Spa Promotion Strategy & Marketing
Whether you own an established Medical Spa or have just opened for business, the implementation of an effective medical spa marketing strategy is necessary to grow and thrive in the competitive, 4 billion dollar a year industry.
As baby boomers are now in their retirement years and with the surge of medical doctors incorporating non invasive aesthetic treatments into their services, the demand for cosmetic procedures has grown, along with the supply of medical spas competing for customers.
Like any business, there are medical spas that seem to do really well and others that struggle year after year to attract and retain new clientele.
Spa Promotion Strategy
Attracting new customers and retaining existing ones requires effective marketing that appeals to your customers at all stages of the buyer's journey. Implementing an effective spa promotion strategy for your business requires that you consider their needs and challenges - from the moment your prospects discover they have a problematic concern to the moment that they decide if it is your spa that they will schedule a consultation with. Marketing your spa in a way that can capture a customer’s attention at each stage, from awareness, consideration, and decision, will yield the best return of investment on your marketing.
No matter what stage of the buyer’s journey your customer is in, you need to have the "know, like & trust" factor tied into your marketing.
Getting in front of your target persona, educating your audience with great content, and promoting your medical spa in positive ways works to build feelings of likability and "good will" toward your brand,
Your patients will schedule a consultation at your medspa if they believe that you have the expertise, education, and experience to perform the services that they need. Customers worry about downtime of their spa procedures, side effects, pain, and getting the best results. Consultations are your opportunity to show your expertise as you show your knowledge and confidence around the procedures and answer questions.
By building trust and showing expertise, you are able to expand your marketing from a solid foundation that will help you find and retain clients for your medical spa.
How Is Trust Built?
A non invasive cosmetic procedure can positively or negatively affect a person’s quality of life if done incorrectly. Creating a level of trust to show your expertise can begin through your website content and business branding. The trust factor begins before the first communication with the customer.
Trust Is Built Through Your Website
Your website is your 24/7 sales and marketing tool - it needs to be on point, accessible, easy to navigate and let your potential clients feel that you are running a capable, reputable, and professional medical spa.
Trust Is Built Through Your Online Presence
Are you listed in Google and Bing Business and other online directories? Can customers find your bio and recommendations on Linkedin, Realself.com and industry specific directories?
Trust is Built With Great Reviews
Online reviews of your medical spa services is going to be one of the important assets that you can gain for your reputation. Without enough regular reviews, you will lose potential clients to your competitors. Reviews are the proof that you need from actual customers that gives your potential customers the push to pick up the phone and schedule a consultation.
How Do You Sell Trust & Expertise in Your Med Spa Promotion and Marketing?
Great Branding
Branding is definitely more than having a nice logo and color palette on your website, although those things are important. Great branding is the experience that your customers have when they interact with you and your business, it’s the relationship that you create with your prospects. Your medical spa is a brand and you want to be clear on your messaging and have consistent methods of interacting with your audience and customers.
Messaging includes being consistent with your tone and brand personality. Are you a family oriented med spa affiliated with a dermatology office or more high end and ultra sophisticated? The way you communicate through emails to customers, your social media posts, how the receptionist answers phone calls etc., should be consistent and should match the experience on the website.
Your “brand identity” is the visuals of your brand - this would include having a cohesive look across your website, social media, business cards, stationary and marketing material. By having a consistent brand identity across all media - print and web, you will will build trust, increase recognition, and build your authority and reputation in the competitive medical spa industry.
Your website’s offline branding (business cards, brochures) need to match your website in order to make your brand more memorable and easy to recognize.
Professionally Designed Website
Your website is one of the first places that customers look at to find more information about your medical spa. Your website should be built to look and perform great, have easy navigation, and encourage action from the visitor. You need to tell your website visitor what to do and lead them to that action, whether it be to call for a consultation, fill out a form, or download a free guide.
The following is a list of recommended foundational elements to include on your website:
- professional logo
- photos of you and the staff
- before and after photos of procedures
- Google Map with directions to the spa
- easy to find contact form
- office phone number on every page
- easy to book appointments
- mobile friendly design
- phone number that is “click to call” on a mobile device
- an SSL certificate
- a thorough description of your spa’s services
- a blog to attract internet traffic with great content
- fast loading pages - the web hosting company you choose does matter
- Optimized Google Business Listing
The world of search has gone to mobile, with 80% of internet users owning a smart phone (Smart Insights) and the rise of more "near me" search queries. Claiming & optimizing your Google Business Listing will allow your medical spa to found in local searches and Google Maps.
