The primary goals of marketing your massage practice are to turn clients into loyal, repeat customers, and succeed in business by filling your schedule.
For massage therapists and entrepreneurs, it is essential to evaluate your email marketing strategy regularly, thus ensuring you’re building a thriving practice. To continue achieving your goals, this should guide you to assess marketing approaches that work best and why.
And what’s by far one of the easiest, cost-effective ways to market your massage practice? That’s right, and it’s in the title – Newsletters!
However, your initial thoughts on sending out emails may leave you second-guessing this plan of action.
There are numerous reasons why massage therapists don’t use Email marketing or send out a monthly newsletter. One of the top reasons is they don’t know how or have a guide as to what to put in it. And then, there is the misconception that it is time-consuming. And by our tech-free nature, some don’t like receiving emails, and we think our clients don’t either. Stay with me; it may surprise you that it isn’t the case at all and why.
Emails– Are still the gold standard!
According to OptinMonster, “Email still has a greater reach over Social Media. Customers are 58% more likely to open an email, and it has a 6% conversion rate where Social Media is 1.9%. Although using both is a winning combination, in the hierarchy of priorities, it makes more sense to utilize your Email marketing first. And Social Media second.
And how do I do that, you may be thinking right now? Well, that’s where careful planning and foresight comes into play. You see, to be more comfortable sending out newsletters, your aim should be to lay the foundation for a high standard of marketing outreach. By doing so, you won’t be merely sending out random, poorly thought-out (and possibly annoying) emailers, but rather impressive, informative newsletters your customers will look forward to receiving.
Here is a marketing guide with 4 reasons why massage therapists should be sending email newsletters:
Time vs Money
Emails only require to be sent out weekly or monthly versus the daily posts required by Social Media. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying not to use Social Media. What I’m saying is that if you take a little time and create a whole year’s worth of Newsletters, which is really easy, it is possible to automate, and you don’t have to think about it.
It’s straightforward and free, leaving you time to work on your Social Media presence. You can, of course, make minor tweaks each month to add something new or offer a special. And you then archive and repurpose them for the following year. Even if you’re not using newsletters for your practice at the moment, you should still be collecting emails via your website or office intake forms.
Focus on Attracting New Clients, Rescheduling Existing Clients
The focus of your marketing campaign should be twofold: build strong relationships with existing clients, so they reschedule and attract new clients. Both of these goals are effectively achieved with the use of a simple newsletter. Clients are the most significant source of new clients either by word of mouth or via the sales of gift certificates.
Think of a newsletter as being a magical, multifaceted business-building tool. In one fell swoop, a well-written (and perfectly proofread) newsletter can:
- Educate your customers on the many services you offer and their benefits.
- Gives tips to your clients, so it lets them know how important they are to you.
- Remind them of the important holidays and to book their follow-up appointment.
- Strengthen your brand and professional image.
- Build client loyalty.
- Promote referrals and gift-certificate sales.
- Generate appointments and fill up the massage schedule.
Newsletters – A Personalized Marketing Vehicle Like No Other
Truly, newsletters are uniquely personalized to your massage practice. It’s a marketing vehicle that helps you communicate educational content and relevant information to a very select group of people – your clients! With it, you can use a soft-sell approach to cross-sell services and products in a targeted manner that is not a sale-sy advertisement.
In a survey by Standard & Poor’s that focused on newsletters published by financial services companies, 92% of newsletter recipients said they read at least some of the issues. Simply put, people read – and value – newsletters. It’s a marketing tool that strengthens client loyalty, builds brand awareness, and increases clients’ lifetime value.
How can you use a targeted newsletter to enhance your massage practice? There are many ways, actually, for instance, you can:
- Ask people if they’d like to be included on your mailing list.
- Use it instead of business cards.
- Add an issue with local services like Welcome Wagon for newcomers.
- Mail an issue and letter of introduction to new residents and include a discount for their first appointment.
- Send it to nearby neighbors.
- Add as an insert in community newspapers in your local area.
- Leave issues with willing retailers and businesses, such as chiropractors, fitness centers, and health-food stores.
- Hand out your Newsletter at public presentations and health fairs.
- Introduce your services by mailing an issue to selected professionals to generate new business.
- Encourage your customers to share an issue they find interesting with friends and family.
- Email or mail an issue to potential customers.
A Tool That’s Proven to Work
Whether you use a creation service or build one yourself, the critical point about using them for marketing purposes is this: Newsletters are a proven tool that can help strengthen your massage business. Stay in touch with clients by developing an email list and offer printed issues to your massage customers. By educating everyone, you become the expert that everyone will go to, and it will fill your appointment book in no time.
Michelle D. Mace an LMT of over 20 years, is the founder of The Barefoot Masters®. We develop unique massage CE that save the hands of therapists. With over a dozen courses to choose from, there is something for everyone. For more information: The Barefoot Masters® or get on our Email List to get informed about massage issues or for upcoming classes.
Sourcing: https://optinmonster.com/email-marketing-vs-social-media-performance-2016-2019-statistics/
