and correct it calmly.
  • Meet the team. The dermatologist, the physician assistant, the person who answers the phone. People book people.
  • Behind the scenes. The room before the day starts, the equipment explained, the thing patients always ask about the waiting room.

Notice what's missing: results. That's on purpose, and the next sections explain why.

What can dermatology practices say in Instagram ads?

Less than they'd like. Meta's Health and Wellness advertising policy says ads for cosmetic products, procedures or surgeries must be targeted to people at least 18 years old. It also prohibits statements of inferiority about physical appearance, meaning negative terms or questions that attack a person's appearance or body parts.

So "Tired of your ugly acne scars?" is out. "Here's how we evaluate acne scarring at a first visit" is fine. The second one respects the viewer and teaches something, which is also why it tends to work better.

Meta's policy permits before and after images of cosmetic procedures for adult audiences. We'd still use them sparingly, and we'd never present one as what a new patient should expect. One patient's photo is one patient's outcome. We'd treat the policy as the minimum, not as permission, and read the current page before every campaign, because Meta can change it.

Also check your state medical board's advertising rules. We haven't covered those here because they vary by state, and your attorney or compliance contact is the right person to ask.

Are patient photos and testimonials allowed?

Only with the right paperwork, and we'd lean toward not using them at all. Under 45 CFR 164.508, a covered entity must generally get a written authorization before using protected health information for marketing, with exceptions such as face-to-face communication. A patient's face and treatment story is protected health information. A smiling reaction in a story is a marketing use. Get the signed authorization first, keep it on file, and let the patient withdraw it.

Testimonials carry a second problem. The FTC's Health Products Compliance Guidance states that customer testimonials don't substitute for evidence behind a health claim. A patient saying a treatment cleared her skin doesn't support your saying it will clear someone else's.

Our rule of thumb: describe the process and let patients talk about the experience of the visit ("the staff explained everything"), not about outcomes.

Do staff and doctors need to disclose anything?

If anyone posting has a material connection to what they're talking about, yes. The FTC's Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers lists free or discounted products and services as material connections, and says the disclosure belongs with the endorsement itself, hard to miss, and inside the video rather than only in the caption. If your dermatologist mentions a skincare line the practice sells or is paid to promote, say so on screen and out loud.

How do you make this easy to keep up?

The honest reason most practices stop posting is time, not ideas. We'd keep it small: three videos a week, all recorded in one sitting.

Here's a week that adds up. Monday, 20 minutes: write three short scripts, one question, one myth, one team intro. Tuesday, 30 minutes: record all three back to back in the same room, same shirt, same light. Wednesday, Friday and Sunday: post one each, with a caption that uses a plain phrase patients actually search, like "skin check in Fort Lauderdale", and the same phrase on screen and in what you say. Three scripts, three clips, three posts, nothing posted before it's recorded.

That's our opinion, and it runs against a lot of agency advice: a derm practice gets more from three honest minutes of a doctor explaining something than from a polished montage of treatment rooms. Plain beats glossy for a specialty built on trust.

What should you do this week?

Write down the five questions patients asked you most this month. Turn three of them into 30-second answers. Pull your current posts and delete or rewrite any that promise an outcome or comment on how someone looks. Confirm that every patient who appears in a photo or video has a signed authorization on file. Then record the three clips in one sitting and schedule them.

If you want hooks to start those clips, our 300 Viral Hooks for Dermatologists guide is $59: 300 hooks organized by goal, so you can pick by what you want the video to do. Not ready to buy? Grab the free 30 hooks on our guides page. The hooks are marketing copy, not medical advice.

If recording is the sticking point, a Shoot Day is $1,500: one strategy call, up to two hours on camera, four edited videos delivered within seven days. At three posts a week, four videos covers a bit more than a week, so it works best as a jump start while you build the habit. For the posting-rhythm side of this, see our post on how often a med spa should post on Instagram.

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