The spa industry has a $105 billion global market size in 2019 and is projected to reach $133 billion by 2027. Starting and running a spa business can be very profitable with a lot of room for growth, but it’s no secret that it is also one of the industries most heavily impacted by the global pandemic throughout 2020 and 2021.
Even during this period of recovery, many customers are still reluctant to return to their favourite spas, meaning, spa businesses have to level up their marketing game if they want to book more customer appointments in 2021 and beyond.
With that being said, below we’ll share some of the most effective marketing tips you can use to boost your bottom line and grow your business, and without further ado, let us begin with the first one.
- Improve your Google Maps SEO game
In this digital day and age, people mainly learn about local businesses—including spas—from the internet, mainly via recommendations from social media (i.e. when an influencer mentions your spa) or via Google search for queries like “spa near me”.
Here, we’ll address the latter.
The thing is, for queries like “spas near me”, “spas in New York”, and other local queries, Google pulls results from Google Maps, placed on top of the organic results. Meaning, if your business is featured on the top 3 spots of Google Maps, you’ll reach many more potential clients and can significantly increase your bookings.
This is where Google Maps SEO, or local SEO, comes in, and you can do it by:
- Claiming and verifying your Google My Business listing for your spa
- Optimizing your listing by providing accurate and complete information. Don’t forget to include attractive photos of your spa and your clients (with their permission)
- Build local citations by listing your spa in online spa and wellness business directories for your city.
- Encourage your clients to leave positive reviews, especially on your Google Maps listing but also on other relevant review sites.
- Have a professional website
Again, in this digital age, it’s very important to have a well-designed, professional website for your spa. Even if you already have prominent social media profiles on relevant networks (more on this later), it’s important to note that your social media profiles are not direct replacements for your website.
Your website should:
- Be fully functional and reliable
- Provide a way to sign up for your email newsletter
- Be easy to navigate
- Be optimized for SEO (mobile-friendly, loads fast, optimized for your target keywords, etc.)
- Has an online spa booking software allowing clients to easily book appointments on your site
- Have well-taken photos and attractive videos to engage your potential clients
- Showcase what sets your spa apart from your competitors and how your spa will provide value for the client
- List all your services in a well-arranged, easy-to-understand way
Potential clients will judge your spa business by the quality and functionality of your website. If your website is well-designed, attractive, and functions well, then they will see you as a credible and trustworthy business to visit.
Make sure your website also features informative, high-quality content for visitors. Convince your clients that you are there to help them, and not solely to sell your service.
- Smart social media marketing
It’s fairly obvious that we should promote our spa business on social media where our target audience is.
The question is, how?
First, it’s important to note that there are three different options when it comes to social media marketing:
- Organic: posting regularly and building your own followers. This is the most cost-effective option and can be totally free, but it will take some time before you can generate significant results from these organic efforts.
- Paid: using paid advertising options offered by most major social media networks can guarantee quick, even instant results, but can be expensive.
- Influencer marketing: partnering with relevant influencers in your area can be very effective for spa businesses if you can find the right influencers to promote your business.
It’s very important to find the right balance between the above three options to optimize your social media presence. Support your paid advertising campaigns with your organic efforts, and partner with the right beauty/fashion influencers in your area.
- Partner with local businesses
Another effective strategy to try is to partner up with other (non-competing) local businesses in the area to cross-promote each other.
The idea here is to build long-term partnerships that can benefit both. Think of businesses that might be interested in doing cross-promotion campaigns. For example, if you don’t offer nail art, you can partner with local salons that offer nail art services, and the same thing also applies to hair salons. Hotels, restaurants, tourism destinations, wedding vendors, health clubs, and restaurants, among others, are ideal candidates.
You can offer discounts and special offers, for example, offering a 20% discount to a restaurant next door for your clients.
- Maximize customer loyalty
When thinking about booking more customer appointments, too often we put too much focus on attracting new clients, while in fact keeping previous and existing clients happy so they keep coming back is also just as, if not even more important.
Run customer loyalty programs, for example, offer a free service on their 10th or 11th visit. You can also offer birthday discounts, for example, a 10% discount for their whole birthday month, or a free add-on.
Also, encourage customers to bring in referrals. Your happy, satisfied customers are potentially the best marketers for your business. Offer incentives like group discounts (they get a discount if they bring their friend) to encourage them to refer your spa services to their friends or family members.
Conclusion
Above, we have covered five of the most effective spa marketing tips you can use to book more customer appointments, grow your revenue, and become a more profitable business.
It’s important to remember that marketing is a long-term business, so maintaining consistency and monitoring your efforts are the keys to success. By doing these tips, you can get more customer appointments for your spa in 2021 and beyond.