By: Joy Gendusa Before you invest in any spa marketing strategies for 2019, check out these successful strategies — as well as ones to avoid:
DON’T: YELP
Yelp is on the decline (both in traffic and share price) as review-seekers rely more and more on Google and Facebook. I’m not saying don’t have a Yelp page for your spa — you should — but I don’t recommend spending precious marketing dollars on Yelp’s ads when there are more fruitful, less costly spa marketing strategies.
DO: MAKE A GOOD OFFER
Who doesn’t like to feel like they’re getting a good deal??
If you’re worried that discounting your services will leave your spa looking more “clearance rack” than Coco Chanel, stop and consider this…
A special offer for new client bookings accomplishes 3 things:
- Offers grab attention — which helps your spa stand out
- It entices them to contact you to grab that special offer
- And it gives you the chance to impress clients and turn them into repeat clients (and more reliable revenue!)
One of my own spa clients used not one but two special offers on a postcards we mailed for them. They targeted 2,000 past customers and generated 150 responses and $7,500 in revenue — just from ONE postcard mailing.
Their special offers? 10% off any spa service, and/or $25 off any retail item. Simple, right?
Here are a few more special offers we’ve tracked that have worked for my clients:
- 10- 20% off any spa service
- 30% off retail
- FREE neck treatment with purchase
- FREE Kerastase hair treatment with any service
- $69 Swedish massage
Once those appointments are booked and clients are coming through the door, casually let them know that you have a referral program — 15% off their next service when they refer in a friend who books an appointment!
Now you have two potentially long-term, repeat clients, both from that initial special offer.
DON’T: FORM-OVER-FUNCTION WEBSITES
Whenever I visit a spa’s website, I want to know 3 things right off the bat:
- What your spa offers
- When you are open
- And how can I make an appointment
A lot of spa and beauty services websites show pretty pictures, but they’re hard to navigate and don’t give me those 3 answers unless I dig. And the longer I spend digging, the more likely I am to click that back button and find another spa!
Here’s the deal: 95% of people will head straight to your website if they want to find out more about you.
But unless your website is set up to…
- Give people what they need, and
- Invite them to easily book an appointment at your spa (ideally, online!)
…then guess what?
You are losing appointments, clients and revenue.
So ditch the cutesy stuff and make sure your website has more of this:
- Clear contact information
- List of services and prices
- Hours of operation
- Photos of you, your staff and your facility (this builds trust and trust is vital)
- A way to book an appointment online (okay, it isn’t required but it’s a big deal-maker for a lot of spa-seekers out there)
DO: SOLICIT REVIEWS (LOTS OF THEM)
I foresee online reviews continuing to influence consumers’ purchasing decisions.
These stats say it all:
- 97% of consumers read online reviews (3% short of ALL)
- 85% of people trust reviews just as much as word-of-mouth recommendations
All it takes is a Google search to see how many (good or bad) reviews your spa has. (You have Googled your spa and know where you stand, right?)
A lackluster online reputation can shoo away leads, but generating more positive Google reviews (which makes your spa looks like the #1 option locally) is EASY.
The first step to more reviews is simple:
Ask every happy client who leaves your spa if they’d mind leaving you a review on Google if they enjoyed their experience with you. Your front desk receptionist can email them a link to leave a review — 70% will review you specifically when they’re asked!
DO: INTEGRATION & AUTOMATION
People are busier than ever today. That includes you!
You want to maximize your spa’s marketing exposure and impact for the least amount of cost (both in terms of time and your pocketbook). Am I right?
The answer to that is integration and automation, aka doing one thing and its impact being felt in more than one place/time.
Here are a few of marketing integrations you can employ for 2019:
- Email marketing — From the user-specific (e.g., appointment confirmations) to the very timely (e.g. birthday gifts), it can all be programmed in a single afternoon, and likely, your email marketing system can either integrate with or double as a customer relationship management system (“CRM”).
- Referral program enrollments and redemptions — This can be as simple as adding an easy-to-forward email to your email marketing schedule.
- Google / Social media ads — These are vital for your 2019 spa marketing, but I don’t recommend you run them independent from each other. Match the design, special offer, and timing together so prospects that see your digital ads know they’re coming from one spa — YOU. Better yet, integrate this last one too:
- Direct mail—81% of Americans check their mail every single day. You can buy mailing lists that only target your ideal customers (household income as one demographic example), and by running your Google and social media ads at the same time your postcards hit mailboxes, your prospects see your marketing at home, online, and in their social media feeds — simultaneously. My company does this plus automated tracking with a product called Everywhere Small Business.
One of our nail spa clients mailed 16,000 postcards to all the residents living within 2 miles of their brand new downtown FL location and received 210 NEW customers and $7,350 in revenue from their campaign. Another client has been mailing postcards to their customer base since 2009, and one of their recent mailings generated a 571% return on investment! So whatever spa marketing strategies you employ in 2019, remember that the goal is to generate enough revenue so that your marketing actually grows your spa!
What do you think about my hits and misses? Let me know with an email!
About Joy Gendusa:
Joy Gendusa is an entrepreneur, business owner, author, keynote speaker and philanthropist. With only a phone, a computer and postcards (no funding of any kind!), Joy grew PostcardMania from a small startup into an industry leader that generated $58 million in 2018 and currently employs 246 people in Clearwater, FL. Her company, PostcardMania, has been featured on the Inc. 500 and 5000 lists, and has helped 81,767 small businesses with their marketing. You can request free postcard samples from Joy’s company today!
