The Medi Spa industry is constantly growing.
As per experts, the global Spa and Wellness industry is worth an estimated $7.8 trillion in 2022.
With all the focus today on botanical beauty products and holistic remedies, it’s no wonder that there is an ever increasing interest in the spa treatments worldwide.
Everyone – from baby boomers and soccer mums to busy officials in general-is ready to try anything that keeps them feeling healthier and looking younger.
This makes it an ideal time to pave the way toon of the most popular personal-service businesses around: the Medi Spa.
Starting a spa business is never easy! However, if the spa owner knows how to generate a steady stream of customers, the intimidating feeling would turn into confidence and empowerment.
In this post, I’ll provide you an easy yet effective spa marketing strategy to entice the new customers, retain the existing customers, and transform your happy customers into your loyal brand advocates. So let’s dive in!
I’m sure you all have heard about Groupon.com.
For those who don’t know, Groupon is an American worldwide e-commerce marketplace that has been all the hype among tech sites and companies recently.
If you are running your spa in the New York City, there are many people who use Groupon to see if there is any good deal for them to take advantage of.
But, did you know 81% of SMEs hate Groupon?Indeed, you read it right!
Every month, I talk to 10-12prospective clients, primarily spa owners. And most of them agree that Groupon is exploiting business owners.
Bringing in a plethora of customers through Groupon advertising may sound like a handout for business owners, but many of them admit that the numbers just don’t provide any benefits in the long run.
Groupon’s sales process is all about the pitch. They play on that distress showing a picture of ANXIETY (what if Groupon benefits your competitors) and avarice (this online marketplace can leverage the web for you).
Most of the Spa and Salon owners are tricked into believing that Groupon promotions will wonders for them and thus leading them to disaster.
Cons of using Groupon Deals for Spa Business:
- Limited to low-end deal seekers:Since the Groupon customers are deal-seekers, they might not want to spend beyond the price of coupon. The low price deals significantly impact the ROI; thus spa owners have to limit the number of deal coupons to be sold.
- Affects your brand reputation:The obsession with low price deals doesn’t necessarily benefit the brand awareness. As the customers are price sensitive, they tend to become less loyal to your brand and look for a service at a much lower price.
- No more repeat customers:The conversion rate for repeat customers is very low in Groupon. There is almost no possibility of the customer coming back to your spa without a coupon in hand.
- No profits:It’s not only about the 50% commissions on the sale price. Rather, you are also losing on the overall cost, which is 75% of the retail price. By grabbing a Groupon deal, you’re offering 75% off to your customers and it’s not worthwhile.
Losing your $$ to Groupon isn’t sensible!
Groupon deals may be very popular among bargain shoppers. But does it truly make a good business sense?
Groupon presents itself as an advertising tool that allows you to pay only for the accomplished results. Although a genuine marketing tool is not just confined to one-time results, you’re sure to get lasting results.
So far, it’s pretty clear that Groupon isn’t a viable marketing tool for your spa business and it may significantly harm your brand in the long run.
So what’s the solution?
Well, you need to understand that the daily deal sites like Groupon.com are not the game in the marketing arena.
There are several different ways to spread the good word about your medical spa business and the best one of them is using a strategic “Sales Funnel”.
Basically, a sales funnel includes the entire process people undergo from being unqualified prospects to becoming loyal paying customers.
The top of the funnel is broad, similar to the people that might be interested in your product/service. Although the bottom of funnel is very narrow, signifying the number of prospects who eventually covert into your paying customers.
Here’s why Sales Funnel is the Bees Knees:
You see, it’s all about the numbers. A sales process is about generating leads for your spa and then converting them into spa clients.
Don’t leave money on the table! As a spa owner, you need enough eyeballs on your brand to generate maximum sales without wasting your marketing dollars. To leave the dynamic Sales Funnel out of your marketing campaign means you’re not going to get scad of eyes on your brand.
Sales funnel enables you to move customers from being “just interested” (i.e. time wasters) to becoming your paying customers. So, if your sales funnel fails, you’ll have low conversion rate. It’s as simple as that.
The world of Sales Funnel is not an easy place to step in.
Steps to include in your sales process:
Step 1: Top of the Funnel: Unqualified Prospects
A sales funnel for any and every business starts the same way. You receive leads based on anyone and everyone who has ever come across your business. From customers who are genuinely interested to your average Random Ricky who can’t even. But that’s okay, as you aren’t expected to convert each and every lead into a sale. Instead, now would be a good time to filter out Random Ricky here as an unqualified prospect.
Now as a Spa/Salon, the leads that really matter may come to you as a website query, newsletter subscription, after-hours voicemail or maybe even a referral from an old client. The origins of the leads aren’t as important as the significance of it, meaning you either fuelled their curiosity or their need. Time to cash in and make the call. The result of this communication will determine how interested they truly are.
How Do You Generate Leads?
Adults are just children with purchase power. How do you get a child to do what you want? You bribe them with candy! How do you get an adult to become your customer? You bribe them with offers! It really is simple, all you need to do is create opportunities of interest on your website like ‘Register to Win…’ or ‘Subscribe to the Newsletter for Exciting Offers!’