Adding your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) to your listing is the first step. You can take it further by making sure you have the right business hours listed, special holiday hours, photos, an appropriate business category, and a business description.
Google Business Listings appear on the first page right below the paid advertisements. You will see a map with 3 local listings & a link to see “More Places”. Competition is heavy for these top 3 local listings and a lot of factors that Google uses to decide who gets these top 3 local listings. That’s why it’s so important to have updated NAP info that is consistent with your website, social media, and other directory sites. Google rewards businesses that takes the time to get this right.
Geotagging Photos
Did you know that you can “geotag” photos before uploading them to your Google listing? Geotagging is the process of adding additional data to your photo like adding location data which gets embedded into the photo. This can add a bit of “SEO juice” to your listing and helps with local marketing based on geography.
Photos that you upload to your Google My Business listing enhances your business brand by allowing visitors to get an inside look at your business without actually going to your website. This is a chance to show you and your staff and interaction with customers.
Google Posts
Google Posts are a fairly new feature available as part of your Google My Business listing (launched in June, 2017). Google Posts allow you to create an update of up to 1500 characters, that will display next to your Google Business Listing. When creating posts, keep in mind that only the first 80 characters actually show up so best practice would be to keep it to about 200 characters.
Posts allow you to connect with customers in your local area by sharing promotional & educational events as well as spa promotional specials that are current. Your post expires after 7 days, unless you have an event post scheduled - in which case your Google Post won’t expire until after your event. You can have multiple posts at the same time - Google will display them using a carousel effect.
Building Citations Through Directories
Besides your Google Business Listing, there are many other local and industry directories to add your business information to. Adding your business name, address, and phone number, also short for NAP, to popular online directories will further build authority online and is an additional way for customers to find you. Any mention of your NAP online is also knows as a "citation" so you want to be sure that your NAP info is correct and consistent everywhere your info is mentioned online. That includes your website, social media, Google Business, Bing, and everywhere possible.
You can register manually at the many directories online, but that is very time consuming and a long drawn out process. There are tools online that can help to speed up the process, such as Yext, Bright Local, and Moz Local.
It's important to also submit your business info to "Data Aggregators". Data Aggregators are huge data processing companies that bring in large
quantities of local business and individual data from many different sources. They parse, reconcile, cleanse and make sense of it all, and then spit it back out in a form that is reliable and easy-to-use by others.
There are 3 main data aggregators and it's recommended to make sure you get your business info submitted to these 3:
- Data Axle (was Infogroup)
- Foursquare (includes Factual
- Neustar
You can also add your listing to sites like:
- Healthgrades
- Real Self
- Zoc Doc
- Doctor MD
- Mayo Clinic
- Doctor Directory
Getting Reviews
Collecting reviews & testimonials from previous customers is a critical factor for your spa marketing to be a yield the best results. The majority of consumers look for customer feedback before making a purchasing decision, especially when it comes to cosmetic procedures. This goes for any industry, but for medical spas getting regular positive reviews is one of the most important spa marketing strategies that you can employ for your growing medical spa.
We live in a day and age where consumers have more power in keeping service providers accountable in the online world. Making customer satisfaction your priority helps to show your level of professionalism and commitment to customer service. The way you respond to reviews, whether the customer is right or wrong, as well as attempting to resolve the issue in a courteous manner goes a long way.
As the Owner or Managing Partner of a medical spa, it is perfectly fine for you to respond to a handful of your spa’s reviews, but if you respond to all of your reviews then it may seem that you have extra time on your hands and that your not so busy with patients. That’s why it’s necessary to have someone on your staff or a marketing agency dedicated to managing and acquiring reviews on your behalf.
You can work on acquiring reviews in many different ways:
Set up profiles on the multitude of review sites:
Besides Google, add Bing, Yelp, Manta, & Kudzu. You can go to Moz Local's "Check My Presence" to find out what directory sites your business appears in and what you can do to get more directory listings as well as more reviews.
Ask your customers for reviews:
White Spark has a handy review generator and you can also email happy customers with your follow up and generate a review link here.
