The Manageable Guide to Marketing Your Medical Spa
If you’re running a medical spa, you’re probably anxious to know which marketing channels will help you build a stronger brand, win more customers, and generate more repeat business. (Who wouldn’t?)
But there are a LOT of options when it comes to marketing… so it’s easy to get overwhelmed and simply fail to start.
In this Manageable Guide to Medical Spa Marketing, you’ll get a 101-level marketing crash course — from foundational concepts like branding your business, to improving your online presence, to high-growth strategies like paid search, and more.
Why learn from us? Because we’re the medical spa marketing experts.
First, Clarify Your Brand
To build a high-performing medical spa business, you’ll first need to define your brand. But wait! While the word “brand” probably made you start thinking about your business name, logo, and color scheme, your brand is actually about much more than looks. (Just like the services you offer your clients.)
What’s in a brand? Here are some useful questions to help you define the essence of your business:
What services or treatments do you specialize in? Why these, and not others?
Who’s your ideal customer?
What’s your customer service ethic?
What sets you apart from other medical spas?
How do you want customers to feel when they come in for a treatment?
How do you want customers to talk about you to their friends?
Take a few minutes to work through your answers to these questions. (They’re important, so don’t rush!)
Taken broadly, the answers to these intangible questions form the basis of your medical spa brand. You’ll get deeper insight into what you do, who you do it for, and why they should care. And now, you can inject those values into every point of your customer experience.
Next, Plan Your Next
Medical Spa Strategy
Once you’ve clearly defined your brand, it’s time to make it work harder than Kim Kardashian’s plastic surgeon. To do this, you’ll need to develop a tactical marketing strategy.
This strategy should lay out the Where, When, and How of your medical spa marketing:
Where you’ll focus
When or how often you’ll post/update/run ads
How you’ll speak to prospective clients
As you already know, it’s way too easy to get overwhelmed by the dozens of medi spa marketing tactics you could try out.
So, to make it easier, we’ve prioritized 5 of the most effective tools you have at your disposal to market your business, distinguish yourself from your competitors, and find new customers.
Marketing Tool #1
Your Website
Never underestimate the value of a well-designed, informative medical spa website. Very few customers will book a medi spa appointment without first looking at your website — and the overall quality of your site can be the make-or-break difference between gaining a new customer or losing them for life.
Your website should match the look and feel of your brick-and-mortar business, and give visitors an idea of the type of experience they can expect when they arrive.
And don’t forget: because your website is your primary online shopfront, many of your other marketing tactics will drive traffic to it! That’s why it’s crucial to get your website looking more polished than a McLaren before investing time and money into your other marketing efforts.
At a minimum, your website needs to:
Be beautiful to look at
Clearly list your range of treatments or services
Be easy to navigate
Load quickly, and
Be mobile-responsive
Pro tip: You want to make it as easy as possible for visitors to your website to become customers, so think of your website as a conversion funnel. That means the content on each page of your site should lead visitors to a desired endpoint (which is usually an appointment-booking or contact page).
Marketing Tool #2
Your “Organic” Traffic
Even the most beautiful website isn’t worth much if customers can’t find it. That’s where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes into play.
When users search online for something like “medical spa in Los Angeles” or “botox near me,” search engines instantly weigh a huge range of factors to decide which results to display. In a nutshell, SEO is all about finding ways to tell search engines they should include your medical spa in the results (preferably near the top)!
The list of on-page and off-page SEO tactics you could use is longer than Joan Rivers’ surgical records, but here are 5 simple to-dos that will help improve your medical spa’s organic search rankings:
- Claim your Google My Business listing
- Update your business details and ensure they’re consistent on online directories like Yelp, RealSelf, and HealthGrades
- Ensure that your website’s title tags, headings and URLs are well-written and descriptive
- Add alt text to every image
- Include internal links between the pages on your website
You can also use a tool like Google Search Console, which shows you how Google views your website and which search terms/keywords are driving customers to your website. You can then use these insights to improve the content on your website and target specific keywords.
Pro tip: When deciding which keywords to target for informative articles, opt for “long-tail” (longer, more detailed) keywords over shorter, more general keywords. For example, “does laser hair removal work on dark hair” or “best treatment for skin pigmentation” are terms that indicate a customer is closer to the buying/booking end of their medical spa search.