You could also distribute complimentary gift cards, give advice (Ask an Expert), participate in Business-to-Business events, attend trade shows and launch Facebook campaigns and a lot more!
The above mentioned methods help collect data on potential customers. These methods are sure-fire ways to generate leads for Step 2.
Step 2: Initial Communication
Once you have sufficient data, you start by making calls. Your initial communication entails getting to know your customer’s problems, and those problems aren’t just limited to sore muscles or oily skin. This conversation should help you figure out if your service is the right solution for their problems and how mutually beneficial the transaction is to both parties.
The data you collect after the communication should help you filter your leads:
- Interested: The perfect lead, where they really like what you are offering and so does their wallet.
- Somewhat Interested: These leads love to compare and are looking for the best value-for-money offer between you and your competitors.
- Not Now in the Future: These leads absolutely love what you offer, but ‘maybe not now…’
- Completely Unqualified: You may be the sweetest peach in the orchard, but they’re looking for apples.
The ‘Interested’ leads are ripe for the picking and may slide down the sales funnel. That leaves you with the ‘Somewhat Interested’ and ‘Not Now in the Future’ leads. These leads need the most nurturing to ensure positive conversion. Once you are done filtering, you move on to Step 3.
Step 3: Lead Nurturing
You spent blood, sweat, tears, time, money, resources and a great deal of determination to get yourself a big bucket-load of leads. You filtered out the unwanted prospects and converted a few of those leads into happy and satisfied clients. You still have a long list of leads who contacted your Spa out of genuine interest but weren’t ‘feeling it’ at the time. Will you give up on them? Absolutely NOT. Keeping in touch with these leads is the key to Brand Recall. Eventually, when they do decide to commit, your Spa is the first place that comes to their mind.
So what do you do? Among others, there’s two ways to go about this:
- Create an Email Nurturing Campaign: If there’s one thing to say about emails, it’s that they are more permanent than most other mediums. This makes emails a really essential part of lead nourishment. Emails are flexible and have a lot of options to get creative about, but that isn’t what we are talking about. Sure you can create a really attractive looking e-brochure with snazzy graphics and attractive offers, but there’s a high possibility that your brochure will just be ignored. The key to effective email marketing is personalized communication. Nobody likes a monotonous salesman, but everybody loves a good hustle. Put it simply; create conversations rather than just pushing your services.
- Create a Remarketing Campaign: Cookies are wonderful bytes of code that ensure your presence in the minds of everyone who visits your website. Every time a person visits your website, their browser stores a cookie of your paid ads, which they can see as they surf the web even after they leave your website. The subconscious mind is a beautiful thing, don’t you agree?
Automated systems of communication such as these are valuable tools to provide your clients with the latest updates and offers by your Spa. Being constantly seen by your leads will build trust and establish your business as an authority. At this point, your leads should start to respond to your communication efforts. Reel them in with Step 4.
Step 4: Present Solution
Interested leads in your sales funnel who would like to know more about your services qualify for solutions to their purchase problems. As a Spa, your hook, line and sinker lies in inviting them for a tour, where you provide consultation and conclude with a free trial. A free trial to any one of your treatments will be hard to resist. People love free stuff.
Needless to say, first impressions are lasting impressions. Paying close attention to details and your client’s specific needs is a must. Amp up the ‘wow’ factor for satisfactory results. Your clients expect to be pampered after all. Once you’ve set the bar, you move on to Step 5.
Step 5: Negotiation and Commitment
All your efforts paid off and you’ve charmed your way into your client’s heart. The trial was beautiful and the client wants more. It’s time to negotiate the value of your services with your new customer. Make sure it is mutually beneficial to both parties and be absolutely clear about it. You’ve set the bar and now you must commit to it. Remember, a happy customer is a chatty customer. If all goes well, you’ll find referrals coming your way. Step 6 is where you seal the deal.
Step 6: Payment and Delivery
Congratulations on successfully converting a lead into a customer! You’ve come a long way to make this sale and now you are ready deliver and collect your dues. Most businesses consider this a good conclusion to their efforts and move on to the next, but not you. Your Spa has the potential to be the best at pampering your clients and you are now ready for Step 7.
Step 7: Follow-ups, Referrals, and Upsells
“If you are not taking care of your customer, your competitor will.” – Bob Hooey
Take the initiative to follow up with your clients about your service and they will love you for it. It shows that you care and that helps build relationships. As a Spa, the more you personalize your service quality, the better your chances at getting referrals from your existing customers. This also lets you suggest the upsells to regulars.
Final Words:
Digital marketing isn’t a magic wand. You just move it around and BOOM you have business. It takes effort and active participation to get the desired results for your business.
Don’t get caught up in the Groupon’s hype. Set up a dynamic sales funnel for your spa business to clearly evaluate the sales process and improve it by following the steps outlined in this post.
We recommend the digital marketing agency Constant Clicks, to allow customers to obtain the best possible results when they come online. It’s a no-brainer that Google Ads provide the quickest and most cost-effective way of generating leads and sales. They are the industry leaders in the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) sector that will generate an immediate boost to your business.