Hire a marketing agency:
Your busy with clients, staff, scheduling, meetings and on and on - we know you don't have time to worry about getting reviews, monitoring reviews or worrying about negative feedback. Leaving all of that to an experienced professional will allow you to have one less thing to worry about. Managing your reputation online is important, but it doesn't have to be difficult.
Your Website Needs Great Content
If you really want to make an impact online and start funneling traffic to your website, you need to have great content and a call to action to capture internet traffic.
Great content includes educational and informative articles filled with relevant keywords that your readers are searching for. Content should be well planned out and hit on your customer’s pain points.
Content can be created from a multitude of sources, some of these you may already have:
- educational articles
- before and after photos
- case studies
- special events
The internet is flooded with articles and blog posts on every subject imaginable. You need to be creative and spend the time to create copy for your website that is better than your competitors.
You want your readers to have a great user experience. You can encourage this on your website by:
- avoiding too many ads and pop ups
- adding various forms of media, like videos, photos,& infographics
- Break up text with paragraphs, headlines, and white space
- When deciding on what you should post about on your blog, think about what content topics your audience wants to learn more about, rather than what you feel like writing about.
Calls To Action
Internet traffic are strangers and they will land on your website by following a link to an article that they want to read. Your goal should be using your content to turn strangers into leads by adding call to actions on your website.
There are many ways to catch a lead on your website and based on the content on the page and the goal you are trying to achieve will determine what kind of "call to action" to use. You want to guide the user to take some kind of action, often by providing something useful for free in order to catch an email.
Some typical calls to action include offering a downloadable guide, offering a link to schedule a consultation, enticing people to sign up for a webinar, or asking people to fill out a form.
Get Your Staff Involved
Engaging your staff to contribute to your website and social media posts is a great way to have a variety of topics to use for creating content online. Having someone who is "in the trenches" of the day to day assigned to keeping your social media profiles updated is ideal. With Instagram stories and reels becoming hugely popular and effective for attracting an audience, assigning your social media person to capture moments of behind the scenes at your medical spa on a daily basis can really grow your brand.
What You Should Know About Spa Marketing SEO
Search Engine Optimization - A Long Term Strategy
I’m sure you’ve heard the mention of SEO, or search engine optimization. It sounds a bit daunting to think about “doing SEO” for your spa website. SEO involves performing tactics on and off your website to increase search engine visibility.
SEO is something that you as a Spa Owner should either be continuously working on as you incorporate other forms of marketing or even better yet, stick to what you do best and hire a skilled marketing company to implement an SEO strategy.
“On Page” SEO includes things like:
- researching what keywords have higher search volume and lower competition
- adding image alt tags
- adding unique meta descriptions and meta titles for every page
- use of only one H1 tag for each page and adding an H2 tag, an H3 tag, etc
- add an SSL security certificate - many web hosts offer this for free
- verifying the site in Google’s search console and submitting a sitemap for better indexing and to catch errors
Off Page SEO:
A great definition of Off Page SEO from Moz: "Off page SEO refers to actions taken outside of your own website to impact your rankings within search engine results pages (SERPs)."
This includes spending time off your website trying to improve your website’s authority, relevance, and trustworthiness. The main tactic that SEO’s use to accomplish this is “link building”, the process of gaining incoming links from other sites. Each link counts as a vote and some links count more than others.
The amount of time that it takes to see results from an SEO strategy depends on a lot of factors such as:
- how much SEO you have already done
- how old your website is
- what shape the website is in
- how many external links your website has
- how much content is on the site. The important thing to note is that SEO works and if you follow proper “white hat” techniques over time, you will enjoy better rankings and more search engine traffic.
PPC Advertising on Google
Google’s form of paid advertising is called Adwords or PPC (Pay Per Click)
Here is a geeky definition of PPC (pay-per-click): PPC is a form of online advertising in which advertisers accrue costs when users click their ads. Advertisers bid on the perceived value of a click in relation to the keywords, platforms, and audience type in which it originates. - PPC Hero
Laymen's Terms - You pay Google when someone clicks your ad. This is a type of “instant gratification” lead generation that can increase calls & appointments to your medical spa. You can start generating leads and traffic rather quickly, however you will need to pay to play. PPC is best used as part of an ongoing longer term SEO strategy.
One thing to note: If you don't know anything about Pay Per Click, it's better to hire an Adwords expert to help set up and manage your campaign. There are many factors that influence which ads end up getting shown and you can run through your ad budget rather quickly if you don't know how to run an Adwords campaign.
