Google Trends, a free online tool, can help medical aesthetic practices identify patient interest in specific procedures both by region and season. In the August 2019 issue of the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, Jonathan D. Tijerina, et al, reviewed Google Trends search terms from January 2004 to December 2017. Then compared that data to annual procedure statistics reports of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) from 2006 to 2017 and American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) from 2004 to 2017.
The researchers found that patient interest in procedures—based on increases in search term volume—largely correlated with annual increases in demand for those same procedures. Because Google Trends analyses are customizable by time period, geography and result format (e.g., Google Shopping, YouTube search or News search), it may be a valuable tool in helping physicians recognize and adjust to changes in patient needs and in guiding practice marketing and advertising efforts.
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