The Complete Guide to Med Spa Marketing
Med Spa Marketing has changed over the years. It is more competitive, more in-depth, and the tactics are changing faster. To do marketing in the MedSpa arena, you need to be ready for the long haul-shortcuts will not do. We have created this guide to help you understand the full scope of digital marketing for med spas.
Here are some key elements to any marketing in the medical spa industry: tracking, traffic, segmentation, and upsells. Full funnel understanding is imperative to successful marketing to help your customers get the best.
Tracking with Google Analytics
Tracking is one of the core principles of a successful online marketing campaign for a Med Spa. Setting up the proper tracking, in the beginning, is laying the foundation for optimization and data collection. Future marketing and advertising decisions will be based on the initial setup. However, do not fear- changes and pivots can be made along the way as needed to cater to your growing needs
Google Analytics is a helpful and powerful tool. It allows you to see traffic, demographics, goal conversions, and many different testing scenarios. To fully understand Google Analytics in its entirety is beyond the scope of this post, but even basic knowledge will produce a great benefit to your Spa.
To set up analytics for your site go to Google Analytics and follow the start guide. You may need a developer’s help inserting the code for the first time.
Enable
Go to the demographics section and click Enable. This will allow you to see more detailed information from your visitors. Traffic shown is the aggregate view of your traffic, not specific to a particular visitor. Nevertheless, it will reveal a lot of customer information to help you optimize your website further.
Age, sex, and customer interests are shared by Google. The information can be utilized in many ways:
1) setting up future campaigns based on these parameters
2) understanding how to angle the next piece of content.
You may alter your approach to be more targeted for those coming to your site. As your website traffic grows, this is also good information to share with any digital partners you may have.
Goals
Every website has certain goals it is trying to achieve. It may be a lead form, a phone call, or an item to purchase. All of these actions can be tracked using Analytics. Setting up goals is important in order to see the funnel leading to the desired path.
Setting up goals in Analytics is pretty straightforward. On the left-hand menu select Conversions, then Goals, then Overview. From there select the button that says Set up Goals.
The next image shows the walkthrough of the goal depending on your action steps.
On your website, you may have multiple goals or calls to action. For example: If you send completed forms to a Thank You page, Google Analytics makes it easy to set a trigger to track that conversion. Other goals for your site may be gathering phone numbers, clicking an image, playing a video, or how far down the funnel a user has progressed. By understanding the tracking of each goal you allow yourself to optimize effectively. We suggest doing a few more goals than you may think you want in the beginning. It is all free data so take advantage of the opportunity.
For any Med Spa, goals may be generic across the entire site, like a phone number or lead form, but can also be specific to which links they are clicking for Facials, Hair Removal, or other procedures. The funnels and interest can be quantified on your website with this data if it is set up properly.
Goals also can be passed through to Google Adwords. If you want to measure conversions inside of Adwords, you can link those to an Analytics goal you already have set up.
Integrations
As noted above, integrating with Adwords is extremely helpful to pass data easily from your accounts. There are minor discrepancies at times with reporting between the two, but still worthwhile as it visually illustrates tracking. You may read the instructions for that on the Google support page.
Filter
For Med Spa Marketing, inbound traffic creates a lot of frequently asked questions or helps users navigate your website. As such, all these tutorials over the phone may potentially be inflating your website traffic. To bring a more realistic picture to your reporting we need to filter out your office IP address.
Within the same filter view, you may also exclude certain subdomains, if you use them for specific admin areas. Use the drop-downs to select your intent and push save.
Filters like these do not take up a lot of time, but going forward, gives a true sense of your sessions. A session is the number of visits by users.
Another great filter is the bot spam filter. This is under Admin Settings, Property View, View Settings, then navigate down to see the checkbox. This should be “on” by default, but you must go in and check the box yourself.
These minimum filters ensure more accurate reporting. However, you can continue to filter specific things out, but also filter so you may see different types of traffic.
Segmentation
Understanding the next layer, which is segmentation, is the more granular view of your tracking data. These segments are often subcategorized into Geo, Channels, Desktop vs. Mobile, and Time of Day. The segmented areas allow you to utilize your data for content on the website, email campaigns, and ongoing copy.
Geo Location
Location, location, location. This is so important. Each location of your Med Spa has its’ own feel and certain services will perform better than others. While researching what is resonating with your audience, the element of location will play a large factor in the optimization of your content.