Marketing Tool #3
Paid Search Advertising
Another way to get the word out about your medical spa (that doesn’t involve standing on the corner wearing a sandwich board)?
Start using paid search advertising. In the digital world, this is known as pay-per-click (PPC) or Search Engine Marketing (SEM).
Paid advertising is a great way to help your medi spa jump to the top of the search results, where it can be seen by users who are actively searching for one of the services or treatments you provide.
PPC works on a keyword bidding system. Essentially, you identify the search keywords you want your spa to show up for, decide how much you’re willing to pay for each of those keywords, and make sure your ad contains an irresistibly appealing offer.
In our experience, paid search can be particularly effective for advertising specific promotions. If a user is searching for something like “dermal fillers San Diego”, and the first thing they see is a half-price deal on dermal fillers at your San Diego medical spa, there’s a pretty good chance they’ll want to find out more.
Pro tip: New to paid search advertising? Start small. Set a modest budget limit and see how much business you can generate from what you’re spending. Your campaigns might need some tweaking and adjustments before you start to see a solid return on your ad spend, so it’s best not to blow your budget right at the start.
Marketing Tool #4
Content Marketing
As tired as the phrase “Content is king” is… it’s still true. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Done right, content marketing is one of the most valuable medical spa marketing channels you can leverage.
So what does doing it right actually look like?
Excellent content marketing is all about providing content (AKA blogs, videos, social media posts, podcasts, you name it) that is both relevant and useful to your target audience — while emphasizing your brand personality.
Your content should be informative, engaging, relatable, and easy to understand. Makes sense, right? You’d be surprised how many medi spas are still failing to reach the bar.
Here are some examples of blog and video content topic that users always find valuable:
- Before and after shots
- Patient experience testimonials
- How-to videos
- Factual articles or case studies that highlight how and why your treatments tend to be particularly effective
In all your content, you’re gunning to clearly communicate the benefits of a given procedure or treatment, plus explain why customers should choose to have it done at your medi spa.
Pro tip: Publishing quality content is only half the battle! Make sure you remember to share all that golden content on your social media channels, and include it in your regular emails, to get as many eyes on it as possible.
Speaking of social media…
Marketing Tool #5
Social Media Marketing
Social media is an excellent tool for reaching brand-new prospective customers who haven’t even heard of your medical spa (yet).
Unlike traditional one-way marketing techniques, social media is a back-and-forth. That means you can do more than just promote your services — you can chat with potential customers in a location where they enjoy spending their time and build a sense of community.
Similarly to paid search marketing, social media sites like Facebook and Instagram give you the option to buy “sponsored" advertisements and target them to specific demographics, including age, location, occupation, income, education level, or behavior.
In practice, this means that if you want to pitch anti-aging injections to women over 35 in San Francisco, you can start showing ads to that group of users in just a few clicks.
Pro tip: Your ad will only get a couple of seconds to grab a user’s attention before they continue scrolling, so make sure your posts or advertisements include eye-catching visuals, clear and concise messaging, and a reason to click through.
Congratulations, you’re done marketing!
… Sorry, it’s not that simple
Unlike a procedure like CoolSculpting, your medi spa marketing isn’t something you can simply set and forget.
It’s more like a skincare routine in that regular, continuous upkeep will keep your practice looking and performing beautifully.
To stay at the top of your game (and the top of your customers’ minds), you’ll need to regularly review what’s working in your marketing strategy and what’s not. Abandon the tactics or strategies that aren’t working, and focus more of your effort, attention, and budget on the things that are working.
A note on watching the competition:
With new cosmetic products, procedures, and treatments hitting the market regularly, it’s crucial to stay on top of the latest industry trends and adapt your strategy accordingly. You’ll also want to keep an eye on your competition’s marketing efforts — but don’t assume that just because they try something, it’s working!
Or just
hire the experts
If skimming this article filled you with more dread than excitement, or your calendar is already more full than an L.A. celebrity’s lips, then let us handle your medi spa marketing.
At MD Logica, we specialize in developing effective business and marketing strategies designed specifically for medical spas and health practitioners. We work with you to develop a strategy that makes sense for YOUR business, execute that strategy, and report regularly on our results.
In the meantime, you get more business without working an extra minute — and you can dedicate even more time and attention to your customers.
Intrigued? Get in touch to see how we can help grow your medical spa.
Beverly Hills, CA 90210