The Practical Guide to Medical Spa Marketing [+7 Proven Tactics]

By Nabeela Hashimi

As one of the fastest growing industries, medical spa services are in high demand.

But when it comes to capturing that demand and turning it into paying customers…things aren’t so simple.

Some medical spas boom into highly profitable businesses, while others flounder and ultimately shut their doors.

What sets successful MediSpas apart?

They follow a clear medical spa marketing plan using strategies that acquire local clients reliably.

In this guide, we show you exactly how to market your medical spa so you never have to guess what works.

7 most reliable medical spa marketing strategies

These strategies are proven to work well for medical spas.

1. Local SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to the practice of getting your website and map listings to show up organically in search engines, without paying for ads that place you at the top.

SEO is one of the most effective, lucrative marketing strategies for any local business. Who doesn’t want free, targeted traffic?

Start by creating listings for your business on Google Maps, WellnessLiving, and Yelp, making sure to fill out all the required sections. Add a list of what you provide so your business will rank whenever someone nearby searches for a specific service. Regularly ask customers to review your business to help boost your rankings in maps and search.

Next, create a website that includes your target keyphrases. For example, you might have one services page optimized for “Austin Botox” and another one optimized for “Austin chemical peels.” It’s best to create one website page for each different category of services so search engines understand the purpose of the page and know when to rank it.

For each page, include your target keyphrase in the main header and title, describe the service and its benefits in a few text sections, and add high-quality photos.

2. Direct mail

You can also get a reliable stream of customers through direct mail. So called “junk mail” can be very effective when you target the right audience with the right offer.

Create a postcard with an attractive coupon or BOGO (buy one, get one) deal.

Then use a public records platform like PropertyRadar or ExactData to build a list of local leads. These tools contain homeowner data so you can target middle class and affluent women who own homes with a certain minimum property value.

3. Business partnerships

Partnerships are a smart strategy for all sorts of local businesses. Undoubtedly, there are already dozens of local salons, boutiques, and medical offices that serve your ideal client.

Go visit them in person and try to get in touch with the owner. The simplest partnership you can pitch is a verbal agreement to swap referrals and send business to one another. Or, offer to kickback a portion of the cost of services for any client they send your way.

4. Social media marketing

Social media marketing can work well for attracting medical spa clients if you use the right approach.

Some of the best tactics include:

• Posting about your business, special offers, before-and-afters, and events in local Facebook groups (for your county, city, town, etc.)
• Offering clients a discount or special rewards in exchange for posting about your company
• Using local hashtags on Instagram and TikTok
• Paying to boost top-performing posts on Facebook and Instagram to your local audience

5. Influencer marketing

Partner with lifestyle influencers, mommy bloggers, beauty gurus, and fashionistas. Many influencers specialize in creating lifestyle content for a specific city, allowing you to access a local following of your ideal clients.

Influencers typically charge per post, so make a list of potential partners and contact them for their rates. Search local hashtags (for example, #miamispa, #miamibeauty, and #miamilife) to discover influencers in your area.

6. Spa parties

Parties are a great marketing method for medical spas.

They often center around a specific service, like Botox for those pesky 11s or a small dose of lip dermal filler. Offer a discounted rate and sell the service in advance so you make sure you have enough clinicians available.

Set up your event page online and promote it with social media, email announcements, and flyers.

7. Search engine advertising

And last but not least, we have search engine ads. You can set up ads on Google and Bing so that you don’t have to wait for your site to rank organically to start driving in more clients.

For best results, drive ads to a gated coupon or offer so you can collect email addresses and follow up with people who aren’t ready to book a service right away.

How to develop a medical spa marketing plan

Follow these steps to develop a marketing plan that consistently delivers new customers for your medical spa.

1. Define your target audience

Start by defining your target audience for your medical spa in terms of:

• Geographical location
• Age
• Gender(s)
• Income

These factors will come into play when you later need to hone in on your strategy. For example, knowing which towns you want to serve can impact your decisions when it comes to SEO targeting and direct mail campaigns.

2. Set your monthly budget

Next, determine how much you can spend each month on marketing. Define your budget and don’t increase it until you’re getting results and can afford to do so.

As a rule of thumb, expect to allocate around 5-10% of your monthly revenue to marketing.

You can also adjust your budget based on your goals. When you’re launching or expanding, you might want to invest more in marketing, as much as 20% of your revenue. But if you’re working on making your medical spa more profitable, you might keep your budget at or below 5%.

3. Choose two main marketing tactics

The marketing channel that works is the one you work on—meaning, don’t spread yourself too thin.

It’s wise to begin with one outbound strategy and one inbound strategy. Outbound marketing means that you are actively targeting clients and not waiting for them to come to you, such as direct mail and PPC advertising.

With inbound marketing on the other hand, you’re attracting bees with honey. Strategies like SEO, social media marketing, and influencer marketing fall in this camp.

For example, you might combine a direct mail campaign targeting local middle class, middle-aged women in a 15-mile radius around your spa (as your outbound method). Then, you might post before-and-after photos on your Instagram account using local hashtags (as your inbound method).

4. Adjust and expand your strategy

Improve your initial marketing methods based on your results. For instance, you might try different variations of the same postcard to see which coupon gets utilized the most.

Once you’ve got a couple of effective marketing methods up and running, it’s OK to add another tactic or two. Maybe you’re ready to host monthly parties, beauty workshops, or other special events and promote them through social media. Or, try sponsoring a few local lifestyle influencers to create Instagram Reels or TikToks showing their experience with one of your most popular medical spa services.

Tips to getting more customers for your medical spa

To take your medical spa marketing to the next level, try these smart tips.

• Create a cohesive brand – Choose a brand style. Medical spa branding should convey the right mixture of beauty, safety, trust, cleanliness, and luxury. Make sure your branding is cohesive across all of your marketing channels.
• Offer a superb client experience – Word-of-mouth is a very important source of new clients. Improve the client experience to naturally grow your referrals. Consider offering healthy drinks, redecorating your waiting room, offering a loyalty program with rewards, or anything else that might keep clients coming back and telling their friends about your business.
• Encourage and incentivize referrals – You can also take a more active approach to getting referrals. At the end of a service, simply ask your client to refer you to any family members or friends they think would enjoy your services. Or, create a referral program with WellnessLiving so you can track referrals and offer coupons, free services, or other rewards.

Looking for a better way to keep track of your customers and get in touch with them? WellnessLiving offers a consolidated, easy-to-use platform for medical spa business management and marketing.

Request a demo of WellnessLiving to see our MediSpa management platform in action.