Be conscious that knowing what location the traffic is coming from, does not mean you are defined by it either. You can influence location rankings by creating content to attract that area. You may be in a large metro area, and influence rankings by creating blog posts or pages dedicated to a certain subset, neighborhood, or area. Also, be sure to use jargon or nicknames of areas if those are popularly used in your region.
Generating Traffic
SEO
Med Spas have unique characteristics in how they want to rank. So many variables are important factors for the potential client: doctor credibility, website ease of use, education in the procedure, services offered, location or distance of clinic, as well as overall practice reviews and word of mouth endorsements. In order to make a game plan on what to rank for it is important to assess where your practice stands today on all the above lists.
Once you have your order you will want to address the art and science of SEO in various ways:
Local SEO – Ensure all data is consistent with local ranking sites. Facebook page, Yelp, Google Places, etc.
Content – Write long-form content that addresses your client needs, while also sprinkling in some Google goodness to help with the rank for questions the potential customer may inquire on.
Meta – Descriptions, proper attribution, links in and out, alt tags, etc.
Even if you choose to do just a little bit, do a little bit in each category. Slowly gaining momentum over time, Google will reward you, and when your company makes the big push, it will be that much easier as you ramp up your online marketing.
Pay Per Click
Pay Per Click on Google, Facebook, Bing, etc. can be great lead generators. Most self-serve platforms do require an initial amount of capital to learn what converts and what does not. However, when the campaign is running well, it can be a great ongoing investment. Pay per click for Med Spa marketing can be a great tool to learn which phrases resonate and convert the best. Knowing that information of conversions and phrases will tell you what terms really should be ranking for so that free organic traffic will work for you going forward.
The biggest thing to keep in mind is medical terminology. Most platforms do not allow before and after images, certain phrases like ‘needles’, ‘results’, or brand names. So as you create your campaigns, be sure to watch the wording inside the ads. This is also true with the landing pages of your website. Sometimes you may be denied because of the landing page not having enough disclaimers or education around the products/services.
Because of the many aspects and complexity of PPC, we strongly recommend you work with an agency for the best results.
Social Media
Social Media does not need to be a burden. If your Medical Spa Marketing does not have a dedicated person for social, or images, there are many ways to participate without taxing anyone.
Make a Facebook Live video explaining a procedure, a quick tour of the office, or an FAQ about a new procedure. People love the intimate nature of these ‘unprofessional’ videos and they get great results.
Also, post when you have something. Do not feel the need to post regularly if it is not thought out. Better rare and good, than frequent and annoying. This is a good tip regardless of platform.
Very similar to Pay Per Click, you may want to watch your wording. Not because of the platforms in and of themselves, but people on the platforms. There are many people who love to give their opinion on everything, and something as sensitive as MedSpa procedures can become emotional fast. Always speak in a professional tone, invitational rather than sales push, and do always get someone else to proof it. Misspellings will be forgiven (by some) but a joke that does not land may get you more impressions for the wrong reason. Take your risks on the marketing element, not the wording.
Influencers
Usually, with internet marketing, you want to have famous local people talking about your business. However, with Med Spas you want your clients, regardless of followers, to give real authentic stories. Think about how you can do a follow-up call, or personal card, or another personal touch, to give them a story to tell. Everyone can do the procedure, your care and service you offer should be winning the reviews online.
You may invite these reviews in many ways. A text sent two days later can be very helpful. Include a link and a short note asking them for a review. It is good to mix up the initiation as well. A majority should be left open for them too, but you may guide a few with ideas such as ‘leave a review about our facility’ or ‘can you describe our service staff’. These reviews, across all domains, are great ways for influencers to truly become ambassadors.
Events
Create offline events that are fun and informal. Have a happy hour with Q&A, a demonstration, and have former clients give their perspectives. These will attract very few people but will be the exact people you want.
Make sure it is worthwhile for your employees by incentivizing them with hiring commissions, the ability to take home leftover champaign, or time off later that week. Many events become burdensome because they are not planned as a perk or something to look forward to. Let the events build with anticipation for all involved.
After the amazing event is planned, promote it on various platforms. Eventbrite is a great distribution platform, Facebook events, local calendars, and using social media are great ways to get the exposure you want for the events.
Med Spa Marketing
Conclusion
Each element described here is useful for tracking and identifying which channel is working well for the business. The important thing to remember as well is that it all works together. One element without the other may “work” but will never be fully maximized either.
Med Spa Marketing is a complex arena with legal and implementational differences from other industries. As long as marketing is continuously a focal point. Minor incremental changes, over time, will make a significant impact on your bottom line, and client satisfaction.