Great Customer Service
Imagine this scenario: you as the owner of a medical spa have spent time on your branding and website and have been experimenting with Facebook Lead Ads. You’ve gotten a few leads and have been getting consultations scheduled.
A potential customer, let’s call her Mary, walks into your medical spa for a consultation. The first thing she sees is the esthetician in her scrubs & on the phone scheduling an appointment. The esthetician looks up, smiles, and nods for Mary to have a seat. Mary goes to sit down and looks down at the table in front of her of a wide assortment of lifestyle magazines on the table - magazines like Vogue and People. Shouldn't there be before and after photo albums? Or promotional spa brochures?
The esthetician gets off the phone, apologizes for being on the phone and graciously leads Mary into an exam room and the consultation begins. Mary begins explaining why she is there and asks questions relating to treatments, options, and is trying to educate herself by asking questions. The esthetician dodges the more in depth questions and focuses on just the benefits of the spa services.
Mary, the potential customer, leaves the consultation confused and frustrated. Her questions were not answered. Mary’s confidence in this Medical Spa to have the knowledge and expertise that she was looking for is gone. The esthetician clearly did not have the answers to the questions. That was an esthetician right? Or maybe she's just an Assistant. Mary did learn one thing - that she is not coming back. And why was the esthetician also answering the phones? Do they not have enough staff? Mary is not confident that she get the attention she needs to go forward with a treatment.
Don’t let this be your medical spa! I based the character of Mary on my own experience in scheduling a consultation with a local Medical Spa in my neighborhood.
A great customer experience is so important for potential customers. From the moment they schedule a consultation to the moment they step out of the medical spa, the customer should feel confident that their questions and concerns were acknowledged and answered.
The Front Desk Assistant/Receptionist is the first person that a customer connects with when they walk into your Medspa. This staff member should make the most of his or her role in your by having a warm and friendly personality. Clients are often a bit nervous before and after a procedure and appreciate talking to someone with a nurturing personality. Your Assistant should also have some level of knowledge about your services and procedures in order to answer general questions and know when to refer questions to the medical professional on staff.
A Beautiful, Relaxing Waiting Area
It's important to take the time to make your waiting area feel ultra zen and have neatly organized retail products on the shelves. This will subconsciously make customers feel that you and your staff are organized, professional and care about appearances. A doctor that takes the time to work on his waiting room will also take time with the patients to get the best results.
Brochures should be also be out on the table, across from the waiting area so that customers can see learn more about your most popular retail products.
Additional Avenues For Spa Marketing:
- Customer Loyalty Programs - what better way to show appreciation of regular customers than by implementing a customer loyalty program?
- Social Media Marketing - there are a number of ways to use social media to market your medispa: use Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram to connect with people locally, run contests on social media that can create buzz in your community about your spa, create a community around your brand and offer incentives to your customers and followers, engage with your community & start conversations & adding to discussions on social, and share behind the scenes of what goes on at the spa to create a sense of community and relatability
- Customer Referral Program
- Offer current customers a discount on services when they refer their friends and family.
Email Marketing
Email marketing involves developing and nurturing a relationship between you and your current customers and potential customers for the purpose of marketing your spa. You want to stay top of mind and communicate through email on a regular basis.
You can capture email addresses with new and existing customers at your spa intake as well as on your website with email opt-in offers. Engaging with your new and existing customers consistently, however don’t over do it or else you'll start to annoy people.
Special Events
What better way to generate buzz and interest around your medical spa business, than by holding a special event - this also makes for great content! This is a great way to have existing clients learn about all the services that you offer. You would be surprised to learn that most guests don't know all your products and services. Many clients will likely bring a friend so you would have the added benefit of a potential new customer.
Special events can include:
- fundraisers
- holiday events
- annual celebration
- milestone event
- an event to showcase a new product line
- Educational events - educational events teach your customers about the variety of services in your medical spa. Many women (your target market) are confused about all the medical aesthetic services that are out there and how to determine if they need those services or not. People won't choose a service if they don't understand what it is and its benefits
There are a lot of spa marketing strategies to employ either on your own or with a help with a marketing agency. By incorporating a well rounded marketing strategy and hitting on all the important aspects, you can attract more clients for your medical spa.
Whatever you choose to do, make sure you are tracking your results and revising your plan along the way. To get started on your Med Spa Domination, call us! (770) 693-2654
